Since 1948 the Mulberry Bush School in Oxfordshire has provided specialist therapeutic care, treatment and education to severely emotionally troubled and traumatised children aged 5-12, from all over the United Kingdom.
Due to adverse experiences in their earliest years of development, the children communicate these distressing experiences and their emotional pain through chaotic and challenging behaviors. As a result of these behaviors, they have often been excluded from mainstream schools, or found it very difficult to live within a family setting.
The aim of the school, whenever possible, is to reintegrate the child back into family, school and community life.
In early 2006 senior managers and the trustees wondered how after nearly 60 years of development, our work could be communicated to the general public to promote the school, and to create a debate which would deepen understanding within our society about the reality of the lives, and the care and management of our most damaged and disaffected children. One of our patrons, filmmaker and criminologist Roger Graef, persuaded us that a documentary film would be the most powerful vehicle for this work.
Robert and Tim. Courtesy of Women Make Movies
Between September 2006 and April 2007, award-winning filmmaker Kim Longinotto and sound recordist Mary Milton were given access to the daily life of the Mulberry Bush School. At first the staff found being observed by the camera intrusive and exposing. After some initial excitement the children seemed to accept Kim and Mary's presence to the point where they became almost invisible. The closeness and intimacy of the relationships caught on the camera — without interrupting those interactions — is testimony to this process.
As a school we took a risk with the process, we did not have any final control or influence over the editing or the content of the film. The daily work provided the context, the rest was down to Kim's interpretation of what she saw, and what she decided to record through the lens of the camera. The film is an extension of Kim's own interests, an expression of her inter-subjective experience. Critics have, and might say, that the film concentrates too much on behavior management. Indeed there are many more positive experiences which happen in the course of each day that could paint a picture of a task without pain and raw emotion: the school through rose-tinted spectacles.
But our work is about real people with real feelings struggling with real emotional pain in amplified "parenting" dilemmas. The film captures the minute-by-minute issue of staff grappling with the question: "What is in the best interests of this child in the here and now?" In this way it is a warts and all view of the work of the school. The strongest critics of the film have been the staff themselves, and as hindsight is always such a critical teacher, many have said, "I wish I had managed the incident another way" or "This was about my need not the child's."
Experiential learning is painful, and creating trusting relationships with children who do not trust adults is equally difficult and painful. I believe that this film shows an exercise in the management of trust. I trust that the audience will have a view about the care of the 70,000 children in the U.K. care system, a number that grows at the rate of about 1,000 per year, and might ask themselves "What can I do?" or "What can our society do?" to improve the lives of so many children.
— John Diamond, CEO of Mulberry Bush School
To learn more about the Mulberry Bush School, please enter a question below or visit the Mulberry Bush School's website. The Mulberry Bush School is non-government maintained special school with charitable status. Find out how you can support the school.
Talk About This
Do you have another question for the teachers and administrators at the Mulberry Bush School? During the week of broadcast, we will send a selection of viewer questions to the school. Post yours below.The film portarys the acknowledgement that social controls and morés have become much more complicated. It is obvious that you are working with a complex problem of breakdown in families and schools. Is there any relation to the age of the parents and that of your school kids? I'm thinking that emotional maturity can always be related to the age of the parents.
by Ray in Ottawa
July 28, 2009, 11:04 PM
im so glad there is such a loving place for those children to go and have hope of dealing with society the rest of their lives. im extremely impressed with all of the men and women who work sooooo hard to love, teach and nurture these kids. there needs to be more of this kind of option for children in the USA. keep going!
by patti
July 28, 2009, 11:12 PM
I´ve worked as a child care worker here in the uniyrf states at a school for disturbed children, and yours is so remarkably better. I can´t imagine the money spent as the school I worked for had children from 5 thru 18 and many violent incidents, with the average ratio of 1 adult worker to 8 children. This school/home where I worked had reported abuse of children, too. Very money oriented, I fear, and not truly caring despite anything said or promoted. You should feel really good about your school as the ratio appears much more suited to really helping the children instead of just drugging them up and treating them like cattle.
by Faith Rosenquist
July 28, 2009, 11:20 PM
I worked as a pschology nurse at a university for years. I found this program brought back many memories. Some were who do you work with, the child or the parent. More adults need to watch this to realize how their behavior affects their children.
