Editor
It seems odd to be using the word ‘restraint’ in the same special education needs to be prioritized. She agrees that special sentence as ‘child’ but how to properly and lawfully restrain education has been under-resourced and that we are not ready young people in schools, has become the issue of the day, as to respond to the severe behaviour challenges facing schools. much as solving the teacher shortages. On restraint, the debate swings from those who would argue How did we get to this situation where we are lining up that if you are having to restrain young people at school, perhaps teachers and support staff for training they should not be there in the first in the techniques of restraint? We can Still, the issue of the place to the argument that every child understand lawful restraint being a is entitled to attend a mainstream component of Police training – but violent outbursts that school because education is a basic teachers? right. place teachers, other children human Restraint is the collision site of There has to be a middle ground inclusion policies and severe or violent and property at risk, remains. somewhere. The problem is, the behaviour. It is said that New Zealand solution may be greatly more resource has one of the most inclusive education systems in the world. intense than even the most generous of Education Ministers can It often takes a student to threaten the safety of staff and other afford. For a start it is estimated that the number of available students before a principal will seriously consider suspension or psychologists would have to double alongside other specialists exclusion, such is the strength of our inclusion practices. such as speech language therapists. We would need more New Zealand schools warmly welcome a broad range of Resource teachers of Learning and more hands-on assistance students, doing everything possible to equitably and fairly meet in schools. Even if schools do have access to good specialist every student’s special needs and offer them the best educational assistance, if they are not resourced to carry out the specialist’s opportunities they possibly can. Teachers willingly embrace and recommendations, they won’t be implemented. celebrate diversity and the Ministry’s special education service Still, the issue of the violent outbursts that place teachers, has also responded to support schools as they integrate students other children and property at risk, remains. It’s a last resort but into the mainstream. restraining children in these circumstances is all teachers can do. The problem is that the special needs have now outgrown the I spoke to a principal last year in a decile 8 provincial school ability of the special education services to respond. For a long who showed me a photo of her completely trashed office. She then time schools have lamented that special education funding is showed me the bruises on her legs, where the child had kicked insufficient to fairly meet the needs of the students in their and lashed wildly at her as she tried to protect her computer from schools. There is a shortage of teacher aides to support special being trashed again. This time she called the police. They asked students in mainstream classes and a woeful lack of specialist her why the child was not directed to a padded room. services and educational psychologists. We can ask what triggers children to behave in this way and These shortages coincide with a growing number of young schools can work harder at building stronger relationships with people presenting with severe autism and fetal alcohol spectrum these children and their whānau to better understand them. disorder. More recently children born to methamphetamine The thing is, there still has to be a backstop when all turns bad. addicted mothers are entering our schools. Principals are The reason restraint has hit the headlines is that schools cannot reporting higher and higher rates of violent outbursts from these reconcile what they are legally entitled to do. The Crimes Act is and other children suffering conditions such as post-traumatic not consistent with the Education Act. An immediate solution stress disorder and sexual and physical abuse. Surveys on student would be to remove the more stringent limitations for restraint wellbeing in New Zealand indicate our children are not in a from the Education Act altogether leaving schools to comply with healthy state. the Crimes Act only, as they are obliged to do anyway. The most recent survey conducted by NZPF indicated that The bigger problems in implementing inclusion will take a whilst schools are managing to cope well with children who much more concerted effort to solve. have mild or moderate learning or behaviour needs, it is a different story when it comes to severe behaviour. Over 90 per cent indicated that they could not cope and were not resourced or trained to cope with this very challenging group of students. Associate Education Minister, Tracey Martin, concurs that