Scotland takes ‘huge step’ towards Calum’s Law on child restraint

The first move towards a law covering the restraint and seclusion of school children will be taken at the Scottish Parliament later.

Labour MSP Daniel Johnson said his Members’ Bill to bring Calum’s Law into legislation was a “huge step forward”.

It is named after Calum Morrison who was was restrained at a special educational needs school when he was 11 years old.

It aims to ensure that restraint and seclusion of children and young people in schools is only used as a last resort where there is an immediate risk of harm and using appropriate methods.

The bill also promotes compulsory training for all teachers on how to de-escalate difficult situations.

Beth Morrison, from Angus, has been campaigning for more than a decade over what happened to her son Calum, who has learning disabilities, autism and epilepsy.

She says he was still at primary school when he was restrained on the floor by four adults until he lost consciousness.

Ms Morrison thanked Daniel Johnson for his work on the Members’ Bill and said that in the last school year they had heard from 208 “desperate families” who said their child had been physically and emotionally harmed because they had been subjected to the use of restraint and/or seclusion in Scottish schools.

“These are not large, out-of-control teenagers, they are small children,” she said, adding that 33% were just six years old, 23% were aged five and there had not been a single case involving a child over the age of eight this year.

Ms Morrison said 91% of the children were Autistic or had ADHD.

The Scottish government has incorporated the United Nations Convention of Rights of a Child (UNCRC) into Scots law.

Ms Morrison said the UNCRC was clear that restraint and seclusion must only ever be used as a last resort to keep a child safe from harm.

“Our evidence tells us that it is being used as a punitive response to distressed behaviour due to unmet needs in school,” she said.

“We are bitterly disappointed that despite being well aware of the problem, the Scottish government continue to allow children to suffer bruises, injuries and emotional trauma every single day in school.

“This is happening on their watch and they have refused to protect our most vulnerable in law. That is utterly scandalous.”

She added that Calum’s Law would uphold the human rights of all children, make sure the incidents were recorded and ensure that education staff were given the training and support they desperately needed to respond in the right way when a child is distressed.

“It’s the right thing to do,” she said.

Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, said pupils, parents and teachers were “deeply frustrated” at Scotland’s current approach to the use of restraint and seclusion.

He said: “Not only was this evident from the number of individual respondents who supported my proposed bill, but also from the number of parents and guardians who responded with emotionally personal accounts of their children’s experience, which, at times, I found difficult to read.

Johnson added: “Today marks a huge step forward in this campaign.”

Six years ago, Scotland’s children’s commissioner published a report revealing thousands of restraint incidents affecting hundreds of children.

Parents and campaigners say that despite that report, children – especially those with special educational needs – continue to be inappropriately physically restrained in schools in Scotland.

Beth Morrison has been campaigning for more than a decade for legally enforceable guidelines on the use of physical restraint in schools.

She says she has been contacted by hundreds of distraught parents and says her own son Calum, aged 11, who has learning disabilities, autism and epilepsy, was restrained on the floor by four adults until he lost consciousness.

She says Calum, who is now 25, is still traumatised by what happened.

MSP Daniel Johnson wants physical restraint guidelines in schools to be legally enforceable. The law, if passed, would ensure compulsory training for all teachers on how to de-escalate difficult situations.

The members’ bill needs the support of 18 MSPs to go through to committee stage in Holyrood. Johnson said the consultation on the bill had 151 responses, 91% of which were supportive.

In the past, the Scottish government said some of these concerns would be tackled though their mooted Learning Disability, Autism and Neurodiversity Bill.

But that bill was missing from the recent Programme for Government.

Ministers have said on several occasions they do not think statutory ie legally enforceable guidelines are necessary. But there are clearly many parents who disagree.