I was impressed with the staffs dedication to helping the children.
I know how it feels to achieve wonders with some children also the saddness of not being able to reach some. Hats off to all the staff and God bless and give you the fortitude to continue your work. former psych nurse
by kathy heter
July 28, 2009, 11:31 PM
I work in a special education classroom and the film touched me in so many ways. It was a marvelous portrayal and made me proud to work in the field. What I found to be most impressive was the cooperation between the staff. What steps do you take to achieve that open communication and harmony in word or deed? Staff development, open discussion, please share!
by Adrienne Wilson
July 28, 2009, 11:36 PM
What is the success rate over the years in the lives of these children. How many actually become successful adults?
by Pam Watts
July 28, 2009, 11:45 PM
I applaud the staff of Mulberry Bush School. They are to be commended for their enduring and steadfast dedication to the children in their care each day. The film makers did an outstanding job of depicting the reality of their daily lives on the campus. They provide the children with structure in a safe non-violent environment. They don't use drugs, restraining devices, or corporal punishment to achive their goals of assisting the children with becoming self aware: aware of thier actions and the consequences of their actions, confronting their feelings and expressing those feelings. It is not lost on me that Mulberry Bush School is a privately run school. AMAZING.
What training does the staff receive? How extensive is the training? Who conducts the training for the staff? What kind of support does the staff have at the site? Working with the children must take its toll.
by vikki in jackson,ms
July 29, 2009, 12:05 AM
Do any children ever return? What do any long term studies show as to how the children are doing " down the road"?
How are they as adults?
by rose
July 29, 2009, 12:17 AM
I'd love to see the Supernanny work her magic with these kids. Her tactics seem to work a charm, for example you don't literally restrain the children you show greater persistence in your rules than they could ever have with their misbehavior. That means no asylum-esque "pinning" of the students but rather a timeout in which you place them back to the chair, step, or corner they're in each time they leave it until they finally - psychologically - receive the message that nothing they do will change the consequence, the only way to make it stop is to go through with it - and as they would see were they to implement it - so the children would. I also find it astounding that such an intelligent people as those of the UK wouldn't have the foresight to see a few simple things such as the idea of Positive Reinforcement outperforming punitive consequences virtually every time. What they make an issue of amplifies itself yet their they are constantly grabbing and saying "don't do this" which to a child is simply reverse psychologically commanding them to do whatever was just mentioned, and the greatest oddball I find is the fact that these people are trying to fix the children's behavior without parental integration. The children are misbehaved because of their parental problems, that fact had been reiterated over and over in the documentary, and frankly there's no way to fix their psychosis without the children's parents coming back into the picture and amending their cumulative circumstances, making them whole again so to speak. I greatly admire what they're attempting to do but I feel there are far more effective ways for it to be done and with resources so close to home (i.e. Supernannies) and for the love of the children, bring the parents back into the picture.
by Brian
July 29, 2009, 12:30 AM
As an educator, I greatly appreciated P.O.V. featuring this very important work--there is nothing more critical for a society and a people to reflect upon than the education of our most precious hope--our children. I wish I would have been able to see the work from its very beginning; unfortunately, I caught only the last half hour or forty minutes of the film. It is my hope that P.O.V. will feature MORE films on education--there would be absolutely no redundancy in doing so--we need more reflection and films of this nature!!!
