BY GABRIEL PRINCEWILL
Authorities of St George’s Bickley Primary school in Bromley South London, have failed to justify why they called police for a 9 year old child in the school, so Eye of Media have got social services to investigate the primary school that so deplorably exceeded reasonable limits in dealing with a child. We have been communicating with the school for nearly a week since the incident happened, but they have continued to be evasive about their indefensible behaviour. Now we waiting to find out what social services do in their investigation. One hitch here is that social services have indicated the wish not to disclose publicly any investigation they undertake because it deals with matters of a child about which they have a staff duty of ”responsibility” and confidentiality”. We like the responsibility because it means they will satisfy themselves that 9 year old’s Kyron Bradley’s psychological well being was not negligently or deliberately abused.
Police where called to the school when Kyron bradley was seen waving a ruler as a pretend sword playing ‘Knights and Dragons’ after teachers alerted headteacher Geraldine Shackleton, who contacted his mother to say police would be talking to her son.
The unhappy mother who released the story to the press in anger said she was so disturbed by the incidence it led her to tears. When eye of media contacted the school for an explanation, the press officer who attended to us was unable to deny that there was need for an explanation as to why police would be called for a 9 year old except they felt the child posed a danger that was beyond the school’s control.
CASCADE
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A statement released to us by Head teacher Geraldine Shackleton, from St Georges read:
“As a head teacher I am expected to use my judgement and act appropriately to ensure children and staff in my school are safe. It would not be appropriate to discuss individual situations, but in general terms schools work closely with local police as a matter of routine to gain help and guidance in these matters. Officers from the local Safer Neighbourhoods teams engage with educational establishments and young people in their area. The work these officers do plays an integral part in helping to keep young people safe and build on community relationships. Sometimes having a gentle conversation with children, with parents or guardians present, can help young people fully understand possible consequences of actions they have taken or have indicated they may take in the future. The whole school takes the responsibility to keep children safe very seriously.
This statement is not very difficult to analyse. The statement given suggests that the involvement of police in matters like this is to gain ”help and guidance”, meaning that the teachers needed guidance in dealing with the young child. Elements of the statement however contradicts the action taken, because the headteacher with all her experience says in the latter aspect of her statement that ”sometimes having a gentle conversation with children with parents or guardians present can help young people fully understand the consequences of actions taken or that may be taken in the future. In this respect, I asked the school to explain why they did not act consistently with their own statement and have a gentle conversation with the child’s guardian or parent present, but rather involve the police?
After all, further extrapolation of the statement given by the school that ”the work these officers do, plays an integral role in keeping young people SAFE and to build on community relationships”, suggest that other children needed to be kept safe from the 9 year old child because he posed a danger to them. So much of a danger that adults in the school could not control him themselves? So much of a danger that the mother cried because no satisfactory explanation was provided to her as to why the police was called for her baby.
Neither the school’s press representative nor their headteacher was able to address this pertinent question, thereby rendering the action taken by the school irresponsible and unduly excessive. The ”gentle conversation” with the child should have been conducted by a school staff, with the parent, not the police! There is no reason to introduce the police to a young child of 9 years old. If the implied suggestion is that the school needed guidance in dealing with the child, this would deem them to be lacking the adequate level of skills to deal with the child.
By chance I raised this issue with a Social Worker from Islington-Shahida Ibrahim on a random day out in East London. I told her what I was doing and asked for he view on the story, she said ”I heard of that story, it was absolutely ridiculous. Every school should have a support worker for children like that, and they should be the first port of call. Children with behavioural issues so bad can then be refereed to referral teams. We will first see if they are known to us and look at any background issues, then see if the school followed the right procedures, she knowledgeably pointed out. In such circumstances the
To take my investigation further, I contacted Social Services in Islington for a broader perspective. In such circumstances, I was told that every school should have a support worker so that any child too difficult to deal with is referred to social services. Should the police have been called for a 9 year old? The helpful social worker on realising she was talking to the press then referred me to the press office who similarly took a stance of privacy on the issue. However, eye of media then contacted Social Services in Highbury and Islington to present the same scenario to them in pursuit of a professional view.
