Using physical force on anyone is a very serious matter.
It affects a person’s feelings and control over their body.
Children and young people who have been restrained often say it made them feel upset, angry and scared.
Some children and young people say being held by staff helps them feel protected and safe.
Each child or young person has their own feelings, their own needs and their own views.
The people who look after you must follow the Human Rights Act. This is a law passed by our Parliament in London in 1998.
If you are restrained when there is no good reason, or you are restrained in a way that causes you a lot of suffering, this might be breaching your human rights in the Human Rights Act. The restraint could be against the law.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child also protects you from violent treatment.
In most places, staff are taught that restraint must be a last resort – which means nothing else can work.
To be legally acceptable, restraint must be a fair and acceptable response to a situation. The amount and type of force used must be in line with the situation and the child or young person.
Restraint must never, ever be used as a punishment. The adults restraining you should never swear at you, call you names or threaten to hit you. They should stay as calm as possible.
Staff must stop restraining as soon as possible. If you are struggling to breathe they must immediately stop the restraint.
Which of these statements about restraint is accurate?
Pick 3 answersPick 1 more answerPick 2 answersAbsolutely! You know your rights. Well done.
Thank you for reading this first section. You’ve covered all the basics. Brilliant! If you want some extra information about your rights where you live, please see the ‘Your rights – extra’ section down below.
This section gives you information about your extra rights in different places.
Words in “quotation marks” come from laws and legal rules. Laws and legal rules must be followed by the people who look after you.
The law says restraint can only be used in a children’s home for one of the following two reasons:
*Injury can be to a person’s body or mind.
The government has given staff in your children’s home advice about restraint. This advice should always be followed. It says any use of restraint should be suitable for the individual child. This means staff should know you, understand you and restrain you in the way that’s best for you.
The government’s advice also says staff should think about these things when deciding whether or not to use restraint:
Staff are not allowed to deliberately cause you pain when they restrain you.
Staff are not allowed to use restraint methods that may make it difficult for you to breathe. They are also not allowed to use restraint methods that involve holding you around your neck.
The person in charge of your children’s home must make sure staff are trained properly.
When your social worker and council found you this children’s home they should have checked that the training given to staff about restraint fits with the care they want for you. They should check that the restraint methods have been looked at by medically qualified people, and that they are safe for use with children.
If restraint is used in your children’s home, the law says a written record must be made within 24 hours. This written record must include:
If you are ever restrained, you should get the chance to talk about your feelings as soon as you feel comfortable to do this. You should be able to add your views to the written record of restraint. You should be offered help from an advocate.
Within 5 days of you being restrained, the law says the person in charge of your home must speak with you about it. They must then sign the written record to say they have done this.
The law says restraint is allowed in hospital or another health place only if:
Nurses and other staff should try their best to avoid using restraint.
If you are in hospital or another health place for mental health reasons, staff must follow a set of legal rules. This is called the Mental Health Act Code of Practice.
The Mental Health Code of Practice says that restraint should, wherever possible, be used in line with a plan that has been agreed with you and your parents. It should be used very carefully so that you don’t suffer harm and your freedom, privacy and dignity are protected.
Nurses and other staff should always take into account your age and your physical and emotional maturity before ever using restraint. If you have a disability or other difficulties, these should be taken into account too.
The Mental Health Code of Practice warns nurses and other staff to only ever use restraint “with caution” because children and young people are still growing and there are greater risks of injury than with adults.
The Mental Health Act Code of Practice says that restraint should never be used to humiliate you or punish you. Staff should never use restraint to deliberately cause you pain unless you are in a very extreme situation where there is an immediate risk to somebody’s life.
Nurses and staff should never deliberately restrain you in a way that affects your breathing and blood circulation (an example of blood circulation being affected is when we get pins and needles, or your feet have ‘gone to sleep’). Your mouth or nose must never be covered, and pressure should not be put on your neck, ribs or stomach. Restraint where you are lying on your front – on the floor, a bed or other surface – should always be avoided.
During restraint a member of staff should keep check on you to make sure you are not harmed or injured.
From December 2021, children and adults in mental health units have new protections relating to restraint and use of force. You can read about these on another part of this site here.
The law says staff working in detention centres must not use force when it is not needed.
Staff who work in detention centres have to follow government rules. These say that restraint will only be used as a last resort. This means that nothing else is possible.
Restraint can only be used:
When restraint is necessary, only as much force must be used as is needed in the situation.
Staff are banned from acting in a way that provokes you.
Only staff who have been trained are allowed to carry out restraint.
Every use of restraint must be written down and reported to people who work in the government.
You must be seen by a nurse or someone else from health care as soon as possible after you have been restrained.
If you are in a young offender institution, the law says:
The use of force on children and young people will only be legal if:
When looking at whether it is necessary to restrain somebody, officers must take into account any risk of harm to a person’s life, their body, their own or others’ property and to the good order of the prison.
It will obviously be easier for officers to justify using restraint when they have done so to protect a person from serious harm. It will be less easy to justify restraint when it is used to protect the good order of the prison.
For example, if a child or young person is immediately restrained after swearing or refusing to leave a room, then it’s probably going to be difficult for an officer to justify this.
Officers are always expected to do their best to avoid using restraint – by listening and talking, being calm and trying to help you out of difficult situations.
If you are in a secure training centre, the law says:
The use of force on children and young people in secure training centres will only be legal if it is used to stop a child or young person:
Officers are only allowed to restrain in they have been trained in approved methods.
A written record of every restraint must be made within 12 hours of it happening.
In both young offender institutions and secure training centres, officers must follow these government rules:
The law says school staff can use force when it is needed to avoid or stop a child or young person:
Teachers in your school also have to follow government advice. This says they can use force in these situations:
Government advice says that restraint – when a teacher or other member of staff uses force to hold a child or young person – is usually used only in very extreme situations, like when two children are fighting and refuse to stop.
The law says restraint can only be used in a secure children’s home for one of the following three reasons:
*Injury can be to a person’s body or mind.
The government has given staff in your children’s home advice about restraint. This advice should always be followed. It says any use of restraint should be suitable for the individual child. This means staff should know you, understand you and restrain you in the way that’s best for you.
The government advice also says staff should think about these things when deciding whether or not to use restraint:
Staff are not allowed to deliberately cause you pain when they restrain you.
Staff are not allowed to use restraint methods that may make it difficult for you to breathe. They are also not allowed to use restraint methods that involve holding you around your neck.
The person in charge of your children’s home must make sure staff are trained properly.
When your social worker and council found you this secure children’s home they should have checked that the training given to staff about restraint fits with the care they want for you. They should check that the restraint methods have been looked at by medically qualified people, and that they are safe for us with children.
If restraint is used in your children’s home, the law says a written record must be made within 24 hours. This must include:
If you are ever restrained, you should get the chance to talk about your feelings as soon as you feel comfortable to do this. You should be able to add your views to the written record of restraint. You should be offered help from an advocate to speak about your feelings about the restraint.
Within 5 days of you being restrained, the law says the person in charge of your home must speak with you about it. They then must sign the written record to say they have done this.
