Schools Intervention

  

  Students with physical disabilities could experience school playgrounds as dangerous places. 


Example 1. 

  Eleven-year-old Ian spent his morning tea break in the ‘safe’ space of the special unit, away from his classmates in his regular year seven class, and at lunchtime he went to the library. He felt there was a good chance that he would be hit with balls or knocked over in the playground, and said it would make his life easier if other students had a better understanding of his physical impairment and the effects of this on his school life:

"They need to know more, even if I am not in their classroom. They need to know what, like not in their faces, just a bit like, disabilities. . . the fact that I can’t just walk through anything"(MacArthur, Sharp, Gaffney & Kelly, 2007, p.131).

 

Image from <http://www.leadonnetwork.org/wordpress/2012/05/23/education-update-13/>

"Harry felt that his school sidelined disabled students" (MacArthur et al. 2007, p.151).

  "Students with disabilities indicated that schools’ bullying procedures were not always effective. They wanted more attention to be paid to bullying than other things" (MacArthur, 2012, p.5). 


A key to positive social participation for disabled students lay in the development of an inclusive and equitable school culture that recognised diversity. 


Schools should:

1. consider disability awareness.
2. provide curriculum strategies and resources that value diversity.
3. consider using a student survey to allow students' freedom of expression. 
4. have clear anti-bullying/harassment policies and procedures and make students clearly be aware of it. 
5. encourage students' involvement in a school program