A Child Is Entitled To An Education To Suit Its Needs
There are many failures by local authorities in meeting the needs of children who fall outside the majority and come within a minority. Children from disadvantaged families are affected the most because the parents cannot get the services needed for their child whereas children from privileged backgrounds get bowed down to and so their support from the state is higher than what the majority get even though their families can afford it.
Many children who are traumatised or gifted lose out because they don’t fall into any disadvantaged group and the need for the development of their potential is ignored.
Quite often, when a child comes from an unstable background, the child is already at a disadvantage, but the problems caused by the parents are often passed onto the children by how society looks down on the whole family and therefore the unfortunate children of this family are labelled. Also complicated children such as those with special educational needs are not properly catered for in some cases. If the child is subnormal then the child is more likely to be catered for than the gifted child who has special needs since they are easier to handle whereas gifted children with special needs are more likely to be too overpowering with both their intelligence and their handicap or emotions/moods.
There are many situations where children are labelled as ‘mental’ or ‘psychologically disturbed’ by psychiatrists whereas other children are labelled as ‘backward’ when they are gifted. One of the main reasons for exploiting the needs of these children is that because they are vulnerable and less likely to speak out, if someone who is devious is involved in the care of the child then this worker can abuse the rights of the child often for financial gain but also for the feeling of control and satisfaction.
Thus many children are unacceptably imprisoned from developing their full potential and end up psychologically scarred by their experiences because they are seen in society as the lowest of the lows when in fact they have been victims and are one hundred percent innocent.
Such children find it hard to speak out because they aren’t listened to, but even those who speak their mind and make staff listen to them are often talking to a brick wall and get nowhere unless they cause disturbance or upheaval which is about the only way they can get theirselves heard. If doing it peacefully doesn’t work.
Think of the innocent until proven guilty situation. This is so that until proven guilty the person is seen as innocent and therefore all evidence should be seen as genuine without bias and therefore the person stands a chance of having their side of the story heard. However, if the person was assumed as guilty until proven innocent, then the person would be at an unfair advantage throughout their time before the verdict. Their genuine evidence would be in doubt and they would be treated as more likely to be in the wrong or a liar because of the ‘guilty’ label attached to them, so when someone is punished up front it is difficult to clear their name as the bias associated with injustice continues.
So many children in these situations are treated as guilty until proven innocent, which means their complaints and problems encountered with their way they are treated is ignored and treated as if the child is making it up or ‘round the bend’, whereas the workers involved in caring for them are seen as innocent until proven guilty. If the child who is a victim, then complaining the normal way wont work and so the child becomes unruly in defence which gives those in authority the desire to label the child and therefore ignore the child. This opens the door for workers who neglect the needs and rights of the child to continue to neglect the child whilst being seen as innocent and almost indefinitely never to be found out since most children don’t manage to get beyond this point.
Many staff including doctors, child psychiatrists and other health workers have abused the rights and needs of the children because they stand little or no chance of ever being found out, but some of them do so we know it goes on.
More should be done to enable listening and understanding to the needs of children and help given where possible. They many not be able to express themselves clearly in some cases but no doubt those who listen will no doubt have some idea of what is going on and will be able to spot something which isn’t right before it becomes serious.
Remember, prevention is better than cure, and solve a problem at its earliest stage is easier and less destructive than to let one continue for years.
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On 30th Mar 2009 at 06:31 PM paula said...
Thank you John for your Article on Educational provision for children from disadvantaged families…
I agree that all children should be listened to, however when dealing with children with social/communication disorders, one has to think again as communication itself becomes a huge stumbling block for them. I know when reading a research paper from 2001, the author was appalled at the lack of regard for the many (40% at that time) children stuck in care without a voice having social/communication disorders,as no-one could be bothered to train the relevant staff to give these children a voice.So whether they were happy sad neglected or abused it didn’t matter, yet it would have been so simple to put in place.Its the same in the YOI 60% of the teens in their are whistling in the wind, with speech and communication disorders. Do they have the help needed so that they may succeed in life both academically or socially….no they do not.Children like this usually fall in the ASD category and as you say are not provided for as far as services go despite often being gifted. Such as my own son just now his gifts are being trodden upon whilst they concentrate on the things he isnt too good at…to anyone with half a brain this is only going to send a child s self esteem spiraling on a downward path…
Of course if you happen to be a parent of a child with special needs and a single disabled parent yourself, as you quite rightly point out you are deemed guilty before given the chance to prove your innocence not that you should have to…FII kind of springs to mind….
Who can blame a child for bad behaviour if they cannot communicate with those around them effectively.They just communicate the only way they no how….
On 28th Jun 2009 at 06:08 AM Alison Banks said...
I have a 20 year history on my son who had a Statement of Special Education Needs from the age of 7. The written information I have collected shows failures beyond belief from the many people who worked with my family between 1993 and 2006. Hertfordshire County Council, The Local Government Ombudsman, Politicians and the police have stridently gone out of their way to avoid dealing with the complaints I have put to them regarding the care of my son, so I have taken the matter to the High court. It has not been an easy journey, I have spent the last 9 years seeking redress for my son and I still have a battle before me as funding is not available for this sort of thing so legal help has been hard to find. Luckily I now have a very supportive Solicitor who has vowed to help due to the fact they can see from the written evidence just how hard I have tried in the past to secure the help my son should have received. I was dragged to the Family Court as a way of preventing my sons case going to the Special Education Needs Tribunal where the behaviours of the Local Authority would have been questioned rather than that of myself. I have met with nothing but bureaucracy in the complaints system but have vowed not to give up even though I have been on an emotional rollercoaster because that is what these people expect me to do. My son had rights and these were violated. What is the point in having laws in education if they are not adhered to by the very people who are supposed to act in the best interest of the child?