Compliance over care
When school responses prioritise a child’s outward compliance instead of their well-being. A family’s concern about distress is reframed as disruptive to classroom order.
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Restraint and isolation in British Columbia schools
Physical restraint and isolation—sometimes termed “seclusion”—remain legally unregulated in British Columbia schools, even as provincial guidelines seek to limit their use to moments of extreme risk. Physical restraint is defined as any method of restricting a student’s freedom of movement to maintain safety, while seclusion involves involuntary confinement in a space from which the student…
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When autistic girls fawn and schools look away
They told her to be polite while she was being harmed. Now they call her difficult for saying no. Jeannie never screamed—never yelled or stormed out or flipped a desk or tore paper into confetti; instead, she froze, and in that freezing, she vanished from their view. No one interrupted the boy when he joked…
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The cost of compliance – the foundational critique and case for change
When children are dysregulated, the response from educators is too often punitive. For neurodivergent students in particular, the cost of these responses is high: shame, trauma, social exclusion, and a deep erosion of trust. But it does not have to be this way. Restorative alternatives are not new. They are ancient practices found in many…
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Collective punishment in schools teaches the wrong lesson
Imagine you’re at work, focused on your tasks, when your boss announces that no one can leave until two distracted coworkers finish their work. You’d be outraged, right? Yet, this exact approach—punishing an entire group for the actions of a few—is sometimes still used in elementary classrooms. In a recent article, Blair questions the pedagogical…
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A teacher’s perspective on collective punishment
In this powerful TikTok video, Mr Trayvon reflects on his own past use of collective punishment in the classroom—and why he no longer believes it serves students. With candour and humility, he acknowledges the harm these practices cause, particularly to children already carrying the weight of trauma, neurodivergence, or social marginalisation. His shift away from…
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Why collective punishment doesn’t work
Group punishment doesn’t fix behaviour – it just makes kids hate school, in The Conversation. explains that collective punishment might seem effective in achieving short-term compliance, but is both unfair and ineffective in the long run. This article explains: Key takeaway: Collective punishment may offer a quick fix, but it erodes trust and fails to…
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Why i started this campaign
As a solution architect and parent of disabled children, I’ve seen the public education system from both sides. What I’ve found is not a system in crisis—it’s a system functioning exactly as designed: rewarding compliance, punishing difference, and quietly discarding those who don’t fit. This post explores how exclusionary practices like collective punishment persist in…
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She’s agonised inside and that doesn’t count?
Much of this unfolded in 2022 and 2023, during a period when my daughter remained undiagnosed as autistic, unsupported in any formal way, and largely invisible to the school system. The patterns described here continue to shape our lives. In this essay, you’ll hear the cautious hope I carried—that a formal diagnosis would unlock the…
