A few weeks ago the internet exploded over an incident at a special needs school in Victoria where a teacher shaved the under arms of a student in class. The facts are a little hazy on the full incident and there have been some mixed (and also some completely sensationalised) reports regarding this but there are some genuine questions that people have asked and I’d like to attempt to answer them. I’ve taught in special needs schools for years and I’d like to shed some light on a situation that I think most people don’t really understand. I don’t know any of the people involved but from my own experiences, I can see how this incident could have easily occurred.
Why is shaving even being taught as part of the curriculum?
Things like shaving are often taught in special education schools because many of these students are wards of the state or have parents who also have special needs and are unable to teach their children the basics of personal grooming and self care. The student was most likely part of a grooming group of students that came from higher needs backgrounds.
Why was it done in front of the class?
It’s unlikely that the session was done ‘in front of’ the class. Personal grooming classes, are usually conducted in small groups of same sex students. I loved ‘girl’s group’ as I used to call it when I ran sessions for my class a few years ago. We’d discuss everything from periods, sexualized feelings, brushing our teeth and using deodorant. These sessions were usually student led and covered whatever the students wanted to learn about. A rough guide would be sent home to parents so they could object if there was any activity they didn’t want their child to participate in. It sounds like that’s exactly what happened at this school.
Why does a special education student even need to learn how to shave under her arms?
Special education students are, most of the time, just like mainstream students and they enjoy and are curious about mainstream things like make up, shaving and going on dates. The student in question is 14 years old. If she was at a mainstream school she’d most likely be doing this unsupervised at a girlfriends house on the weekend and her mother probably wouldn’t even know she did it.
Couldn’t the teacher have just taught the theory of under arm shaving? Why did she have to actually do it?
The mother said in a radio interview that her daughter can ‘… dress herself to some degree but wouldn’t be able to shave on her own.‘ In a special needs classroom there’s always a wide variety of physical and mental abilities and some students need physical help with certain tasks.
Under arm shaving is a choice so why was the student forced to do it?
It sounds as if the student was given choice, tried to do it herself but wasn’t able to complete the task so the teacher stepped in and asked if she’d like help. It sounds like the student didn’t know that she was allowed to say no and didn’t speak up. There’s often communication barriers between people with special needs and their carers and it can be difficult for some special needs people to process their feelings about things, which might explain why she didn’t get upset about the incident until she got home from school. I certainly can’t imagine a teacher forcing a student to shave under their arms. As a special needs teacher you often need to choose your battles and under arm shaving would not be a battle that any teacher I’ve met would choose.
Why didn’t they ask the parents?
The school sent an outline of the curriculum to the parents that had shaving as a listed activity. They also apologised that specific consent was not sought. I’m honestly not sure what else the mother wants the school to do about it. To me, it sounds like a very innocent misunderstanding.