Kids in handcuffs seems shocking – but it’s happening more than you think

When it comes to children in care, there are major regulatory gaps, writes Sarah Champion MP

Children are supposed to be protected from violent treatment (Getty)

The harrowing footage of a 15-year-old teenage boy being viciously restrained and handcuffed by civilian security in a pharmacy recently was truly shocking. It left me angry and upset, and it seems to show such a clear abuse of power.

Public discourse around marginalised groups and identities often omits the uniquely vulnerable status of children – they lack autonomy and are ultimately subject to the whims and actions of adults around them.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child clearly sets out that children are supposed to be protected from violent treatment. Seeing a child being subjected to such cruel and humiliating behaviour is shameful in modern Britain, and totally at odds with the idea that we are a progressive and tolerant nation.