B.C. Premier Christy Clark has promised an investigation into the use of physical restraint and isolation practices on the province’s school children, including many who have special needs.

Clark said her government will be meeting with districts, teachers and parents to discuss whether provincial policy is necessary in light of troubling allegations that children who act out can be locked in small “safe rooms” alone for up to three hours.

“We all want to know that when our kids go to school, they’re treated with real dignity and that they’re included and they’re getting the best that our school system has to offer,” Clark said.

“It may be that we need a more consistent policy.”

There are currently no regulations governing the practices at the provincial level.

Inclusion B.C., an advocacy organization for people with special needs, argues that restraint and seclusion should be banned altogether, pointing to a 2012 Ministry of Health report that noted seclusion is viewed as a human rights violation internationally.

At a Thursday press conference, B.C. Education Minister Peter Fassbender told reporters it’s too soon to talk about banning any practices in the province.

“We’re going to have that discussion about what some of the issues might be,” Fassbender said.

“If change is necessary that’s going to benefit the kids and the teachers and the classrooms, then we’ll look at that.”

Inclusion recently conducted a survey of 200 parents from across B.C. who reported that school staff used various forms of physical restraint and seclusion against their children.

Forms of restraint included strapping a child’s legs to a wheelchair, forcefully pinning a child to a chair, and putting a child in a wrestling hold.

One of the students put in seclusion was 11-year-old Savannah Wicks of Victoria, who told CTV News she was dragged into a resource room in Grade 2 when she wouldn’t obey her teacher’s instructions.

“I was laying on the ground and she kept screaming at me to get up and I wasn’t listening,” Wicks said.

“Then she held a vote to the kids if they liked me and if I should stay, or if they didn’t like me and I should leave.”

Wicks, who has autism and experiences seizures, was voted out of class. She eventually lost all desire to go to school, according to her mother.

“They took everything from her,” Adrianne Wicks said. “Her self-esteem, her everything was gone when she left this school. They had broken her.”

The little girl remains in counselling, but has come to enjoy learning again at her new school.

Almost 80 per cent of the Inclusion B.C. survey respondents said their children suffered emotional trauma, and 18 per cent reported physical pain or injury.

Apart from bans on restraint and isolation, the organization is advocating for educators to be better skilled at de-escalating conflicts with students and for parents and guardians to be better informed about school practices.

With a report from CTV British Columbia’s Michele Brunoro