I was struck by several things, when watching this well-made film. My first concern dealt with the school's practice of physical restraint. I imagine this to be, theoretically, a point of contention among educators and psychologists. Briefly put, I question whether this type of extreme measure is necessary. It is evident that there are moments when such actions could very well be necessary--i.e., the child who had a knife and had tried to stab someone or perhaps DID in the school cafeteria. When an educator judges that she or he may very well be threatened or that others may come in harm's way, then such restraint seems appropriate. I don't think this was always the case, however. Such a practice could merely antagonize the child even more, or worse still, give them reason to believe that physical "power over" is the answer to their own problems with classmates. The educator is setting the example. All of that said, however, there is NO ONE who knows the needs of the children more than those that spend so much time with them. And particularly these children (God love them) who are so badly wounded emotionally and spiritually. What is the reasoning/logic behind this practice in the school, I wonder? Is it overused to the point of losing its effectiveness?
The length of the "talking" out the problems and reasoning with the child also seemed questionable at points. We all know that children need short and simple responses, given the limited attention span that they possess. They must not be underestimated nor treated as "inhumanly," however. There is a delicate balance in communicating disappointment in their behavior, however, and treating them as though they were adults with the same kinds of reasoning powers that an adult (or even a non-emotionally disturbed child) would possess. While I am an advocate of rationalizing and helping children think through their actions and their problems, I also wonder when such talk simply becomes "background noise" for the child. Each probably requires her or his own individualized mode of correction. Not all children are going to respond to verbal reflection/therapy...with the same degree of success.
As a viewer, I know that there is a lot more going on at this school than what was included in the film. I also imagine that there are a lot of things that ended up on the editing room floor that might have been useful for educators and those interested in the subject to see. I am merely grateful (so very much, in fact!!!) that this film made it to my television set!!! I wish there would have also been a panel of experts reflecting on the important moments depicted in the film...either afterward or during the film.
Bottom line: THANK YOU, P.O.V.! And thank you to the school that allowed this documentary to happen. Your work is to be commended, and please know that I am simply in awe of your patience and pursuit of such important work.
by Roy Brooks
July 29, 2009, 1:05 AM
Through the whole program I kept thinking "Who or what helps keep the staff from going bonkers?" At the end of each day the staff must be exhausted. I also kept thinking "I was thankful none of them was my child, and bless the people who work with them"
by Jane Clark
July 29, 2009, 2:56 AM
I was so engrossed in the wonderful work of these teachers that it wasn't until after the film that I reflected on the talent of the filmmaking. Thank you Kim and Mary for your truly important work.
I taught in an alternative high school for kids who were kicked out of school for drugs and gang activity. At that point it often felt like our efforts were pointless. Maybe if our kids had had a Mulberry Bush School when they were younger, they wouldn't have been involved in drugs and gangs. The extraordinary patience and caring of the teachers is nothing short of heroic. The use of physical restraint while maintaining a caring and gentle approach seemed to be just what these children who were beyond getting themselves back in control needed.
I wish all potential parents could see this film and realize what damage their abusive behavior can cause. I am grateful to P.O.V., PBS, Mulberry Bush School and its wonderful staff, and Kim Longinotto and Mary Milton for this important and educational work.
by Carol Gant
July 29, 2009, 3:22 AM
As a former troubled youth, I found a connection to the children in this film... I understand what it means to grow up with trauma and constant inconsistency at home. With that said, the methods which the Mulberry Bush School has chosen to use to rehabilitate these children, in my eyes, are inhumane...
Children in these circumstances are generally driven towards this kind of behavior due to lack of availability from their parents, whether from trauma, or just a lack of emotional availability. How do you justify sending these children to a location, and then give them attention 24 hours a day with a personal emotional assistant, and then taking that away from them as soon as they show progress? Most of these kids will never receive the kind of guidance and attention that they got under the care of the Mulberry Bush School from their parents... isn't that what got them into the situation they're currently in?
I think a better method of ACTUALLY helping these children is to not only help them understand they're emotions and give them and outlet, but to help them to realize that they have to either act like human beings or deal with the real-world consequences... the children in this documentary seemed to have absolutely no sense of respect for anyone including themselves, the child who "graduated" was not absolved of this trait...
