Future criminals can be identified from as young as two years of age, and should be sent to specialist institutions to curb their bad behaviour a British ‘discipline expert’ says.
Charlie Taylor, headmaster of the Willows School in West London which caters for children with behavioural and emotional problems told the Daily Mail this week that preschools should be able to spot children with behavioural issues from the age of two years.
‘Any child can go off the rails for a bit and what we need is a system that helps them to get back on the straight and narrow,’ he told the Daily Mail. ‘If you can see it coming when they are two or three or four or five, then that’s when we can intervene.’
Mr Taylor proposes that children who have been identified as at-risk as a result of their poor behaviour in preschool should be sent to specialist behavioural institutions at the age of five to address their anger issues, help them develop more appropriate social skills and stop their bad behaviour from escalating as they get older.
‘It’s easier to tackle poor behaviour among young children because the behaviour is less ingrained,’ he said. ‘The aim is to help these children early, rather than waiting until they are throwing tables around when they are 14 or 15.’
Asked which behaviours might suggest a child is more likely to embark on a life of crime and anti-social behaviour, Mr Taylor places aggression and violent tendencies at the top of the list. Difficulties with toilet training and speech and language delays are also risk factors.
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Mr Taylor has presented a report to the British government calling for more effective assessment processes for at-risk youngsters, and for specialist teachers to be trained in managing disruptive behaviour. His recommendations are expected to be endorsed by the government this week.
The Willows School caters for children from 3-11 years of age, but Mr Taylor says the work they do with their youngest pupils is the most effective and rewarding.
‘The best thing that happens in my own school by miles is the intervention we do with the three- and four- year olds,’ he told the Daily Mail. ‘It’s about training them how to be in school, how to behave properly in school, what the rules are, how to contain themselves, how to express themselves.’
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