The father of a seriously challenged boy has told an inquiry about his son being placed in a ‘holding cell’ at school.
Edward Croft told the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation of People with Disabilities on Tuesday about the first time he visited the space where his son Ryan was being confined.
To keep Ryan in, the Western Australian school converted a closet into a ‘time out’ room he dubbed a ‘holding cell.’
Ryan’s sibling witnessed teachers dragging Ryan, who was screaming, by his arms and legs one day.
Ryan, now 20 years old, is completely non-verbal and’struggles to make sense of the world,’ Mr Croft told the inquiry in Canberra.
He went to a regular school in rural WA, but his behavior deteriorated over time, with meltdowns becoming more often.
‘The school tried… but they were unable and unprepared… untrained in dealing with a youngster of my Ryan’s personality,’ Mr Croft explained.
Ryan’s disruptive behavior in grades 3 and 4 led to his teacher isolating him from his classmates by relocating his desk to the corner.
He was encircled by blackboards and couldn’t see any other students while he was there.
Mr Croft, who is himself a teacher, accepted that Ryan’s teacher was ‘well-intentioned,’ but he believes his kid was placed in the corner for the sake of convenience.
Ryan, who has no concept of risk, used to run away from his education helpers, frequently leaving the school grounds and crossing the road.
As a result, the school desired to construct a contained room for Ryan that could be secured from the outside.
Ryan might be taken there for a ‘time out’ to ‘calm himself,’ or for misbehaving.
‘The closed room was an emptied walk-in closet, around 1.5 meters wide and 2-3 meters deep,’ said senior counsel assisting the commission Kate Eastman.
Pink was used to paint the walls. A bean bag was placed in the door, and a window was installed.’
Mr. Croft and his wife felt compelled to accept the request since the school was struggling to manage Ryan.
He told the committee, “It truly saddened us a lot to know that our son was being put in this location.”
Mr Croft said they didn’t have the courage to speak out about the closet at the time, despite being distressed by it, in a statement read to the commission.
‘I remember my wife crying,’ he added. ‘We despised this.’ However, we felt compelled to agree.’ One day, our younger kid returned home from school distraught, and we had to console him.
‘He told us he’d witnessed two or three male teachers holding Ryan by his arms and legs, screaming.’
Ryan, according to Mr Croft, was unable to comprehend the punishment and express how it had affected him.
‘Ryan is unable to articulate himself, and I am his sole voice,’ he explained.
The investigation is still ongoing.