Punishment Cells in Schools
 

Dad’s fury at punishment cell for kids at Doncaster school

12/10/2008
A school enforces a strict code of discipline by sending unruly children to an isolation room.
Punishment for pupils is to sit spotlighted in one of four “cells” created by partitions – the school calls them individual study rooms – and facing one of the isolation room’s black walls.
When a pupil at Ridgewood School in Doncaster, South Yorks, misbehaves parents are sent a letter informing them of the length of sentence.

One parent has likened the set-up to Guantanamo Bay and children at the school reportedly call it “the dungeon”.
Dad Andrew Widdowson found out about it when son Kieran, 11, helped let down the tyres of a boy’s bike at the zero-tolerance school and was told he must spend a day inside the room.
Andrew, 30, claimed: “A teacher rang and told me about the punishment and I went into the school to see for myself what this isolation room was.
“I couldn’t believe it. It was like something out of Guantanamo Bay.
“The room is painted totally black. The walls, the partitions, the window blinds – everything was black.
“The partitions down one side created four cells where school kids are expected to sit at a desk all day.
“My son has never been in trouble. The first time he’s done something and he gets told to go into isolation. The punishment doesn’t fit the crime. I was shocked they were putting children into that room. It’s more like a prison.”
The dad received a letter that said “all the boys involved would serve one day in the isolation room on separate days ... so they can reflect individually on their actions and hopefully decide that they will not be part of doing anything like this again whatever their motivation and degree of involvement in this case.”
Andrew is refusing to allow Kieran, who is academically bright, to be
sent to the room but teachers have refused to let him back into classes until he serves his time in isolation.
The dad claimed: “The school is running a regime of fear. They need to close the room down. I would rather take my son out of the school than see him spend time in that dungeon.”
Kieran claimed: “It’s really scary. I know other boys who have been inside. I’ve heard teachers call it solitary confinement.” The “dungeon” is about seven metres by 2.5m wide and 2.3m high and in a block called the Gresley building.
But the school defended the room and its “cells” or “individual carrels” supervised by a member of staff.
In a statement it said: “It is well lit with a window providing adequate external light and extra ventilation as required, and each individual carrel has separate spot lighting in addition.
“The facility has been in use for over four years and accommodates a handful of pupils each week overwhelmingly for no more than one day and some for less than this. The facility is used at a relatively minor level of the behaviour policy to give pupils a chance to reflect on their behaviour and strengthen their desire to meet expectations in future.
“It overwhelmingly achieves this in terms of pupils not returning for repeated isolations.
“Pupils are supplied with work from current lessons and are free to ask questions of the supervising member of staff as they would in lessons.
“It was fully functional during the 2006 Ofsted inspection and approved as a positive feature of the school’s overall success.
“The school shares the aim of getting Kieran back into education at Ridgewood promptly.
“He is welcome to return at any time, do his day in isolation in line with the behaviour policy for all pupils and return to his full mainstream timetable.” The school added claims the room was intimidating were “comp-letely and wholly appropriate.”



What are your views? Is this the right way to go to punish children, can you think of alternatives?

The following content has been hidden - Reason : Personal view

Personally I think it is disgusting, CHILDREN are put in these, the emotional scars will be horrendous for an 11 year old, especially as it has been used, for what is really a trivual offence.. has the world gone mad? This really is another step to treating all children like criminals.

My school had something similar, although it wasn't painted black and there were windows (but the blinds were closed). It was called "the unit" and had CCTV in it to protect the teachers as well as the students. Personally, I didn't see a problem with it, some students cannot be taught within a classroom and they need to do work. It was either there or outside/inside a senior management office being watched by one of the head teachers.

It looks really scary, and I think it does look similar to what I imagine a cell would look like.
I can see the need for children to be taken out of class sometimes but I don't think they should be taken to a room like that.

right my view... With the most servear cases yes do it!!! hell yes do it!!!! persistant bullying/fighting/letting down tyres yeah send them there.

One thing though with this...
I got put in a room we called it "withdrawal" I loved it i couldn't cope in lessons so for fighting i got sent into withdrawal for half a day yes it was just the community lounge and had light and everything but before that we had nearly the same as that picture but grey. Windows very high up. Unfortinately that room was cut off limits.

