German children with ADHD asked to wear 13lb sand vests

Schools in Germany are asking naughty and hyperactive children to wear heavy sand-filled vests to calm them down and keep them in their seats.

The controversial sand vests, weighing between 2.7 and 13Ib, are used by 200 schools in the country – despite reservations of some parents and psychiatrists.

Supporters of the vests, which cost between £124 and £150, say they are very effective at curbing children’s restlessness in many cases.

Controversial sand vests, weighing between 2.7 and 13Ib, are being used by 200 schools in Germany to calm down hyperactive children

Increasingly more children are being diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) each year in Germany, as elsewhere.

Schools using the vests say they are a straightforward way of tackling the problem and a kinder and less complex form of therapy than drugs such as Ritalin.

Gerhild de Wall, head of the inclusion unit at the Grumbrechtstrasse school in the Harburg district of Hamburg, says children love wearing the vests and they are never forced into putting them on.

She first came across them while teaching in the United States, where they are referred to as ‘compression vests’ or ‘squeeze jackets’ and sometimes used for autistic children.

Supporters of the vests, which cost between £124 and £150, say they are very effective at curbing children's restlessness in many cases. But critics say they are similar to straitjackets worn by violent patients in psychiatric hospitals and could stigmatise their wearers

Supporters of the vests, which cost between £124 and £150, say they are very effective at curbing children’s restlessness in many cases. But critics say they are similar to straitjackets worn by violent patients in psychiatric hospitals and could stigmatise their wearers

De Wall thinks the vests help children feel centred and concentrate better rather than acting as a constraint.

But she says that even though the weight is evenly spread over the child’s upper body, they should not be worn for more than 30 minutes at a time.

Barbara Truller-Voigt, whose nine-year-old son Frederick has worn a 2kg sand vest at his Hamburg school for the past three years to treat his ADHD, said her son thinks it helps him and doesn’t mind wearing it.

‘He can concentrate better and is more able to take an active part in lessons because he’s not spending the whole time trying to keep his arms and legs under control,’ she said.    

One parent said she thought people had 'lost the plot' and the vests were being used as a 'punishment'. She said schools should avoid 'such torture methods'

One parent said she thought people had ‘lost the plot’ and the vests were being used as a ‘punishment’. She said schools should avoid ‘such torture methods’

But critics say they are similar to straitjackets worn by violent patients in psychiatric hospitals and could stigmatise their wearers.

One parent said she thought people had ‘lost the plot’, writing on Facebook: ‘It would be best if we avoided such torture methods. 

‘How can you say to a child, ‘You’re sick, and as a punishment you have to wear this sand-filled jacket which is not only physical agony but will make you look like an idiot in front of the rest of the class.”

And many psychiatrists are sceptical about the vests, especially because the long-term effects of wearing them are unknown.

Michael Schulte-Markwort, director at the Child and Youth Psychiatry University Clinic in Eppendorf, Hamburg, told German newspaper Die Tageszeitung they were ‘ethically questionable’.

He also said they could be seen as a one-size-fits-all remedy for attention deficiency disorders and schools should instead focus on the child’s individual problems.



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