James's Law a law for Protection we need
For those in,disabilities especially the vulnerable and non-verbal - to stop them hurting our special needs children and adult children in schools and in disability programs and care -
All kudos to Calum Morrison’s mother who has brought out Calum’s Law in,Scotland - for standing up for him over the last decade when he was brutally restrained as a little boy at his school, an 11 year old at a mainstream school in Dundee, restrained by 4 teachers who held him down and left bruises all over his body, at a brand new special needs classroom, and treated like this! He was told to get off a disabled bicycle he was riding but did not understand their instructions so he was ‘restrained’ noted Beth his mother. The little boy came home with bruises and said mummy I feel dizzy and teachers hurt. He had passed out when he had been held down by the teachers. For shame. The teachers should be punished and penalized for hurting this vulnerable autistic boy. As his mother said it is ‘not about care its about control’.
Beth Morrison noted that ‘No one was held accountable. There was no apology. The Police were at best, disinterested. Local Authority Child Protection were useless, they were never going to take their own council’s education staff to task. It was deemed “ok” to treat my son in t his way, and all in the name of education.’ ‘I had no idea school staff could even DO this! I was completely devastated that my small, severely disabled, little boy had been (in my eyes) abused by the very people we trusted to care for and nurture him. ‘
Callum’s mother said that the police were ‘disinterested at best’ about what happened to her son - there seems to be a blockage with police toward disability children and adults. Callum was held up to 40 minutes on the floor by the staff and he wet himself and then they let him sit in his wet clothes for punishment. This is heartbreaking to hear a child be treated like this. I wouldn’t even like an adult to be treated like this. Guidelines for restricted practices are very vague, Beth noted, in Scotland and it is not mandatory to report on someone who uses them wrongly as these teacher did. She is lobbying for mandatory reporting on those who use those restrictive practices and also to make it legally inforceable. She said ‘it is not about care it is about control’ in the classroom when they use those restrictive practices and treat these children like criminals.
Noted in the Courier UK ( October 2022) ‘Calum Morrison, who has epilepsy, autism and learning difficulties, was 11 when he was forcefully restrained at Kingspark School in Dundee…The campaign has the backing of charity Enable Scotland, which has produced a new report questioning the progress made in safeguarding young people such as Calum in recent years.Enable is hoping there will be cross-party support for Calum’s Law. The proposed legislation certainly demands the attention of lawmakers.Protections for the most vulnerable in society must be watertight.
And they must be enforced.’
Its strange here in Australia restrictive practices or hurting a child or disability person is mandatory to report – but it is often not reported by staff in disability providers, or school teachers. Why? Because the schools and the organizations do not want to get caught doing it so they pay lip service to stopping abuse or wrong practices but still let it happen. Even though they say in their policies that they are against abuse and follow all guidelines. Even the NDIS quality commission does not enforce its own guidelines which are also vague here in Australia.
If we had CCTV cameras we could do something about it abuse, and the borderline restraints providers and workers seem to think they should use whenever they want. I would like to see here in Australia, the legal enforcement of those who hurt the vulnerable or use harmful restraints, or just assault our kids, so that they are instantly penalized and charged, and to do that we would need the CCTV cameras to pick up what they have done to our vulnerable children. Cameras act as a deterrence and also as evidence in court and without that our children will never see justice, always treated as second class citizens not worthy of justice. As Beth Morrison found out a decade again when her son was 11 years old and she started to lobby and petition for change.
As Beth Morrison said we need to change things. Not only is protection not enforced enough for children there is only children protection for children none for vulnerable youth and adult disability persons – we need a vulnerable persons protection bill for disabilities young people and adults as they are always prone to be being attacked by the very staff we pay to look after them. The NDIS pays and seems to not care what happens to our children and adult children they do not matter only the profits. It is mandatory to report harm to the NDIS but they do nothing or very little about it and they also state in their policies to report it to the police. You might as well be talking to a stone wall. Policies are no good if they are not enforced.
The BBC report on Beth noted Restraint and seclusion, which involves locking someone in a room or safe space, have often been used in educational settings - particularly for children with disabilities and additional support needs.
Ms Morrison told the BBC that since she started campaigning 12 years ago more than 2,500 other families had contacted her because their children had been hurt while being physically restrained. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-63375505
The Justice Gap UK also reports 21 June 2023 “A new law is being proposed in Scotland following a 12-year campaign led by a mother against the use of physical restraint in schools. Beth Morrison has been advocating for “Calum’s Law” for her son, Calum Morrison, who was restrained at his special educational needs school when he was 11 years old. Labour MSP Daniel Johnson is starting a consultation on a new members’ bill in response to the campaign. The main goal for this proposal is for physical restraint guidelines in schools to be legally enforceable. The law would also ensure mandatory training for all teachers preparing them to safely de-escalate difficult situations and requiring them to report all incidents where physical restraint is used. https://www.thejusticegap.com/new-law-proposed-to.../
What about the non verbal children, young adults and adults in care – they need to be protected from harming practices and just straight out abuse and assaults by support workers in day programs, respite care and residential care. This ‘care’ is fraught with harms being done to our children with no redress. We also as parents need our children to be protected from those who would harm them - we need a law that makes it illegal to use extreme force on our children, or to lash out in temper because of the workers own lack of competence and assault or verbally abuse our children. WE cannot put it through court without CCTV cameras. The NDIS says it is not allowed yet do nothing when our children and adult children are harmed. We need a new Law to combat this and mandate CCTV cameras in disabilities, and make it legally enforceable to prevent any physical restraints, locking up or abuse of our children in care. We also need watertight laws not these vague general ones.
