Celebrity endorsement usually brings to mind glamorous products flying off shop shelves because they have been seen dangling on the arm, neck or wrist of a famous film or sports star.
Sometimes, though, those in the public eye use their fame in more constructive ways, to give a voice to those who struggle to be heard.
That’s what happened when US socialite Paris Hilton - in among tweets about celebrity friends, fur babies and fashion - got somewhat unexpectedly behind those campaigning to end restraint and seclusion in schools in Northern Ireland.
On 24 February, Hilton tweeted out to her more than 16 million followers that, as a survivor of restraint and seclusion, she was standing with the International Coalition Against Restraint and Seclusion (ICARS). She then called on the Northern Ireland Assembly “to uphold Articles 2, 3, 4 & 28 of UNCRC, pass Harry’s Law to provide meaningful protections” - the Harry’s Law campaign being an effort to make it compulsory for schools to report to parents and the education authority when they had restrained or isolated a pupil.
Behaviour management: Fighting to end restraint and seclusion in schools
Hilton has spoken out about her own experience of attending a boarding school where she “felt like a prisoner” and where there was “hitting and strangling” of students. She says she wants “to be a voice for children and now adults everywhere who have had similar experiences”.
Now her support, coupled with the dogged determination and hard work of parents, seems to be paying off in Northern Ireland.
On Monday, Beth Morrison - who is a co-founder of ICARS and has been campaigning against restraint and seclusion in schools since her own son was restrained at a Dundee special school - tweeted that her fellow campaigners in Northern Ireland were “absolutely smashing it” with the media coverage of Harry’s Law.
That campaign has now resulted in the Northern Ireland Assembly calling for isolation rooms to be abolished and the mandatory recording and reporting of all incidents of “restrictive intervention”.
The assembly also wants mandatory training for staff working with children and young people, and guidance “on therapeutic-based, non-aversive, positive behaviour strategies”.
In Scotland, we have recently had our own reminder of how very badly wrong things can go for vulnerable children in school. Teacher Linda McCall was this month found guilty at Selkirk Sheriff Court of assaulting five pupils between August 2016 and October 2017. The children were autistic, nonverbal and aged between 5 and 7 at the time.
The local MSP, Christine Grahame, has called for an independent inquiry into Scottish Borders Council’s handling of the case. More generally, we all need to listen to what parents like Morrison have been telling us for years - and act.
In 2018, a report by the office of Scotland’s children’s commissioner, Bruce Adamson, found that restraint in schools was happening inappropriately and too often, and that it was not governed by guidance or consistently recorded.
The children’s commissioner called for schools to stop using seclusion immediately. He made 21 recommendations in total, including for all incidents of restraint and seclusion to be reported, and for national policy and guidance on restraint and seclusion in schools to be published.
But the wait goes on. The Covid pandemic has understandably interfered with progress but 12 pandemic-free months had already passed with no action taken.
The children’s commissioner has always been clear that he does not blame teachers. When the 2018 report was first published, he told Tes Scotland that it was “shameful” that teachers were being left to try to manage behaviours without adequate training and support.
In a blog post published last month, Nick Hobbs - head of advice and investigations at the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland - wrote that school staff need alternative “tools, training, guidance and support”. When that does not become available, the message is clear: both children and school staff are let down.
Paris Hilton is clear-sighted enough to see that, but is the Scottish government?
Emma Seith is a reporter for Tes Scotland. She tweets
This article originally appeared in the 28 May 2021 issue under the headline “Why has government been so slow to act on restraint and seclusion in schools?”
