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Punished and isolated

An inclusion advocacy group is calling for an end to the use of seclusion rooms and restraints on special-needs school children.

Already this school year, two parents in Salmon Arm have removed their child from a local school after learning he was put in the isolation room.

Inclusion BC is demanding something be done.

The organization claims the province has failed to fulfil its promise to protect students with special needs and that it continues to hear from families whose children are being restrained and secluded.

Inclusion BC is calling for a ban on such methods through legislation and a targeted plan of action to prevent "the serious and egregious harm done to students."

An initial report, “Stop Hurting Kids: Restraint and Seclusion in B.C. Schools,” was released in 2013. At that time, Premier Christy Clark said government would conduct an investigation into the issue.

In response to this week's news that an autistic boy was locked in a "quiet room" in Salmon Arm, provincial officials promised to look into the issue again and find a solution.

Education Minister Mike Bernier said Tuesday that government guidelines are being drawn up and should be ready for release soon.

“The last 18 months, we’ve been working on making policies to make sure that school districts and teachers are appropriately using these rooms, these quiet rooms, for safety purposes,” Bernier said.

There are no plans to ban the practice, he added. 

According to Inclusion BC, those guidelines have yet to be finalized and there are still no requirements from the ministry for school districts to track and report use of the seclusion rooms.

“Clearly, we are in desperate need of a strong position by our Ministry of Education. Even definitions of what is a time out, a quiet room or a de-escalation room varies greatly as does the use of such rooms," says Faith Bodnar, Inclusion BC executive director.

The Salmon Arm incident clearly shows the rooms are not being used appropriately, she says.

“These are not safety rooms or quiet rooms. They are being used systematically to punish and isolate children and will continue to be used this way until legislation is enacted to ban the practice,” says Bodnar.

“These rooms and aversive practices must not be part of the routine behaviour management strategies in our schools. We know how to do better. We have the evidence, we have the research. This is about lack of leadership and a failure to do what’s necessary to protect vulnerable students in BC.”



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