STORY:

Caitlyn Scott-Lee, 16, was found dead in the grounds of Wycombe Abbey, a prestigious £44,000-a-year independent school for girls.

Her father, Jonathan Scott-Lee, in an interview with the Sunday Times, said that his daughter, who had been diagnosed with autism, had been dreading facing the “headmistress’s detention” and had “hyper-fixated” on the punishment.

She was facing detention as vodka and a tattoo kit was discovered in her music locker just before the Easter holidays.

In her diary she wrote: “I hope this is my last diary entry. I want to kill myself tomorrow.”

The school said safeguarding is “our highest priority and the continued wellbeing and happiness of each one of our pupils lies at the heart of everything we do here. We are only too aware of the crucial importance of effective pastoral support for the young people in our care and our pupils know that staff are always available to listen to them and support them.”

Caitlyn also thanked some of her fellow pupils for their friendship and love and said goodbye as she wished them luck for the future.

An inquest into her death will be held this year.

Source: telegram.co.uk

SENSES (Child Safeguarding and Protection Principle):

The school from the story stated that they a committed to safeguarding as it is a priority for them. However, this is not exhibited in their approach to discipline. They were outrightly committed to punishing this girl, forgetting that the purpose of discipline should never be to destroy a child in the process.

In a nutshell the purpose of discipline is to help children to be conscious of their dignity of human person.

Schools must always understand the individuality of each child, and it is important to apply this to every child placed under their care. In this story, it was obvious that the school did not take into cognizance the individuality of the late 16-year-old girl child.

STONE (Call to action):

As a Child-Focused organization interested in Securing a Friendly and Protective Environment Children® we must promote the culture of discipline over the mantra of child discipline.

The culture of discipline says we must exemplify and teach the principles we want to inculcate into children as a means of stopping them from doing wrong but an impetus for embracing discipline as a way of life.

The culture of discipline within the school system is not exemplified but it is built through a system of investing in the behavioral outcomes of our precious children in larger proportion than we invest in their learning outcome.

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