‘We can and must do better’
Education Minister Eggen vows to ban school seclusion rooms as advocacy groups call for immediate action to protect children
Alberta Education Minister David Eggen is vowing to ban seclusion rooms in schools following pressure from advocacy groups calling for immediate action.
“As a parent and a teacher myself, I’ve frankly been disturbed by some of the things parents are sharing about their family’s experiences with seclusion rooms. We can and must do better for our kids,” Eggen said in an emailed statement Friday morning.
In October, Eggen formed an eight-member working group of parents, teachers and health professionals to make recommendations for new guidelines on timeouts and seclusion rooms in schools. The review was launched after parents Marcy Oakes and Warren Henschel took the provincial government, Elk Island Public Schools and school staff to court alleging their 12-year-old son with autism was locked naked in an isolation room for at least 45 minutes and he became covered in feces.
“After initial discussions with the working group I established on this matter, I am convinced that seclusion rooms must be banned,” said Eggen in his Friday statement. “That said, we know that we need to find a safe space for students that are struggling and need therapeutic supports in school.”
Eggen’s response came within an hour of representatives from Inclusion Alberta, Autism Edmonton and the working group slamming a draft of the “fundamentally flawed” 27-page new guidelines the groups were invited to see in December.
“The two largest organizations in Alberta representing families of children with disabilities expressed their deep disappointment with what was being proposed, as Alberta Education had changed virtually nothing from the existing guidelines which had already proven to be grossly inadequate and ineffectual,” said Trish Bowman, Inclusion Alberta CEO, in a Friday news release.
Letters were sent to the minister and Premier Rachel Notley in January voicing collective concerns about accountability, about the lack of a regulatory mechanism and that input from the working group members wasn’t reflected in the draft.
“The existing draft is devoid of any measures on how Alberta Education would ensure anything relative to the use of seclusion, physical restraint and time out,” the letter said. “These are not better guidelines than the existing ones and may be worse in falsely communicating that they are an improvement while condoning the continued used of forcibly and physically moving students.”
A response to the letter wasn’t received and Bowman said their understanding was Alberta Education was going to release a final draft soon and wanted to make their lack of support public in advance.
After hearing of the minister’s Friday response to ban seclusion rooms, Bowman said it is essential to ensure the ban is enforceable and action should be immediate.
“I think families have waited too long and every day that we don’t have this in place is a day a child’s at risk,” she said, noting Inclusion Alberta hopes to still be part of the solutions.
Oakes, who sits on the working group and was deeply frustrated with the draft guidelines still allowing the use of seclusion rooms, expressed her hopes after being informed of Eggen’s call to ban them.
“Wow. I feel hopeful. I am. But I want to know what the plan is,” said Oakes. “Words are one thing, actions are another.
Inclusion Alberta also released the results of its seclusion room survey Friday morning after receiving more than 400 responses from parents of children with developmental disabilities who were restrained or secluded at school. About 80 per cent of the children were between the ages of five and 10; a little more than half were reported to have autism, the survey results showed.
Asked about harmful effects, about 80 per cent of respondents said their children experienced emotional trauma and distress as a result.
To Bowman, it was most difficult to read the 214 comments parents wrote about the impact seclusion and restraints have had on children. “That’s lifelong,” she said of the impact.