The warning lights about the welfare of our children keep flashing
A new poll suggests that one in six school pupils with autism have not attended since the new school year started last summer. And of parents who have autistic children, nearly half (45 per cent) feel blamed for their child's absences.
Of the reasons for absences given, three in five cite mental health, about one in three physical health and about one in five argue the school place isn't appropriate. This paints a picture of a school system struggling to cope with additional needs.
The poll is UK wide and commissioned because of legislative changes in England, but the picture for children with additional support needs (ASN) isn't different in Scotland. Scotland-only data shows that absence rates among ASN pupils is 87 per cent compared to 92 per cent for all pupils.
The story parents tell is of children overwhelmed by the school environment who often find themselves unable to cope and parents overwhelmed by the constant caring responsibility involved. It is not a picture of a system effectively supporting parents of children with additional needs.
And it is a system being overwhelmed by the increase in demand. In 2016 the proportion of pupils with additional support needs in Scotland was barely over 20 per cent; by the end of last year it was at 44 per cent. Even more alarming, in 2007 incidence of ASN pupils was only 5.3 per cent.
That a pupil in a Scottish school is now almost as likely to have additional support needs as to not have any additional needs and that this proportion has more than doubled in a decade and increased 800 per cent in two dedades only raises more questions; why is this happening? When and why did it become normal that a very large proportion of pupils are incapable of learning effectively in a normal school environment?
When a social phenomenon grows at this rate we can almost certainly infer that it is environmental – we can't be seeing any kind of genetic or physiological change over that short period which was not environmentally driven.
What that in turn tells us is that we can’t contain or manage this issue through the provision of ASN services in schools alone. Those are essential and under threat, with a 20 per cent cut in the number of ASN staff over the same period in which demand more than doubled. Local authority budget cuts are placing new and sustained pressures on ASN provision right now.
Which means effectively we now have one ASN support staff for 100 ASN pupils. That is clearly not going to be sufficient to provide proper support. But at the same time there is no level of support appropriate to rates that rise this quickly.
The truth is that ASN is an symptom of a much bigger social problem. Adults have created an environment for children which is causing them extreme anxiety and emotional overload. They are in turn making the school a more disruptive place which is then making it harder for pupils who struggle with sensory overload.
It has taken two decades for society even to begin to discuss this issue. As recently as this time last year almost every politician you can name was hiding from discussing the issue of children and social media. But this issue is so big and affects so many people that it couldn't be ignored indefinitely.
Which means there is now widespread agreement that 'something' should be done about social media in relation to children. This is welcome but woefully insufficient. Social media and 'digital childhoods' are clearly a very big part of the problem but those are in turn only one aspect of the commercialisation and exploitation of children in pursuit of GDP growth which has got significantly worse over recent decades.
We heavily regulated advertising directed at children precisely because young minds cannot cope with the manipulation techniques of advertising. But now advertising has escaped regulation and has seamlessly embedded itself in every aspect of life.
The crucial policy conclusion that should always be drawn from an environmentally-related social problem is that the problem can only be tackled environmentally. We have created an environment that prioritises the interests of Amazon or X or Facebook or Google over the interests of children.
Common Weal believes we must invert this relationship so we are always creating an environment that promotes a nourishing childhood and encourages healthy child development. In a parallel to the Public Health agenda, we call this Public Care, and you can find a lot more detail in our short book Caring for All.