01 Investigation
Author: Zheng Jiaru
2020-10-19 07:00
Last update date: 2020-10-19 07:00
Severely mentally handicapped children need high-level care because they do not know how to speak and take care of themselves. Most of them study and boarding in special schools subsidized by the Education Bureau.
"Hong Kong 01" investigated for more than a year and found that there have been many serious accidents in the dormitory of the special school "Hong Chi Pine Ridge Second School" over the years: some students were restrained in the dormitory for a long time to severe bruises; some students were confined for many years In small rooms, or locked chairs; even some school children were fractured by social workers who caught their hands in the door; even some school children died of brainstem after being sent to the hospital due to chopped throat while feeding.
The CCTV footage of the schoolchildren being pinched off their fingers was exposed. The staff closed the door more vigorously. There were screams that lasted for several minutes. There were scenes of schoolchildren being tied up and trapped in the room for a long time, which was extremely disturbing.
The reporter made unannounced visits to schools and former school employees to tell the shady, confronted the staff involved in the incident, explored loopholes in the system and policies, and uncovered the shady "silent shouts" in the dormitories of special schools through a series of investigation reports.
A Hong Chi Association spokesperson pointed out that cases that failed to respond to reporters' enquiries due to personal privacy reasons will be notified in accordance with established procedures.
The Education Bureau stated that it had not received complaints about the school's care of students in the past ten years, but the school had reported two incidents of school children.
01Investigation report on "Silent Scream"
Silent Shouts·Special Page｜Exposing the Shady of Multiple Student Accidents in the Dormitory of Special Schools with Serious Mental Disabilities
Silent Scream, One | Hong Chi Club Dormitory Mentally Handicapped Child Fractured by Finger
Silent Scream 2｜The mentally handicapped children in Hong Chi Club's dormitory have been locked in rooms and chairs for a long time
▼Closed circuit television when Wenzi folder hand incident ▼
In the room, a thin boy wearing an orange T-shirt knelt on the ground and hugged a man next to him with his hands, crying sharply.
The man pushed the boy who was kneeling on the ground vigorously, while retreating to the outside of the room, and at the same time closed the door vigorously.
But the door could not be closed. The man closed the door vigorously two or three times from the outside, but still could not close it.
At this time, the boy still held the man's palm tightly with one hand, but screamed louder.
Finally, the boy squatted on the ground, and the man pushed him away again.
With a bang, the door closed.
A scene from the closed-circuit television footage of Hong Chi Association Songling Second School
Seven days after he was injured, he was sent to the college to change his mouth many times
Man Tsai (pseudonym) is a student living in the dormitory of Hong Chi Association's Pine Ridge Second School. Man Tsai's mother received a call from the school social worker at the end of March 2019, saying that Man Tsai injured her finger due to pulling with the staff, but it was not a major problem.
Three days later, when her mother visited, she found that Wenzi's right index finger had fallen off, her fingers were red, swollen, bruised and fluid. His injuries were not as mild as the social worker described.
Seven days later, the school notified Wenzi to be admitted to the hospital immediately; afterwards, the staff changed his mind and said that the cause of the injury was that Wenzi’s bed was twisted and the frame was photographed.
▼Wenzi injury▼
Suffering from severe intellectual disability and autistic living in Songling Second School for ten years
The 16-year-old Wenzi looks similar to teenagers of the same age. He is tall but thin. He has thick lips and a shy smile with ragged teeth.
Wenzi doesn't know how to speak or write, and his IQ is like two or three-year-old children.
Due to severe intellectual disability and autism, Manzai has been living in Hong Chi Songling Second School, which specializes in accepting children of the same kind, since he was 6 years old.
In daily life, Wenzi can understand some simple words, or make calls, and use simple movements to express happiness, unhappiness, pain, and want to go to the toilet.
He does not have the ability to take care of himself, and must be helped and supervised by someone to take showers and eat meals.
▼X-ray of finger fracture▼
The doctor thinks the injury is suspicious
During the one-star period after the injury, Wenzi changed from "no serious problem" with her fingers to having to be admitted to the hospital immediately. The medical staff asked why she sought medical attention after many days. Her mother could only answer that Wenzi was taken care of by the school, and she did not know the situation.
Wenzi's finger fractured, and a steel nail must be inserted into the finger to help him recover. The doctor asked the cause of the injury. His mother told the school that Wenzi was injured by naughty photographing on the edge of the bed.
The doctor questioned Taierxi, thinking that the situation was suspicious, and his mother was surprised and immediately called the police.
▼Wenzai call for help two hours after the incident▼
Police flipped through CCTV to expose shady
The police sent officers to the school to investigate and watch the closed-circuit television. They pointed out that Wen Tsai was injured by the door and asked her mother not to pursue it.