I admit that we as an audience probably didn't even get to see two percent of the whole story. But from what i could tell it seemed as though the children may have even enjoyed their punishments, i know i did when i was punished in a similar way.... it's negative attention, but at least it's attention, and it's probably not nearly close to as negative of attention as these children have received in their short life spans.
Nobody wants to be the bad guy, but if you really want to help these kids, you need to teach them not only that the behaviors that they are doing are unacceptable but they also need to get a true emotional response for their actions...... the scene where one of the children was continually spitting on one of the teachers, and the teacher just sat there blankly and took it... how does a being that is only 50 pounds get away with being so disrespectful to one that is close to 200 pounds? the 200 pound animal allows it.... i guess what I'm trying to say, is that kids who get fucked over and live hard lives like myself are exactly the same as everyone else... it's only when we are treated differently for our actions that we begin to act differently... a child who is born under certain circumstances has no concept of what it is to be under other circumstances, and yet we treat them as though they understand what a "normal" upbringing would feel like.... i'm sorry but if this is the pinnacle of modern child psychology we're all doomed, just like children who were spoon fed ADHD meds and have developed seizure disorders, heart problems, and muscle spasms, there will be repercussion for this method of "tolerant treatment"....
by Costello
July 29, 2009, 4:05 AM
Personal summary of most important points that I would like to see the filmakers and/or school's CEO or Therapists respond to:
1) The length of 'talking-out' any problems and reasoning with the child seemed questionable at points. Surely, we all know that children need short and simple responses, given the limited attention span that they possess - even more so for any dx'd kids with ADHD, ADD or the like. There is a delicate balance in communicating disappointment in their behavior, however, and treating them as though they were adults with the same kinds of reasoning powers that an adult would possess. "I also wonder when such talk simply becomes "background noise" for the child." Each probably requires her or his own individualized mode of correction. Not all children are going to respond to verbal reflection/therapy...with the same degree of success.
2) When any staff feels personally threatened or feels others may come in harm's way, then such restraint may be appropriate. I don't believe this was always the case. Such a practice could merely antagonize the child even more, or worse still, give them reason to believe that physical responses are the answer to their own problems with classmates, formal contacts, friends and family. The educator is setting the example. Is it being overused to the point of losing its effectiveness? Positive reinforcement, virtually every time, outperforms punitive consequences. Frequent stopping the flow of the class and saying "don't do this," places too much power in the control of the child. I greatly admire what they're attempting to do, but I feel there are far more effective ways for it to be done.
3) What do any long term studies show as to how the children are doing? How are they as adults? Are there any published reports from 1948 to present from this school or any other similar school in the UK?
by Bart Filaseta Jr
July 29, 2009, 5:46 AM
I would very much like to see statistics regarding outcomes...have the graduates been followed into adulthood?
by martha claire
July 29, 2009, 3:28 PM
Are any of the children on antipsychotic or mood-altering medications? Do any of the children have adopton-related issues/attachment disorders? Is there a psychiatrist who is a staff-member at the school? Has there been any follow-up study on the child who "graduated"? What is the rate of successful transition into adulthood for past students? How are children selected for admission? Is there any "animal" therapy? What happens if a child has not improved after 3 yrs? Can he/she stay longer?
by Debbie Georgens
July 29, 2009, 3:43 PM
I was born and raised in England and also suffered an abusive childhood. I started seeing a counsellor in the mid to late 1980s (I was in my mid/late 20s). At that time the British frowned upon such things, so I did not dare tell a soul I was in counselling for fear of ridicule. The British way has always been to keep a "stiff upper lip". So, with this in mind, how utterly amazing is it that people in 1948 had, what was then, such a radical idea for the Mulberry Bush school!
by Lynda
July 29, 2009, 4:30 PM
It is extremely expensive to provide this type of care, and Mulberry Bush is to be highly commended for providing for 140 kids in a pleasant physical plant with a well trained, obviously caring staff. As the film stated, this is their kids' last chance for a normal life -- pre- to early- adolescence has to be the best time to give them emotional survival skills and to innoculate them against using drugs, alcohol, and violence to solve their problems, with incarceration often the seemingly inevitable result of out of control behavior. We more often deal with troubled kids in the courts, but early intervention in schools like these is a much more humane solution. The need such well run schools is much, much greater than the number of places available in the U.S. as well as I'm sure the U.K. I would have liked the film to have been a stronger advocate for this, but perhaps it is a first step in raising awareness.
