A
personal account of over 40 years’ experience in the residential
child service in the United Kingdom, based on involvement in the
services as a practitioner and manager.
Names and places have been changed for obvious reasons.
"You
Wanna Know What I Think?"
Ian,
aged 10, was chairing the meeting. Dawn, aged 11, was writer, i.e.
the person who spots the people with their hands up waiting to speak
and writes their names, in order, on the blackboard.
There were 40 or so children, aged from 6 to 13, average age 10,
and about 14 adults, (staff, teachers, carers plus Stanley, the
Head of Bluebell School, and Mavis, his wife, who was Matron).
“Billy, you had your hand up first, what do you want to say?”
asked Ian.
“Well, it’s Jenny. She keeps calling me names, like
‘smelly pants’ and ‘bed wetter’ and I don’t
like it”.
“OK
Billy, what do you want done about it?” continued Ian.
“She should wash my wet sheets”, shouted Billy.
“Yes, Jenny?”
“It is true that I called him ‘smelly pants’ once,
after he threw stones at my cat, Purry, but he should not be cruel
to animals”.
“I’ll be a witness”, called Steve.
“Whose witness are you?” asked Ian, after a whispered
prompt from Arthur, a teacher sitting nearby.
“Jenny’s, of course - I saw Billy throw two big stones
at Purry and one hit her on the back”, replied Steve.
“Then why didn’t Jenny raise Billy?” asked Kate.
“Jenny,” said Ian.
“I was going to, but he got in first, said Jenny.”
“Stanley”, said Ian.
“I think we should deal with Billy’s point first and
then with Jenny’s”.
“OK. Has anyone got any more to say about Billy’s complaint?
Nicky?”
“Well, I don’t like porridge for breakfast every morning….”
“Hang on, Nicky. What’s this got to do with Billy or
Jenny?” said Dave, a carer.
“Nothing but..”
“Well, let’s deal with those points first, all right?”
said Dave.
“Simon?”
“I will be Billy’s witness. I heard Jenny call him names
and I think that is nasty. I mean, I hate it when they call me ‘jug
ears’”.
Laughter!
“I don’t think it’s fair that Jenny should have
to rinse Billy’s wet sheets. He might wet the bed just to
make Jenny suffer,” said Alex.
“Hmm.. I don’t think even Billy would be that foolish”,
said Stanley , “but we don’t expect children to wash
their own sheets. Billy is there anything else you could suggest?”
“She could write 100 times ‘I must not call Billy names’”,
called out Sarah.
“Yes”, said Billy. “ That’s a good idea.
“OK, then let’s vote. All those who think Jenny should
write lines? Will you count the votes, Gus?” asked Ian.
“37 in favour and 14 against”, I announced.
“Jenny will give the lines to Stanley by Wednesday”,
suggested her class teacher, Martha.
“Is that OK, Jenny?” asked Ian.
“I suppose so”, replied Jenny, ”but what about
my cat?”
“What do you want done?” asked Ian.
“I think Billy hasn’t tried to make friends with the
cats and if he did, he would like them and not be cruel to them,
so I want him to clean out the cat hut for three days”.
“Dave.”
“I agree with Jenny about Billy getting to know the cats,
but I think if we make it too horrible a punishment, he might hate
them even more. Why don’t we says he helps feed the cats for
three days rather than cleaning them out?”
“All right”, agreed Jenny, and the School voted in favour
of this.
“Next there’s Stuart”, said Ian.
“I want to raise Gus for being too rough with me”, said
Stuart.
My eyes opened wide when I heard this. They were going to discuss
me and I had only been at the school a month. I did not feel too
comfortable.
“Any witnesses?” asked Ian in a matter of fact voice.
“Yes, I was there. Gus got hold of Ian by the shoulders and
was too rough with him”, confirmed Dan.
“Gus, do want to say anything?” asked Ian.
“Well, I do remember stopping Stuart from bullying Roger and,
yes, I did take hold of him because he ignored my instruction to
stop thumping Roger, but I don’t think I was unduly rough”,
I said.
“I agree with that”, said Angela, “and I think
Gus was very fair. Stuart needed to be stopped in a firm way”.
“I agree with Angela. Stuart has been going round thumping
lots of the smaller kids and Gus did a good job”, added Ryan.
“Yer, but he was still rough with me”, muttered Stuart.
“What do you want Gus to do then, Stuart?” asked Ian.
“I think he should write 200 times ‘I must not be rough
with children’”.
Gosh,
I thought, this could be awkward, suggesting that an adult be given
lines to write could be a very satisfying prospect for a group of
children who had often been treated unfairly by grown-ups. It could
be very embarrassing for me.
“Dave, will you count the votes?” asked Ian.
“All those in favour?”
I looked round the room. Just seven hands went up.
“Against?”
A sea of hands filled the air.
“Seven for; 39 against”.
Phew. I smiled my gratitude.
“Right. If no one else has got anything to raise, we will
go to item 6 ‘Activities this evening’. Dave is offering
guitar, Steve pottery, Mary stamp collecting, Gus magazine and Linda
singing. First all, who wants to go to Dave’s session?”
The lists were written down by the organisers as the hands went
up.
“ I am not sure I want to have Norman at my guitar lessons
this time”,
said Dave. “Last time he came he spent the evening spitting
at Leslie”.
“Oh, Dave, that’s not fair”, squealed Norman.
“Well, OK, Norman, one more chance but remember, it’s
strumming not spitting”.
“OK, that’s Activities done. Anyone want to book the
TV for programmes?”
Children suggested programmes they would like to watch, having made
a note of programmes and times from the Radio Times before the meeting.
The programmes that the majority wanted were chosen.
This was how each weekday began at Bluebell School, from 9a.m. to
about 10.30.
It was just part of an unusual system for taking the views of children
seriously and offering them alternative values to the ones that
had not always served them very well to date. I shall be looking
at some these in the next instalment.
To
be continued……