A spokeswoman for the social services press in Islington told eye of media ”if the school involved the police, the assumption will be that the child was exhibiting serious enough violence for this to be done. The child may be throwing themselves around in a violent way that could endanger other children. There would have to be serious enough concern for it to be escalated to the police. Different schools have different thresholds, she continued, different directives. Schools should all have their own procedures for dealing with children . First they should speak with the parent and if repetition of the behaviour occurs, they should contact a support worker in the school. A serious issue will then be referred to our referrals team. Where a parent feels their child has been treated wrongly by the school,all they have to do is write a formal complaint to the school outlining their concerns. If they are still not satisfied they write to Social services, and we investigate it . It will be very surprised if the police was called in circumstances not serious enough”.
We are surprised too, because on the strength of the evidence at our disposal, the situation did not demand the police being called. Calling the police for a child is dangerous for the psychological well being of that child. It introduces them to the police system in a way that can predispose them to more behavioural problem in a self fulfilling prophecy.
IRRESPONSIBLE
A former Social work Manager in Southwark who we approached didn’t want to be named but said ” where a child has the police called on them , they become ‘labelled’ and it could affect them in the next school they go to. Social services should always play the leading role in all serious matters concerning children. Involving the police in matters to do with a 9 year old is irresponsible of any school in the absence of serious and uncontrollable violence displayed by a school.
“The fact the child is a black child also raises the possibility of racism which most people will not want to hear, she said. However it is something that cannot be dismissed. You can’t call the police wrongly on any child and dictate how they interpret the motives for your actions”. Black children who are introduced to the police at such an early age can become more rebellious and choose to identify with other children with criminal tendencies. Even if the police were called for a white child in similar circumstances, it would be equally wrong just that racism will not come to mind for obvious reasons. There is the possibility the school have encountered difficulty in dealing with the mother of this child and decided to go straight to the police but this is still inexcusable on the part of the school. The explanation they have given is absolute rubbish, they took the wrong decision. The school should be investigated ”
SPECULATION
There is no evidence or suggestion any racism was involved here , though organisations that take wrong decisions will always leave themselves open to all sorts of speculations. Such speculations may arise where wrong conduct is displayed against a gay person too. It may even be the school for reasons best known to them were not very comfortable dealing with the mother. However, in the absence of a cogent explanation as to why they called the police, they crossed a thin line. In principle, institutions have a duty to behave responsibly, and this school seems to have fallen short here. Will social services investigate? Amanda Day who handles the press for both social services and the school told eye of media says it would not be appropriate for them to discuss any matters in relation to a child to be confidential
INDEFENSIBLE
In the absence of any evidence that the child was behaving so rebelliously and violently that the police needed to be called, theactions of the school was both indefensible and irresponsible . Kyron’s mother, Natasha Bradley, would not have been so alarmed to report the entire saga to the press had a reasonable reason been provided to her by the police, justifying why she involved them.
Natasha said she had ”no clue” why the police was called. Every parent is entitle to an explanation of any action taken against their child- especially a child of 9 years old. Children can sometimes be unruly and without discipline but every school ought to have a procedure in place for dealing with problematic children. Wherever a child exhibits tendencies of concern, social services should play the leading role in all matters of seriousness concerning children. Introducing a child to the life of a child which may already be complex is not the right way to approach a child who may exhibit any form of truancy.
The head teacher says she has to use her judgement and act appropriately to ensure that children are safe. Eye of Media say that judgement was flawed. We assert that the teachers judgement in calling police for 9 year old Kyron Bradly was avowedly flawed and erroneous, and that no reasonable person in possession of all the applicable knowledge in this case will conclude differently. The school overstepped the mark and should be told this in no uncertain terms.
Social services will investigate the school’s actions, no doubt, but they say they have a duty of responsibility and confidentiality in openly discussing matters in relation to the child. In other words, once they investigate they may have reason to keep the findings private if it can affect the child adversely in any way.
