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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Sally Weale Education correspondent

Schools in England advised to assess risk of strip-search before calling police

Community members protest at Stoke Newington Police Station over treatment of Child Q.
Community members protest at Stoke Newington police station over treatment of Child Q. Photograph: Guy Smallman/Getty Images

Schools should “assess and balance” the risk of a potential strip-search to a pupil’s mental and physical wellbeing before calling the police, according to new government guidance.

The new advice for schools in England has been issued following national outcry over the treatment of a 15-year-old black girl, known as Child Q, who was strip-searched by female police officers in 2020 after she was wrongly suspected of carrying cannabis at her school in east London.

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