Corporal punishment opposed

Press, 3 September 1982, Page 1

Corporal punishment opposed

The principal of Stanmore Road Boys’ Home says he is “totally against punitive punishment.” Mr B. Zygadlo said yesterday that corporal punishment had been outlawed at the school two years ago. “I am very anti-punitive punishment,” he said. “If staff members of children’s homes have not got the social work skills to control the boys,, then, I am sorry, they are no good.” For that reason, Mr Zygadlo suspended two staff members at the home, Christchurch’s only regional children’s home, last May. Disciplinary procedures are under way. The two men had used excessive force in two separate incidents, a week apart, he said. Every Sunday, Mr Zygadlo has an informal discussion session with the boys in the home. “I could tell from the feedback I was getting that something was not right. The boys had become very quiet,” he said. Not long afterwards Mr Zygadlo learned of the “rough treatment” of the boys. One of the men had been a social worker for 20 years, he said. The Stanmore Road Boys’ Home at present has 25 boys, and has a capacity to house 29. there is a staff of 19,, which includes a psychiatrist,

a clinical psychologist, and a part-time educational psychologist, who is employed by the Education Department. Mr Zygadlo said that the Stanmore Road home had the highest bed-occupancy rate and the lowest rate of absconding of any children’s home in New Zealand, according to statistics from the Social Welfare Department. This week, about half the boys are away in camp at Hanmer Springs. The home had three “secure units”. for difficult boys who needed a short burst of detention, Mr Zygadlo said. The rooms were well lit, heated, and ventilated and boys were only kept in these units for a maximum of two days, he said. The units were locked. In addition, there was a “time-out” room, which was used as a “cooling off” for boys for 15 to 20 minutes. It was never locked, and boys could walk out at any time after talking to staff. Christchurch’s only other children’s home is the national Kingslea Home for girls, in Burwood. It is run by the Social Welfare Department’s head office in Wellington. The boys’ home is a regional boys’ home and takes referrals from Nelson, Blenheim, the West Coast, Canterbury, and south to Timaru. • -