by Elizabeth
July 29, 2009, 7:05 PM
I tried very hard not to watch this program. The pain and anguish of these very young human beings was unbearable to see. Yet, I continued watching the program. The effort to help the children at this school is a powerful testamont to the idea that a human being deserves a chance to grow,develop and heal.
Remaining calm and not being drawn into a child's emotional storm requires not only calmness of mind but a recognition and acceptance of that child's right to express their rage and anger. The restraints used to help the children calm themselves (and not hurt staff, themselves or other children)seemed based in kindness and not as physical punishment for wrong behavior.
I did visualize and wonder if constructing a 'soft room' and letting the child express their rage at times completely uninhibited in a totally safe enviornment would help a child. Rage is sometimes the most warranted emotion.
When the staff members were interacting with the children I noticed they spoke to the children as though they were speaking to adults.I had mixed feelings about the effectiveness of this. When the staff told the children 'you need to let us know when you need help so we can help you' is one of those mixed things. It plants a seed in the child's mind - you can be helped, we can help you, you can help yourself. But, when a child is in the beginning of an emotional explosion how much self awareness does a child possess?
Sometimes drawing quietly with a child and letting the child experience, process and then verbalize would be a more natural flow rather than pursuing and questioning about the behavior or event immediately.
I want to thank the staff of Mulberry Bush School for investing so much of themselves and caring so much for the healthy growth and development of the children. It was powerful to watch.
I also want to thank the filmmaker who made me watch, learn and think in spite of myself.
by Sonja Tracy
July 29, 2009, 9:48 PM
The work of the teachers is amazing. How much money would most people want to work in a place where children spit in your face and swear at you? I think the physical restraint is necessary unless you want the inmates to run the "asylum".
I would guess that many of these kids would end up in prison later in life (due to their anger} for criminal behavior including murder if they did not receive this amazing amount of care.
by Frank Quinlan
July 30, 2009, 2:56 PM
As a stay at home mom of a 2 year old little boy I'm very concerned that the kids are not seeing there parents enough. I did not get to watch all of the film but I was very upset and taken back that the kids only see there moms and dads 5 or 6 times a year. When "Alex" watched his mom and little sister leave he was crying so much, he even had to be held back by the teachers. That is when I started crying. I can't believe they are putting these kids through this. The teachers do a wonderful job but there is nothing like the comfort of a mom or dad. I don't know why the children don't spend more time with there parents but that is probably part of the problem. Children have a special bond with there parents and I was heart broken to see them crying and screaming as there parents left the room and said goodbye. 5 or 6 times a year is ridiculous and needs to change. They can only get so much support from teachers and staff members but a mom or dad will give them attention and emotional support that no one else can. Please let the students at the school see there moms and dads more. I'm sure you will see a huge improvement emotionally.
by Christa
August 1, 2009, 12:17 AM
Many years ago, before completing my education degree, I worked as a secretary at a small day school for 'troubled' teens. It was a co-creation of the school district and the mental health department. It addressed issues of the child and the family. As I sat watching this amazing documentary and then reading the comments, I felt the invitation to comment.
One research study I remember about effectiveness of 'educational' techniques is that the most important factor is the individual's commitment to it. What I observed during this documentary was the complete commitment of the staff to the children and their process of reintegration. My heart opened to these wounded children and the staff who gave their all to them.
I practice observing what is and separate out my stories about the facts. I can only observe what was presented.
Thank You for your service.
by Patricia Kretzschmar
August 3, 2009, 5:37 PM
mother and child
God Bless The patient, kind and wonderful teachers!
by Beth & Cole from ferguson, ky
September 2, 2009, 11:31 AM