Thing is what about those people like me who actually liked it in withdrawal. Seriosuly i got on with my work and completed it... with time to spare...

I think that lad should be put in the isolation room. He should be punnished and spent a day in there i quite like the idea :)

I agree with the OP, it's as if all children are criminals. Yes, misbehaving children may need to be removed from lessons, but where's the harm in an ordinary classroom or staff office?
Children are children. Obviously. Everyone makes mistakes. We are human. Children misbehave. By eleven, yes we may know what the rules and expectations are, but children break rules naturally. everyone has. Even the people who thought up this extreme punishment will have misbehaved as a child, and would have hated to be put into solitary confinement as these children are.

This is extreme and the children will be scarred from the experience, and the teachers who have to sit in the room will not enjoy the silent loneliness. This is wrong.

Our school had something very similar, it was basically a small room where children who misbehaved were sent. However it was part of a clear increasing set of sanctions which started at breaktime detentions,lunchtime detentions then after school detentions, progression to isolation (what the small room was called), then temporary exclusion and then suspension. Obviously parts of this hierarchy could be skipped depending on the severity of the crime. Is it really going to cause psychological trauma to pupils? Is it bollocks! It's for a day and if it truly is so awful then it is an effective deterrent to stop a child from misbehaving again. And as for people saying "its like saying children are criminals" he burst someones bike tyres, surely that is criminal damage?

Children are spolied these days they can literally get away with murder and they know it, these days school has no fit punishment to give. They beat a kid to within an inch of his/her life and they get a 4 week holiday and a slap on the wrist, it's not on. If i was primeminister i would enforce serious penalties on any child that breaks the rules.

This is the start of a good thing, children will learn not to misbehave and be anti-social retards that seem to wish pain on everyone that doesn't see the way they do. The world is going downhill because no one can punish children anymore, the middle east has the right idea criminal punishment is not relaxed because a child did it, they steal they get their hand cut off regardless of age.

Now i am not saying we start cutting hands and feet off with surgical instruments but we need penalties in place that will tell these children that violence and bad behaviour will not be tolerated. If i had it my way that black room would be a torture chamber and these kids would learn to be nice. Something has to be done because to be honest this country is going to hell because of bad parenting and a bad government that is enforcing laws to protect children further for their naughty ways.

the choky(sp) in matilda!!!!!!!!!
personaly i dont think it will make much difference to behaviour, the
school just wastes a load of money (that could be used on new computers ect) on redecorating a classroom

What if there aren't any spare classrooms? Also, in classrooms the pupils can't be separated as well and so they'll just muck about and not do any work. Staff are busy, they might have meetings, phonecalls, wanting to get on with their own work without having to constantly get a pupil to do their work.

They aren't going to be traumatised by sitting in a room facing a wall and doing work. What about the pupils who are traumatised by their bullying? If it effects them that much then they might start to behave a bit better.

I'm not against isolation for certain circumstances, but I think the black out type effect has pushed it too far.

There have been cases, a fair few too many really- where children are put into isolation for petty things which should have been dealt with in better ways, it's easier though for a teacher to put a child in isolation than to sort the real problem..
Is forgetting you book a just cause to be shoved straight in there? When other methods would probably be much for effective.

I agree.

I would say something longwinded but i can't be bothered.

I don't see a problem with it. Kids get away with far too much in schools these days.

Has anyone considered that they probably painted everything black to reduce the amount of graffiti that can be done?

I quite like the idea.

As for the 'black out' effect. Think of your school drama studio...black walls, black or dark floor and blacked out windows. It's not like they're sat in the dark. It's just a modified drama studio. If it works then I'm all for it.

I've been a supply teacher in some really tough inner city [albeit primary] schools.
Some of the behaviour was really ... bad. But there was nowhere to send the children. Going to another class just reinforced their bad behaviour, and it stopped other children from learning. [never mind causing the teacher untold stress]
So, I actually think it's a good idea.
Noone's yelling at them.
Noone's hurting them.
The rest of the class, and the teacher can preserve their sanity.

