Listener Feedback on 'Isolation Rooms'
Friday on The Current, we asked if so-called 'isolation rooms' in schools in B.C. should be banned. An online survey by Inclusion B.C. and the Family Support Institute - which advocate for people with developmental disabilities - found 200 instances of rowdy and unruly children left alone in a wide variety of isolation rooms. Many of you were horrified....
Friday on The Current, we asked if so-called 'isolation rooms' in schools in B.C. should be banned. An online survey by Inclusion B.C. and the Family Support Institute - which advocate for people with developmental disabilities - found 200 instances of rowdy and unruly children left alone in a wide variety of isolation rooms. Many of you were horrified.
Laurie Koch, of Thornbury, Ontario, had this to say:
Yes, isolation rooms, no matter what they are called, should be banned in our schools. We know from years of evidence that children who are isolated for any reason, including behavioral and learning difficulties, are hindered rather than helped by being isolated.
Farah Mawani tweeted this:
What about the safety of the children isolated? UN designates solitary confinement as torture.
Kimmy Peterson had this to say:
I would be horrified if my autistic child was locked in one. Sad.
We also heard from educators. Greg Derbyshire of Brantford, Ontario had this to say:
As a (retired) teacher of thirty years, I was able to see the use of isolation rooms first hand. While I agree that they should never be used as the only response to a child's crisis, they most certainly serve an important role in helping to ensure the safety of students and school staff during extreme crises.
And Turner King from Don Mills, Ontario, shared this:
Having worked in the education system for 22 years, I observed that teachers and principals have little knowledge of say autism (or A.D.H.D.) and are at a complete loss when it comes to dealing with it. The teachers and principals display a complete lack of interest in these topics, never study them and react by being exceedingly annoyed by these children.
And some of you questioned whether it was realistic to expect teachers to deal with students with developmental disabilities in the classroom.
Elizabeth Litch of Elora, Ontario wrote:
Teachers should not have to be mental health workers, and the kids in the classrooms should not have to have their hours in school focused on a misbehaving classmate. I think we have gone far too far with our 'inclusiveness'. The kids who need special care should get it... not in a regular classroom... but in a special one with workers who are trained just for that.
You can always share your views on anything you hear on The Current
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