‘Spect

‘Spect?

Circumspect

Disrespect

Respect

When you read the Observer article ‘Revealed: brutal guide to punishing jailed youths’ you will realise that their headline is, unusually for a newspaper, understated.

The header underneath that headline prepares one a bit better for the article:

‘Drive fingers into groin’, says prison service manual.

“Youths” in this context means young people from 12 up to 17 years old, children, teenagers. Physical Control in Care was published by HM Prison Service in 2005.
What kind of society is it that describes a physically violent act by an adult on a juvenile as ‘distraction?’
I do understand that young people can be very violent sometimes, and will need to be restrained for their own safety as well as for the safety of those around them.
Many of the techniques quoted by the Observer from Physical Control in Care, however, would have seemed inappropriately violent or degrading if they were recommended for controlling adults even.

Circumspect

The fact that the authorities were circumspect about revealing the contents of this guide indicates that they were aware that at least some outside HM Prison Service would question the restraint methods.

I am not going to say more here about the contents of the publication. I trust those whose business it is to do something swiftly to revoke this guide; then to find out if these guidelines were ever implemented, and to carry out any necessary action.

Instead, I will ask some questions.

Disrespect

How does the level of disrespect described by the manual help troubled teenagers to respect others?
How do 12 to 17-year-olds end up locked away in secure institutions?
Could it be that some of the adults involved in their young lives have failed them?
Is bullying really so deeply-rooted in our society that it could be approved officially?

Is disrespect endemic in our society?

Respect

If children are brought up by and amongst adults who treat others – old and young – with respect, are they less likely to do things that result in being locked away?

Could it be that the behaviour that gets such young people into trouble with authorities is an expression of anger, confusion, pain caused by some of the adults responsible for them?

Perhaps the children who have learned that it is best to be troublesome are expressing what their environment has taught them?

Many say “respect has to be earned.” I think that it should be the other way round: start with expecting other people to be worthy of respect. One is more likely to start a dialogue, and a dialogue can start to sort out problems.