Dunce's corner banned: It could breach a pupil's human rights, say councils

Published 04th Jan 2010

It has been used as a punishment in schools since Victorian times.

Unruly pupils have been made to stand in the 'dunce's corner' by teachers so that the lesson can carry on without further disruptions.

But now health and safety chiefs have warned that the practice is cruel, describing it as a 'stress position' that could breach a child's human rights.

Schools have received guidelines from local education authorities saying that standing children in the corner is unsuitable and a less physical alternative should be used.

Some teachers won't use the punishment because it 'humiliates' pupils in front of their classmates.

They are now advised to ask the pupil making a nuisance to explain to the class why he is interrupting the lesson.

The Daily Mail has learned that some primary and secondary schools in Norfolk, Lincolnshire, Devon, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Oxfordshire, Sussex and Gwent in South Wales, have banned the punishment.

Traditionalists have attacked the idea, saying teachers will end up with no means left to control disruptive-pupils.

Nick Seaton, chairman-of the Campaign for Real Education, called it 'a ridiculous idea that compares what goes on in a classroom to Guantanamo Bay'.

He added: 'Discipline is a major problem in classrooms at the moment and teachers have got to have some solutions for children who disrupt them or the whole system will fall apart.

'We're getting to the stage where teachers will not have any punishments at all. The hooligans will end up ruling the classroom.'

Last year a primary school teacher was banned from teaching for two years after he made a seven-year-old with brittle bone disease stand in a corner for seven minutes.

There have also been reports of some pupils fainting while standing.

John Bangs, head of education at the National Union of Teachers, said: 'As a punishment, standing a child in the corner is not particularly effective.

'There are some health and safety issues and I've heard of some instances where people are concerned about human rights, but not often.

'The current method is to get the child to explain why they are disrupting the class to try to shame them into behaving. If this fails they could be sent to an exclusion classroom or the headteacher. Standing children in the corner is just not used widely any more.'

But Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe said: 'This is totally out of proportion about health and safety and needs to be looked at again.

'If we're going to take away punishments that teachers can dish out on disruptive pupils then we should give them something else to enable them to control their classes.'

Last year Lambeth Council in South London started paying for unruly pupils to receive foot massages in the classroom to calm them down.

However, medical experts say there is little evidence that this can improve the behaviour of young tearaways.

Teachers at a primary have been warned not to overfill their coffee cups under a range of health and safety measures adopted by a city's schools.

One school in Liverpool has banned children from bringing in Thermos flasks, another has ruled out slip-on shoes while a third feels it necessary to tell pupils not to climb on the roof.

Source: ' Daily Mail '

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