Maybe I'm biased because I've taught in some 'hell holes' but yes...

oh yeah I totally see the resembelence to Guantanamo Bay *rolls eyes*

I know, that is a pathetic resemblance as i see no room for torturing the children with white noise torture or water boarding techniques, this is a room that should tell the children that bad behaviour is not accepted.

Yay, send them there.
One thing wrong, punish.
Children need to learn.

i think that there are extremes to seperate kids and stuff. If this school has had to delevep a zero tolerance (lots of schools don't) then the school obviously needs a room that the kids are going to be wary off. I thin kthe black out effect may be a bit over the top. That smacks of an 'interragation' room. And when you're sitting in a blacked out room (ONE window) and a flurescent light over you kids wills tart to develop headaches and can also get eye problems. I would like to know what the heck happened to detention!

I wokr with young offenders and alot of my clients are in and out of the youth detention centre. It's not a bright and happy place but even IT doesn't have a room matching this schools... I think a solitary room is fine. but it shouldn't be blacked out. *nods*

I don't think that sounds so bad. All they have to do is sit in there for the day, and then everything's back to normal. How is that traumatising? When I was in school, when we got in trouble, we had to go to another classroom and sit in a "Think Time" desk, where all the other kids in that class could see you and know you were in trouble. I'd take isolation over that, personally!

Personally I find that absolutely ridiculous. I thknk whoever came up with this genious plan could use a little of "What did the five fingers say to the face" if you know what i mean.

Chelsey...any way you can source that diagram?

here is a pic from sourced from the "Click here to read more on this story from the Daily Mail." (if you believe the fLIES :P) of the outside of the 'chamber'




http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,436904,00.html and scroll down till you see:
"Click here to read more on this story from the Daily Mail."

OR

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ly-pupils.html

People have such a bleeding heart, liberal view of children these days.

It's a room in which the child sits at a desk, doing work. It's black but the room is still well lit. I don't really see the cruelty. I don't even see it as much as a punishment as much as somewhere to remove unruly children who disrupt those who actually do want to work. Childhood delinquency has increased dramatically in recent years and I'm not surprised as people seem incapable of enforcing any kind of discipline for fear of it being branded cruel or unreasonable.

I think it's brilliant. Children get away with so much these days and the worst effect is on those who actually want to learn. We had a similar room in our primary school when I was there (although it wasn't black) and it was so boring to be sat in there for even half an hour that it worked and made some of the disruptive kids behave more, and consequently helped everyone else focus because distractions were taken away.

Guantanamo Bay? It's a form of primary school punishment. It's hardly going to psychologically damage them, and the fact that they're actually being punished (as opposed to just being 'told off') is a far bigger improvement to other disciplinary actions seen these days. Plus it's a way to put some more control and give authority to the teachers because a respect for authority is what is severely lacking in a lot of children today.

The only thing I would disagree with is that it was obviously used as a punishment for something outside the classroom. I don't think this would be necessarily fitting as it doesn't teach the child a particular lesson, whereas isolation during lunchtime might.

The thing about suspension, is that the child misses school - which is what they want. And while out of school they can get up to all kinds of trouble.

My old school has something like that! That call it the LSuU (learning support unit). It doesn't have black walls but the only window is the one that is in the door....

I was in there a couple times and its not fun!!

I totally agree with you. There are a lot of people who get suspended just so they could have a few days off. It was known fact that that is what they wanted.

I like the idea of that room. It forces them to do their work and it forces them to behave. I think it would be better if there was some natural light, but most of my classrooms in high school didn't have any windows so that's not a huge problem. And the walls are black probably to cut down on graffiti. I honestly don't see the problem with this.

It's like detention except the students are separated without the ability to pass notes or anything.

Why not just remove the bad influence? There is a big difference between someone who is removed from a lesson because they are having a panic attack, or need some quite time and someone who is being obnoxious, bullying, and disrupting others.

you see in the states there is this fun thing called ISS (in school suspension) your teachers give you all your work at the beginning of the day and by 9th period you need to have all of it done. there is one (ex marine) teacher that supervises it

I find this kind of hilarious.