Only then did she know that she could ask the principal of the school to look through the video, and found that the dormitory staff had pushed Wenzi into the room, but Wenzi resisted.
When the staff tried to close the door many times, Wenzi's hand was by the door.
The footage shows that when Wenzi was pushed into the room, someone yelled "Clip to the door" in the room where the staff entangled with Wenzi.
The staff succeeded in closing the door, and Wenzi squatted on the floor crying, taking off his pants and urinating, gradually calming down.
▼Hong Chi Association Songling Second School Incident Report▼
Two hours after the injury, the staff was still bleeding
Two hours later, the camera moved to the dormitory bedroom.
Wenzi quietly fiddled with his hands on the bed for ten minutes, then suddenly stood up, walked to the staff on duty in the room, and handed them over.
The staff member pulled Wenzi's hand hard and pushed him back on the bed.
Wenzi cried sharply, bounced and waved his palms on the spot, then handed his hands to the staff several times.
About two or three minutes later, the staff found that Wenzi's hand was bleeding, so he asked his colleagues for help.
Several staff members went into the bedroom to check and bandage the wound for Wenzi.
In the clip, someone yelled to call the nurse and asked twice: "Is it caught him?" Someone answered, "I don't know."
The student accident report filled out by the school staff showed that the staff did not mention that Wenzi was caught in his hand, but only described that he was injured and bleeding, and that his hand was placed by the door.
(Provided by interviewee)
Record refers to bed injury inconsistent with CCTV
According to the patient records of the Nethersole Hospital in Tai Po, Man Tsai was sent to hospital on the eighth day after the accident, with a broken finger and a nail bed in need of repair. “According to the dormitory staff, the patient often slaps the edge of the bed with his hands, and in March 2019 Suspected injuries were found on the 22nd," and there was no mention of being caught by a door.
According to the CCTV footage, Wenzi had been lying peacefully on the bed for more than ten minutes before he was found injured, and there was no act of slapping the edge of the bed.
According to the school student accident record filled out by the social worker surnamed Chen, he found Wenzi injured his finger at night; another page "Supplementary Information" stated that Wenzi was taken to the "balcony room" by him on that day. Two or three times, (Wen Tsai) put his hand by the door. He wanted to block it with his hand to prevent the door from closing."
Another record filled out by the nurse stated that Wen Tsai had "broken nails with his right index finger and bleeding a lot", which was bandaged, not as mild as the school initially pointed out.
The records filled out by several staff did not mention that Wen Zi had pinched the fingers of Wen Zi, nor that Wen Zi had patted the edge of the bed.
▼Hong Chi Association Songling Second School has many accidents in recent years▼
The social worker involved in the incident responded to the reporter: Someone wants to do big things
The reporter inquired with the social worker surnamed Chen. He said that he and many of his colleagues had been invited to the police station to give a statement about the incident. "I don't know why this happened. I don't think I can put all the responsibility on me. From my perspective, He wasn't caught by the door, but he lost his temper on the bed and hit the wooden fence." He also pointed out that Wenzi's fingers had recovered early in the morning. "It's because someone wants to make things bigger."
There is a "Ningxu Terrace" in the male dormitory of Songling Second School, where staff often separate students who are venting their emotions.
At the time of the incident, Wenzi was being pushed into the room by the dormitory social worker, but Wenzi resisted because he did not want to enter. The social worker caught Wenzi's finger when closing the door many times.
(Photo by Zheng Jiaru)
The black room is the "Ningxu Room" This app is used to relieve emotions
But why was Wenzi locked into the room at that time?
The three former staff who had taken care of Wenzi separately pointed out that, including Wenzi, the dormitory staff often locked multiple school children in a dark room called "Ningxu Terrace".
There are school children who have been trapped in similar small rooms for a long time, and there are school children who have been restrained for a long time and were injured because of excessive struggle.
The so-called "Ningxu tools" are devices that restrict physical activity, such as special chairs, hand ties, and waist seals.
Its main purpose is to prevent people with special needs from hurting themselves during the emotional process.
The "Ningxu Room" is a space used for isolation, usually with soft cushions installed on all sides.
When people with special needs have emotional and behavioral problems, they can gradually relieve their emotions.
According to the guidelines of the Education Bureau, the use of restraints is a short-term emergency measure and cannot be used regularly or routinely; schools must obtain written consent from parents to use restraint methods under certain circumstances.
The "Ningxu Terrace" where Wenzi was injured belongs to the living room area of the dormitory. The space is separated by bookcases. There is a TV and large glass windows to facilitate the staff to monitor the situation from the outside.
The former staff told reporters that the room is usually used to isolate different emotionally excited school children, and Wenzi is also a "frequent visitor."
Man Tsai was victimized in March last year and recovered after more than half a year. Fortunately, it did not cause long-term obstacles.
