A shocking report out of the United Kingdom reveals how children in special needs schools may not be as safe as we hope, and expect, that they are. The story centers around 13-year-old Tobie, an autistic boy who lives in Wolverhampton, England. Tobie was physically assaulted by a teaching assistant – somebody that parents trusted and respected enough to help assist their children throughout their school day – and now parents are calling for massive reforms to be made.
According to mom Charlotte, her special needs son was “kicked” and “pushed” by the teaching assistant, and even had his head held down on the ground during an assaulted that lasted roughly 20 minutes. Charlotte said that the only reason they even found out about the assault was because of CCTV cameras that were installed in the school.
Charlotte described the horror of witnessing the attack on the footage, once it was made available to her, and confirmed that the male teaching assistant betrayed their trust in a place her son “thought was safe.”
61-year-old William Clifford has since pled guilty to the assault after being charged with child cruelty in Wolverhampton Crown Court earlier in July. Clifford won’t be sent to prison, though – instead he was handed a suspended sentence that will last nine months.
So, what now?
Well, the school said that they followed all relevant processes correctly, and that they put the safety of the children in the care at the heart of everything they do. And that could well be true – schools, after all, can’t always predict when a member of staff will betray their trust. They can, however, ensure that they are equipped to handle the problem if and when it arises – and more parents are now calling on schools like Tobie’s to install security cameras.
Under current English law, schools have the option to install CCTV, but it isn’t necessary. Campaigners now say that schools across the United Kingdom should be required to install surveillance, but previous efforts in Scotland were rejected by the government over concerns about privacy.
It’s uncertain, then, what happens next. But maybe this is something schools in the United States should be thinking about…
To learn more about Tobie’s story, click here.
