Commission Website: National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention

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Submission to the National

Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention from

Chatswood

Intensive English Centre

10th April,

Chatswood IEC has students from between 15 to 25 language groups at any

one time. We have only a small number of children from detention centres,

possibly because of our relatively privileged socio-economic intake area.

However, all staff members have observed a clear difference between the

behaviour, performance and general well being of ex detention centre children

and all our other students. It should be noted that this difference remains

clear between ex detention centre children and children from the same

part of the world who have not been in detention. The difference also

remains true for ex detention centre children and children who have come

from war torn countries, or children who have not been in detention but

who come from groups, such as the Bahai religious group in Iran, who are

known to have been the object of persecution in their country. The following

are observations made by the staff in the course of our work and discussed

at a meeting on the 9/04/02.

CHILDREN WHO HAVE BEEN IN

DETENTION:

• don't conform

  to the expected norms of classroom behaviour, show signs of emotional

  upset and impaired ability to learn, although they test normal or above

  intelligence.

• have an unusually

  short attention span

• may interrupt

  class with questions unrelated to the lesson and expect an immediate

  answer, then become agitated if they don't get it.

• need constant

  attention from teachers, need teachers to be there for them regardless

  of the rest of the class. This is extremely noticeable.

• are restless,

  can't sit through lessons, jump out of seats, need to walk around.

• make contradictory

  statements.

• can have suppressed

  anger, can be exceptionally short fused with minimal provocation.

• exhibit fear of

  authority eg. react with fear to words like "detention", "police",

  "go to the office", sometimes "beg" not to go if

  they are in trouble.

• one case has

  a nervous tick.

• are frequently

  sick. Also complain of pains, eg. one student is known to have lain

  on the ground in pain while waiting at a bus stop.

• have mood swings

  (more than other children), are "up and down"

CHILDREN WHO COME FROM THE SAME PART OF THE WORLD BUT WHO HAVE NOT BEEN

IN DETENTION:

• all teachers

  observed that they fall within the normal range of learners from anywhere

  else in the world, from exceptionally gifted to average or sometimes

  slow learners.

• these children

  are able to concentrate "normally" for their age, are more

  steady, able to sit through a lesson.

• not generally

  "up and down" emotionally.

• are able to conform

  to the expected norms of classroom behaviour.

Signed by the following Chatswood IEC teachers:

David Chadwick,

Teacher of English and History

Heather Lung,

Music and English

Teacher

Fiona Vatiliotis,

English Teacher

Jane Cantwell,

English Teacher and SRC Co-ordinator

Janis Brodie Grant,

English and Geography Teacher

Despina Londy,

English Teacher

Fabia Claridge,

English Teachers

Loretta Lin,

English Teachers

Kui Conabere,

Head Teacher,Chatswood IEC

Last

Updated 30 June 2003.