(Photo by Zheng Jiaru)
After leaving the hospital, the school will issue a 5,000 yuan "scholarship"
As a result of this accident, Wenzi went in and out of the hospital many times, but fortunately, his fingers recovered slowly.
His mother went to the school to watch the CCTV video twice, and the principal twice claimed that there was no sound in the video, which was obviously inconsistent with the facts. In the end, the school also admitted that the injury was caused by a sandwiched hand.
According to the procedure, she asked the school to hand over the closed-circuit television recording, but the school charged about 1,400 yuan for the reason that other people in the film must be checked, and the footage was not provided until about a month later.
This is a heavy burden for the CSSA families.
"About two weeks after I was discharged from the hospital, the school notified me that there was a scholarship of 5,000 yuan and asked me to sign for it. It also said that it would arrange for a staff member to admit my mistake."
Wenzi’s mother was afraid that she could not be held accountable after receiving the money, but she finally accepted it. She also claimed that the housekeeper had told her that the social worker involved had been removed from the dormitory.
However, the reporter checked the school records and found that the staff member has been working in the same dormitory until August this year.
Wenzi’s mother described that the school initially tried to play down his injuries and took Wenzi to seek medical treatment after a delay of nearly a week.
(Photo by Deng Yingtao)
Police: Insufficient evidence terminates investigation
As of May this year, Wenzi’s mother received a notice from the police stating that the case had insufficient evidence and the investigation was terminated.
According to the police, a report was received on April 3, 2019. A school child suspected a finger injury in the school on March 22. He followed the direction of "abuse or neglect of the child or young person under his care". After careful consideration of the police report After the investigation report and related information, the Department of Justice considered that there was insufficient evidence to initiate a prosecution.
▼Hong Chi Association Pine Ridge Second School ▼
Hong Chi Association: Constraint with parental consent form Mother: never agree to room isolation
A spokesperson for Hong Chi Association pointed out that due to personal privacy reasons, it was unable to respond to the case enquired by reporters. However, if the school has special circumstances, it will notify the incorporated management committee, school sponsoring body and the Education Bureau according to established procedures.
The school will also adopt more protective or isolation methods according to the needs of individual students to help students calm their emotions and avoid injury to themselves or others due to their behavior.
Regarding restraint or isolation issues, each case will pass an inter-professional case conference for overall consideration and timely review. Parents’ opinions and written consent will be sought in advance.
Wenzi’s mother said that she had never signed a restraint consent form to keep her son in the dormitory for isolation. She only agreed to let Wenzi sit on a special restraint chair in class to help him concentrate on class.
Regarding the process in which her son was found injured, Wenzi’s mother believed that the school had changed her words many times and did not actively provide information.
After Wen Tsai was injured, she talked with former staff and other parents and found that there had been many serious school accidents in the school. However, the number of places in Hong Kong schools accepting severely mentally handicapped children was limited, and it was difficult for boarders to transfer schools. Many parents chose to remain silent. .
▼The incident occurred in the dormitory of Hong Chi Association of Tai Po Songling Second School▼
Mother worried that she could not extend her stay until 21 years old after investigation
Wenzi’s mother was a grassroots woman. Her husband passed away at an early age. She lived in a remote wooden house and sometimes worked casual jobs to make a living.
In addition to Wenzi, she still has to take care of the other three daughters, so she has always let Wenzi live in the school dormitory. Apart from visits, she can only learn about Wenzi's living conditions from the school social workers.
Like other parents, Wenzi’s mother is also worried that her son will not be able to apply for extension of accommodation to 21 years old when her son reaches the age of 18. If this is the case, Wenzi can only leave school on time and wait for the adult institution. Allocation.
"These children don't know how to speak, and they have to be treated like this. I feel so sad." She said helplessly.
In addition to Wenzi, Wenzi's mother still has to take care of three other daughters.
(Photo by Deng Yingtao)
Education Bureau: No complaint from the school in ten years, only two accidents were reported
The Education Bureau stated that it had not received complaints about the school's care of students in the past ten years, but the school had reported two incidents of school children.
According to the "School Administration Manual", if any serious or life-threatening accident occurs in the school, the school must activate the crisis management mechanism, immediately notify the parents, notify the Education Bureau and submit a written report.
Under the investigation, a number of former staff and registered social workers in the dormitory of Hong Chi Association’s Songling Second School revealed to the reporter of "Hong Kong 01" multiple incidents of schoolchild injuries, accusing the dormitory of suffocating culture and condoning violence to control mentally handicapped children. The school dormitory lacks basic supervision.
For details, please read the second episode of the "Silent Scream" series.
01 Special page for investigating the "Silent Scream" investigation report: uncovering multiple student accidents in the dormitory of a special school with severe mental disabilities
Silent Scream 2｜The mentally handicapped children in Hong Chi Club's dormitory have been locked in rooms and chairs for a long time
01News
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