Well done, you made the correct decision.
Here are some points that you need to consider. You should have included all of these in your reflective activity.
- Using the de-escalation techniques you have been trained in is the right thing to do. This will allow you to calm Ryan so you can look at his injuries. Once he is calm and his injuries have been seen to, you can talk to him about what happened to make him so distressed.
- Doing nothing when Ryan’s potentially harmful behaviour started was not the right thing to do. It allowed the situation to get worse. You need to know and follow your organisation’s policies and procedures on dealing with situations like this. These are designed to keep you and other people safe at work.
- It is your role to intervene in an appropriate and timely manner to support a young person to end an instance of unwanted behaviour, maintaining their dignity and rights while you do this.
- Any intervention should be consistent with behaviour support plans, agreed ways of working and legal and work setting requirements. You should work in a person-centred/child-centred way. This involves knowing and respecting each young person as an individual.
- You could benefit from applying theories underpinning the understanding of child development and factors that affect it. If you would like to learn more about this subject, ask your employer about training opportunities.
- As this incident happened on Ryan’s return from his parents it could indicate something at home has upset him. When Ryan’s behaviour first became a concern, it was an opportunity to use active listening and to show him that you want to understand him. It was important to act quickly before his behaviour escalated.
- By initially doing nothing you were not demonstrating and promoting positive behaviour. Responding quickly in a calm, assertive and understanding way, would be a way of using your own actions to demonstrate and promote positive behaviour.
- Your role places you in a position of power and you have shown you do not act in a way that abuses that power, for example by shouting, issuing threats, or inappropriately using restraint. You know unless you only use the techniques that you have been trained to do, these methods do not work and may only make situations worse. However, doing nothing when a young person is distressed and may hurt himself is not acting in the best interests of the young person, other young people in the setting, or your colleagues.
- It is essential that young people, their families and your colleagues know you are trustworthy and reliable. You need to demonstrate this through your actions.
When Ryan first displayed behaviour that could be harmful, the right thing to do would have been to calmly ask him to go somewhere quiet to discuss what had upset him, making sure you had a safe route of escape if required. Find out why this was the right thing to do here.
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