While in this side of the Atlantic, US schools are getting kids expelled or suspended for pointing their fingers, gun-like, at other kids, over in the UK, detention has been banned in hundreds of schools. Why?
The move is in response to a lawsuit filed by a 15-year-old girl who claims the detention she received while a pupil at Speyside High School in Aberlour, Banffshire, seriously disrupted her education and violated her human rights.
Freya Macdonald launched legal action against Moray council, claiming that her punishments were in contravention of Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which states it is illegal to detain children in an educational establishment against their will without a court order. Her lawyers have also cited Article 2 of the ECHR, which ensures the right of every child to an education, and Article 3, which protects children from degrading treatment.
Next up: suits claiming that failing grades are “degrading treatment” …
Through an amazing coincidence, a survey published in the same source indicates that a third of British teachers indicate they’ll leave the profession by 2008. The Education Minister thinks that’s a good thing, since he infers that two-thirds of teachers are happy with their jobs.
Oh, man, that’s unreal. Back in the day, we took our lumps in detention and moved on.
Exactly. I’d have thought the Scots would have more sense.