Primary school bottle-feeds 10-year-olds because they 'missed out on love'

Pupils up to the age of 11 are being bottle-fed and mothered in school as part of a radical new move to address poor discipline.

A state primary school has become the first in the country to take part in the approach, which was developed in the US to give problem children the love and attention they may have missed out on at a younger age.

Instead of being given a sharp telling off or a few minutes on the naughty chair, they have one on one sessions with a trained school therapist.

The children - aged between six and 11 - are bottle-fed like young babies, nursed and encouraged to play games promoting patience and teamwork.

Parents who feel they no longer have control over their child can sign up to the Theraplay programme, which lasts up to three years and emphasises the importance of a strong and loving bond with a mother figure.

The controversial approach - developed during the late 1960s - has now been adopted by Rockingham Primary School in Northamptonshire.

The technique is based on the assumption that children with behavioural problems have often failed to bond with their parents in infancy.

Last night, the school's headteacher Juliet Hart defended the programme amid opposition from critics who claim it prevents children from growing up.

"I'm sure there will be some people who won't agree with what we are doing but this form of therapy is recognised around the world for changing behavioural patterns.

"We are still like any other school. In each classroom children agree appropriate types of behaviour and know the consequences if they are not adhered to, including time-out or missing play-time.

"They also know that if they work hard they will be rewarded with approval. However, there are some children who need help to develop relationships with their parents.

"For whatever reason the bond has gone and there is no mutual respect. Through theraplay we encourage that bond to grow so the child feels more secure, calm and happy.

"It's not about discipline. This is about changing a child's behaviour over time. Admittedly, it will have an impact on discipline but only in the long term."

She added: "For years, teachers have laboured with resistant children and wondered: 'How can I unlock this person'. Once you have emotional literacy, then the learning can begin."

At Rockingham Primary School, which has 180 pupils, they have installed a dedicated Theraplay unit, complete with one-way mirror, run by trained therapist Jo Williams.

She works with a handful of children at the school and uses a variety of therapeutic methods to help children who are experiencing problems at home and at school, including calming music and lights.

In a typical session she might comb a child's hair, spoon feed them, put cream on their cuts and bruises or wash dirty hands.

"It's all about making them feel they're worth looking after," she said. "I had one child who was having trouble bonding with her child. There was little touching and eye contact.

"By the end, she was bottle-feeding him, he was stroking her hair. She said it was one of the best things that had ever happened to her."

The children who visit her are often from poor and fractured families. Often they come in groups while others come alone whilst a parent watches from a booth.

But campaigners claim Theraplay, by bottle-feeding youngsters as old as 11, holds them back and prevents them from growing up into adults.

Dr Dennis Hayes, leader of the education forum at the Institute of Ideas think tank, said: "This is part of the infantilisation of adult life.

"It's about keeping people permanently as children, not helping them to grow up."

It is not the first time that schools have looked to other non-conventional methods to discipline unruly children. Last year, it emerged children at Liberton and Gracemount high schools in Edinburgh were given lessons in anger management.

Youth workers visited the schools in a bid to reduce classroom violence and cut the number of exclusions. Teachers there reported a noticeable improvement in the children's behaviour during the pilot project.

The theraplay technique was devised in 1967 in Chicago in a bid to build strong families and emotionally healthy children and is now recognised worldwide.

They argue that warm and loving relationships are essential to a child's self-worth and as a result help them to gain mutual respect for others around them.

The Theraplay Institute, which has 60 therapists in the US and Canada, said it had seen a growing interest from the UK where it has a handful of therapists.

Minister:
Well, you seem to have a whole ward to yourself, my boy.

Alex:
Yes, sir. And a very lovely place it is too, sir. When I wake up in the mid of the
night with my pain.

Minister:
Yes, well, anyway , good to see you on the mend. I kept in constant touch with the
hospital of course and now I've come down to see you personally to see how you're
getting along.

Alex:
I suffered the tortures of the damned

Minister:
Yes, I can appreciate that you have had and extremely dis-
Oh look. Let me help you with that, shall I.

Alex:
Thank you, sir. Thank you.

Minister:
I can tell you with all sincerity that I and the government which I am a member,
are deeply sorry. We tried to help you. We followed recommendations which were
made to us that turned out to be wrong. An inquiry will place the responsibility
where it belongs. We want you to regard us as friends. We put you right, you're
getting the best of treatment. We never wished you harm, but there are some who
did and do and I think you know who those are. There are certain people who wanted
to use you for political ends. They would have be glad to have you dead, for they
thought they could then blame it all on the government. There is also a certain man,
a writer of subversive literature, who has been howling for your blood. He's been mad
with desire to stick a knife in you, but you're safe from him now. We put him away.
He found out that you had done wrong. He formed this 'em in his head that you had
been responsible for the death of someone near and dear to him. He was a menace.
We put him away for his own protection, and also for yours.

Alex:
Where is he now, sir?

Minister:
We put him away where he can do you no harm. You see, we are looking after your interest.
We are interested in you and when you leave here you'll have no worries. We'll see to
everything. A good job on a good salary

Alex:
What job, and how much?

Minister:
You must have an interesting job, at a salary which you would regard as adequate,
not only for the job your going to do and in compensation for what you believe you
have suffered. But also because you are helping us.

Alex:
Helping you, sir?

Minister:
We always help our friends, don't we it is no secret that this government has lost
a lot of popularity because of you, my boy. There are some that think that in the
next election we shall be out. The press has chosen to take a very unfavorable view
of what we tried to do, but public opinion has a way of changing and you, Alex -
if I may call you, Alex.

Alex:
Certainly, sir. What do they call you at home?

Minister:
My name is, Frederick. As I was saying, Alex, you can be instrumental in changing the
public's verdict. So you understand, Alex? Do I make myself clear?

Alex:
As an unmuddied lake, Fred. As clear as **** me, Fred.

Minister:
Good, good, boy. Oh yes, I understand you're fond of music. I have arranged a little
surprise for you.

Alex:
Surprise?

Minister:
One that I hope that you will like as a symbol of our new understanding.
An understanding between two friends.

Alex:
I was cured all right.

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