NDIS report 2021 p16:
NDIS providers must be mindful that the use of some restrictive practices may be potentially harmful and hence are inadvisable (i.e., contra-indicated) for children and young people with disability who have experienced trauma and abuse. For example, using physical restraint with a child who has experienced physical and sexual abuse; or using seclusion / exclusionary practices with a child who has experienced significant neglect and inadequate supervision. In circumstances such as these, the inappropriate use of a restrictive practice risks triggering and compounding the trauma, if not being abusive in and of itself.
This is a very vague and watered down way of saying something that you are going to do nothing about by a government organization. “inadvisable” is not good enough for something that is harmful to vulnerable children, young people and vulnerable adults who often are non verbal. It should be illegal to use those restraints, or restrictive practices that harm someone, that in effect is abuse. Come on Australia don’t treat those who cannot protect themselves as if anyone can harm them and get away with it! WE need laws that protect. We need it to be illegal to hurt a disability person in the name of ‘care’ or ‘compliance’ in fact those who use such methods should be banned for working with any vulnerable or disability persons and children ever. Just saying a restrictive practice is inappropriate - is not enough – it is wrong and it should be illegal. WE need a new act I would like to call it James Law a protection law that makes harming a disability person with so called restrictive practices is illegal and enforceable by the law to stop those who do it to our defenceless and nonverbalchildren. To enforce the law we would then need evidence when harm was done - cctv cameras as mandatpry reporting is good but not enough as providers will not always report and workers do not always report the true story but keep it hidden behind – oh we don’t know what happened – the lies of the providers ever carrying on - we need solid evidence because our children who are non verbal especially are at risk of harm and even death and negligence at the hands of providers today with no justice in sight ever. This is wrong this has to change. Australia needs to be pulled into line with the United Nations rights of children and disabilities…
Endless apologising by CEOs of big money making organizations and politicians, is not enough – we need to stop the harm happening to our children. We need preventative measure to stop our disability children being harmed, being neglected to death. The premier of Queensland apologize this week to the two boys who were abused by their father for twenty years, yet he had started out ok but became a substance abuser and stopped his kids getting help. His neighbours watched on. There were reports but nothing was done until the father was found dead , he had been dying of cancer. He was not capable of caring of those boys – but the child protection services never listened to all the complaints made by schools and neighbours and the boys were left to suffer. Now in care they are being given compensation. That’s right don’t do the right thing and look after those who are vulnerable just pay them out after they have been harmed. AT least the boys will get that compensation now and I hope some decent loving care. Their father could not look after them properly but it is also stressful raising a special needs child and parents need proper support by other parents and the government to ensure they can cope. He may not have started off substance abusing but in our selfish society is it any wonder he could not cope. I do not condone his neglect which is also a side effect of drinking and drugging, but it should have never gone that far and parents need to not feel isolated in looking after their disability children whose needs can be much more work than a ‘normal’ child.
Society needs to start stepping up and understand that being selfish actually makes a society fall apart and families fall apart in pursuit of ‘happiness’ its not enough. We need to care about each other and the weaker members because one day that could be you or me and none of those vulnerable and non verbal children should be subjected to harm and ignored or neglected. There have been other cases of sexual assault on disability persons in care by their support workers. However, in both cases the perpetrator was found not guilty. Why? Probably no evidence, as no cameras. We need protection for our special needs children and we need the wrong people to stop working in disabilities and workers to have training and two years university behind them. WE need a higher standard of worker and care for those in disabilities a the moment we have the least. And the NDIS pays top dollar for it – low standard carers and greedy managers and CEOs. Again this has to change. The government needs to stop using our children for all the money making businesses and start making it about care for the vulnerable in disabilities.
It should be law - James law -here that CCTV is made mandatory and used for protection none of the ‘privacy’ excuses - providers allowed cctv but providers do not want them in use not for privacy for disabilities persons– but to hide what goes on disabilities and without evidence they know they can do whatever they want to our children. They .ust be made accountable.
Let us push for better for our disability children, we are not a third world country yet our standards for disability care border on third world barely acknowledging disability children’s human rights. I want a law a better law to protect our children - let us push for that. WE must be our children’s voice like Callum’s mother who says she is still traumatised 10 years later after her son was restrained and jumped on by the teachers from his special needs class. We are the only voice for those who cannot speak literally the non verbal.
All the best
Anndrea x
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