I can't say i particularly like this. There are better ways to discipline children and i don't think black rooms with little natural light are the way to go. More so, i can't see it actually helping disruptive children.

if i am repeating what other people have said then excuse me.

but i really dont see a problem with it.
the dad is blatently exagerating.
and i'll be damned if his son has never been in trouble before...he wont have been informed every time will he?
and he did something wronk here, and should be prepared to accept the punishment.


his father is disruppting his education for no real reason.

just get over it?




my school has a similar system.
and it works.

.....so yeah.
i dont see the big deal.

Great idea.

if there was something like that at my first school maybe i would have been good.

We have one of these at our school, but the problem is that its become a kind of "badge of honour" once in there you can get away with doing no work, and the teacher cannot physically force you.


Ive noticed removing the disreptive influence nad placing them in a lessons with a higher year works best.
Because it embarrasses them. We have alot in our A level music. And theyre watching us having fun getting on with it and generally receiving the relavant priviledges.

thats my take on it.

I agree with howlie.
to some extent.

sometimes thought kids want to show off even more in front of older kids coz they feel the need to prove them selves.
but with the majority i reconthats the best policy

x

We had isolation for YEARS at my old school, no one made a song and dance about it.
It was essentially the same set up as that, just not black.
It was no big deal and it really worked to not have the disruptive kids in classes.

Why not put them into a younger class if you really want to humiliate them?

And what has happened to detention?!

well in my school we had a system that got wroked through....it goes...verbal warning->time out (sent outside classroom for 10 mins/change seat) ->detention ->isolation

but obv more serious incidents could skip out levels...

i think it worked pretty well

The problem is that no one has the decency of manenrs any more

horrendous scars? from sitting in a room for a day? you should see some of the stuff i've seen if you want to be scarred! personally, i dont think it would scar anyone.

there's always silence in punishments like detention, thats the whole point. it's not supposed to be fun and a time for chatting with friends, its punishment for misbehaviour.


i actually think he jst let the tires down but i still agree with you, its interfering with someones property and kids do criminal damage all the time not just in this instance.

definitely agree with this.

exactly.

again, exactly.

To be honest. As a child, I wouldn't have minded this. I probably would have preffered the silence to the disaproving questions we used to get when made to stand outside the class. In fact...yes. I would have liked it. Like one on one tuition.

They do this a fair amount in primary schools but a.the other class is disrupted by bad behaviour b.some children actually want to go to another class. I had a child in my class this year who purposefully misbehaved so he would get sent back to his old class with his old teacher.

Its not really fair on the other teachers too.

Basically its a no win situation
Although i got stupidly annoyed yesterday because my teacher had to take isolation duty so we couldnt get any work done whent eh studio went down

Hello,

I wasn't going to say anything, but there are a few here that keep saying "it's not so bad", or "there are alot of bleeding hearts for children". Let me tell you, alot of bad things can and do happen in those rooms. My school had one of those so called "time out rooms". The people that worked in that room had a huge supuriority complex. I would be drug in by my shirt, slamed into the chair facing the wall and have the chair shuved into tord the wall. The whole time my heart beating wondering what the dude is going to do to me. On the other side of this room is two smaller rooms without doors. I have been short of basically pushed into there and told "get in there and don't you move". I hadn't attacked anyone. A bullie had attacked me, I walked away and walked out to the field to sit and calm down. They came and drug me to the room. No asking what happened. No trying to resolve it. It went on for a little over a year. Every few days I would get attacked and shortly after practically dragged to the time out area. Belive what you want. I know what goes on in those rooms. It's not just sit and chill. There is stuff you don't see. There is stuff that goes on they don't tell the parents about. I am on the side saying the rooms need to be removed and a better system come up with. All they are doing with these rooms is switching out a child bully for a adult bully.

-Stanley

I'm sorry that that is the experience you had. That is more a fault with the teachers than the actual room though. My school's had a CCTV camera recording it all the time and the door was always left open.

i dont really think it would do much

I think that ISS (in school suspension) works quite well. Also in our school we have something called an ESC (Ethics and Support Center), there are two staff members that work solely in the ESC. When a student misbehaves the teacher sends them to the ESC and the staff members who work in there are in charge of disciplining the student. The ESC works wonderfully in our school. I don't think that sticking kids in an isolated dark room where they must remain silent helps at all. Intimidating people to get them to behave is only going to make them misbehave more.