Is Our Children Learning To Conform? - "Antisocial Behavior" statute used against UK Aspies and ADHD kids.

Guardian Unlimited Politics | Special Reports | Tarred with the same brush:

"Tarred with the same brush

Teenagers with behavioural problems need help, not Asbos, writes Annemarie Flanagan

Monday May 8, 2006

Nobody likes antisocial behaviour - least of all the government. With an almost religious zeal, Tony Blair has crusaded to rid the streets of offenders and bring back the notion of 'respect' to communities.

Seven years on, more than 7,000 Asbos - Anti Social Behaviour Orders - have been issued, and the former Home Office minister Hazel Blears says she is 'extremely encouraged that they continue to be used'.

But look beneath the statistics, and a different picture emerges."

The effect has been to criminalize difference.

Tarred with the same brush

Teenagers with behavioural problems need help, not Asbos, writes Annemarie Flanagan

Monday May 8, 2006

Nobody likes antisocial behaviour - least of all the government. With an almost religious zeal, Tony Blair has crusaded to rid the streets of offenders and bring back the notion of "respect" to communities.

Seven years on, more than 7,000 Asbos - Anti Social Behaviour Orders - have been issued, and the former Home Office minister Hazel Blears says she is "extremely encouraged that they continue to be used".

But look beneath the statistics, and a different picture emerges.

Article continues
The British Institute for Brain Injured Children (the BIBIC) estimates that a third of all Asbos are given to children or young people with learning difficulties, ADHD, or other behavioural problems.

Charities like the BIBIC believe those with "hidden" disabilities are easy prey. They point to cases like the teenager with Aspergers syndrome (a form of autism) who was told not to stare over his neighbours' fence, or the 14-year-old with the development age of seven, who has been given a curfew and tagged.

"Many of these children have a cognitive understanding below the legal age that an Asbo can be given, so they are in effect being set up to fail," says Vivienne Streeter, the BIBIC's family services director.

The charity launched a campaign last year entitled Ain't Misbehavin to highlight their increasing concerns.

Clearly, the United States is not the only nation in which the "bigger hammer" approach to social policy is the first, and only tool in the box.

tag: mental health, social control, adhd, add, social engineering, ethics, stupidity, stupid news, aspergers, autism