From the Royal College of Psychiatrists "fact sheet": Mental Health and Growing Up, Third Edition. Children who do not go to school :
"You and your child's teachers should encourage your child to go back to school as quickly as possible. Keeping your child off school will make the problem worse. "
No, you are wrong or not by any means always right. Please don't pretend this is a fact sheet.
"If you sort out any underlying problems, like bullying or school work, many of the symptoms will improve."
And if you don't sort it out? Er, not sure. It seems, for wont of any other apparent solution, that children still do have to go back to school. Right, but let's not forget that there are a substantial number of child suicides every year that are specifically related to school problems. Is that not on your conscience, oh you royal grandees?
And just in case anyone is still tempted to think that this is likely to be the child's fault and not the school's, you don't have to go far to find people who were miserable, just miserable to the point of being suicidal in schools, and yet who have not had problems in the rest of their lives.
What is the matter with these eminences who pretend to so much knowledge? Why are children the only class of humans in this country, apart from prisoners, who are apparently compelled to spend huge amount of their time in a particular place that is not of their choosing? Why is being imprisoned in a place you hate, good training for the rest of your life? Why is leaving school and seeking an education elsewhere not evidence of perfectly adaptive and creative problem solving?
Get with it, the RCP.
Apparently there is an email address to which one can write and say what one thinks about the fact sheet:
ReplyDeletedhart@rcpsych.ac.uk
Did you write in to them? Would it be a good idea for quite a few of us to do this, do you think, or are there medical professionals in the psychiatric, home schooling field out there who will do this?
D
I think we do need another drive on them. A load of home educators all writing independently, saying that it has come to the notice of the community and if relevant, giving their testimony...
ReplyDeleteYep, and might enlist all the psychs out there who we know do have actual experience in this field, and who do differ on this point.
Might also have to send them Mike FW's book "Can't Go, Won't Go".
I wrote to them in the comments section ..no acknowledgement as of yet. I know a few people commented there. I wonder if they will ignore us?
ReplyDeletedhart is Deborah Hart. I'm giving her a few days grace in case she's doing the Christmas party round, and then I'm going to nag.
ReplyDeleteFiona
Good, good. Let us know if you want us to join in too.
ReplyDelete