WHEN WE NEED to talk about the seclusion and restraint of disabled children in school, something has gone desperately, horribly wrong in our society. But talk about it we must, and we must continue to shine a light on the trauma hurt and pain that many children have experienced.

For those not familiar with the terms; restraint is the act of physically, mechanically or chemically subduing the body of another person. Some children we know in reported cases, for example, have been strapped into chairs against their will or held down on the floor by adults when in a highly distressed state and deemed a “danger” to themselves.

Seclusion is the act of putting a child in a room on their own where they are not free to leave because the door is locked or because they don’t feel emotionally safe to do so. “This can’t be happening in our schools” is often a refrain we hear.

There is a kind of denial about it. Thankfully, many schools would not dream of using such practices, and most teachers and SNAS are kind and loving to their students. However, we must face that this does happen daily to many disabled children for multiple reasons, most of which can be attributed to ableist dehumanising systems, poor training, a lack of resources and cultures that badly need to move on.

Globally there is a movement to eliminate restraint with organisations like Lives in the Balance, the Restraint Reduction Networks and The International Coalition Against Restraint and Seclusion leading the way. It is a sad reflection of our world that this kind of movement is necessary.

Ending damaging practices

Most of our work at Inclusion Ireland starts by listening to people. Over a period of time starting in 2016, we noticed a pattern of phone calls to our information line, often from a parent, describing an experience their child had in school. In response to these calls, our team wrote a report, Shining a Light on Seclusion and Restraint, detailing 14 harrowing stories of children locked in rooms, dragged across floors and held down physically when distressed. I am still in touch with many of the families who contributed to the report. I still hear about the wounds that their children, now adults, still feel and the long-lasting, devastating impact on their lives.

Readers may wonder — is this an historical issue, then? Not according to our survey which we ran jointly with AsIAm in February of this year with almost 500 responses. 27% of the children and their families who completed the survey reported that their child had experienced restraint in school, and a shocking 35% had experienced seclusion.

We had an open comment section where people could tell us their experiences anonymously. My team and I cried together when we read them. So we pushed, we met TDS, we met Ministers, we ran conferences, we spoke publicly, and we published articles. Many of the families we work with spoke out in the media, on radio programmes, even in Leinster House at briefing sessions with TDs, who were visibly moved to tears. We were persistent, and we called repeatedly for guidelines to come from the Department of Education, and eventually, they were published last week — Understanding Behaviours of Concern and Responding to Crisis Situations. The Ombudsman for Children, Dr Niall Muldoon has already expressed his concern about the guidelines. 

Not far enough

Whilst we welcomed many elements contained within the guidelines (including an outright ban on seclusion and a call for restraint to only be used in circumstances where a child is in danger to themselves or others) they fall far short, in our view, of adequately protecting children from harm, through robust safeguarding measures and taking a children’s rights approach.

We know that most schools want to support children in ways that are child-centred, caring, loving and respectful of their human rights. We work with schools every day that do everything in their power to support children, in spite of a system that seems to undervalue the right of that child to get a high-quality education just like their non-disabled peers.

We also know, that when things go wrong, children need to be protected. We all have responsibilities to ensure that children in our care do not come to harm and are safeguarded from abuse.

In October, a draft of the guidelines was shared with Inclusion Ireland before they were published. At that point, we raised serious concerns about certain significant parts, particularly in relation to safeguarding. The guidelines, whilst they mention obligations under legislation to protect children, also offer advice to schools which we feel does not protect children and in fact, risks leaving children in harmful situations.

Where a school has used restraint, they are asked to report this to the National Council for Special Education. The NCSE has no powers of investigation. The report that the school is expected to complete does not name the child or identify them in any way. It is therefore not difficult to imagine that a child could experience multiple restraints in a given period and have multiple reports written about them, without a robust way of investigating what has happened to that child or indeed putting a stop to it.

In no other sphere would this type of “reporting” of a potential safeguarding matter be acceptable. For example, an incident where restraint was used with a disabled child living in residential care would be carefully documented and reported to the relevant authority— the regulator.

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Providers would have to account for their actions and show how they plan to eliminate the use of restraint, as it is recognised as a restrictive practice which is a breach of the child’s fundamental rights and freedoms. Social workers would be involved. Why is this not the case in our schools?

Of course, we know there is a need at exceptional times for adults to use restraint; for example, if a child were in imminent danger and running out onto a road, the adult should act the way any reasonable adult would and protect that child from harm, possibly using physical means. This is appropriate and necessary at times. The kind of restraint that we hear about is where the people involved do not have the training or the skills to support children in rights and relationship-focused ways and instead intervene unnecessarily using restraint when a child is in distress.

Both examples here should be reported to an authority (such as Tusla) which has trained staff that can make a judgement about harm, how to support the child who experienced the harm and indeed intervene to support the school to improve its practices. Any school that cares about children profoundly, knows that having robust safeguards is a good thing for the child and also actually a good thing for the teacher or SNA. It protects everyone. It is transparent, open and clear. Isn’t that what we all want?

These guidelines will come into full effect in September 2025 according to the Department. That gives us adequate time to challenge these shortfalls and to ensure that children get the respect, protection and support they need and have a right to. Our history in Ireland is shameful when it comes to the protection of children. I think we are becoming almost immune to traumatising stories of abuse and harm. Let’s refuse to write another chapter in this sad history, let’s choose a new story; one where children’s rights are front and centre, and we shine a light continuously, bravely and openly where it needs to be shone. Our children deserve that.

Derval McDonagh is CEO of Inclusion Ireland.