Child Abuse: A Curse That Needs To be Wiped Off - Report Example

Child Abuse: A Curse That Needs To be Wiped Off [Your Child Abuse: A Curse That Needs To be Wiped Off Introduction Educational Issue Having access to stress free education is the right of every children. However, not all children have been blessed to gain education with a mind free of botherations & tensions. Issues like peer pressure, sexual abuse and other societal norms often make it difficult to focus on their education, and more towards the solution of such problems (Watkins, 2009). One of the main problems taking place in various social settings is bullying and sexual abuse. While many people only think that child abuse takes place in school and home settings, they tend to ignore the fact child abuse is a rising problem that needs be dealt with properly (Grapes, 2001). Before we get into detail, it needs to be understood child abuse can take several forms, not only the sexual side of it like we all know; other forms include neglect, physical abuse and emotional abuse. According to a research a high number of child abuse cases take place within and outside schools, with most of them being unreported. While some children may not even have an idea of what has happened with them, thus resulting in the crime not being reported, others are often tortured or threated not to speak out against the criminals of the act (Camp and University of California, 2001). According to a study published by the Cambridge University Press Journal Development and Psychopathology the victims of child abuse experience mental, biological, social and behavioral problems as a result of the abuse and these effects can last for decades (Watkins, 2009). What needs to be understood here is that many school going children are, at this point in time as we write, being sexually abused by teachers and other people working within the school vicinity and also at settings outside the school vicinity, including homes and play areas. While immediate action needs to be taken to stop this act of disgust, steps should be taken to ensure that such things do not happen in the future and destroy the lives of hundreds of young children who are unable to voice their problems owing to lack of knowledge of coercion. According to a research study, children who are sexually abused cannot focus properly on their school assignments and often end up with below average results. The same study also highlights the fact that these children often remain introverts for their entire lives and take a lot of time to adjust with new people owing to the bad experience of their past. What is more shocking is that children who are sexually abused in school have higher rates of obesity and depression, as well as problems relating to the regulation of chemicals within the brain amongst other issues (Graham, 1996). Project Idea My project aims at preventing the cases of child abuse that occur within school and social settings. It does this by creating an educational program which inseminates knowledge amongst young school children (fourth graders for the case of our project) regarding child abuse and then getting then providing them with self-defense training via admission into taekwondo classes. The project revolves around teaching fourth grade students about various forms of child abuse with the help of videos and in-class demonstrations with the help of qualified instructors. This project centers on informing students about child abuse, its various types, and of scenarios where they may become victims. Once done with the video and physical in class training that form a part of the project, the students would be enrolled into taekwondo classes and shown how to use the skills they acquire there to their defense against attackers. Connections to Deep Learning Child abuse has resulted in the lives of many children being changed, but not for their best. This project seeks to educate young school going children (fourth graders) about various acts of child abuse, while also focusing on one of its sub-kind, sexual abuse and the impact it can have on their lives. It tells them how they can help themselves against people who try to abuse them alongside making sure that children are given sufficient knowledge to find out about child abuse and take measures to protect themselves from being abused. According to the in-depth discussion in the introduction head, if this program is successfully implemented, it can result in saving the lives of many children who would have otherwise been at a higher probability of being abused outside their school setting. Also through this project we seek to empower students with skills to save their futures from becoming gloomy and escaping from the menace of depression, obesity and other issue related with cases of child abuse. Setting and Context for the Project This project would initially be implemented within a class of ten students. I would be taking the help of qualified instructors and videos to teach fourth grade students about child abuse, and later get them enrolled in a taekwondo program to instill self-defense skills in them. The performance of the project would be measured at the end of the academic year by the number of child abuse cases reported & actions taken by the children. Qualifications [Please write about your personal qualifications + where you see yourself in the next few years] Project Description Project Goals and Activities Like I mentioned earlier, this project seeks to create awareness amongst children regarding child abuse and how they can overcome it. To start off, this project would first educate the children about what exactly child abuse is. This step would be achieved by showing the students various videos regarding sexual activity and abuse, and with the help of live practical examples carried out by professional instructors to educate students about this issue. While it might come to the mind of the assessors of this grant proposal that these videos may pose a considerable psychological risk to students who see them, this is not the case. These videos are kept in mind that the viewers of the content and fourth grade students and their analytical abilities are still in the developing phase rather than having developed fully. These videos would, without showing any kind of images that may deem to be equivalent to pornography, show students what entails the boundaries of sexual abuse. It would do this by stick figures and messages majorly focused on audio rather than showing the acts happening. In the second phase this project would get students enrolled in a taekwondo program where they would learn self-defense skills. The children would be taught how, whenever they face a scenario where anyone tries abusing them, sexually or otherwise, they should utilize their self-defense skills to their help. Project Timeline This project would stretch over a period of one academic year. In the first three months, the students would be given one class a week for a period of three months straight. These classes would feature videos on child abuse as well as practical examples where the class teacher will show them how real life scenarios occur regarding child abuse. However, full care would be taken that not at any time during the course of this project a student feels uncomfortable with the class teacher as she would be depicting examples of abuse rather than getting involved in the act herself. Between the fourth and sixth month the students would be given mock presentations in the class by the professional instructors. There instructors would also educate them about real life scenarios that lead to, or are a part of child abuse. This would entail live in class demonstrations with dummy attackers. The seventh to ninth month would see the students get admit into the taekwondo classes where they would be taught basic self-defense skills. Month ten to twelve would see trained students, ready to utilize their skills in to their defense whenever situations arise. Learning Outcomes This project seeks to achieve the following learning outcomes by the end of this project: -Enable students to distinguish between teachers/school workers people involved in child abuse -Teach students how to handle situations when they come across cases of child abuse -Enable students to help other students on and off campus when they see teachers and others trying to molest or carry out sexual activities son them -Make children rely on their own skills for self defense Assessment Plans The success or failure of this project, based on the learning outcomes mentioned above, would be judged on the following ground: -The number of cases of child abuse cases reported by students -The number of attempts made by students to take action against intruders (even though false cases or wrong cases might have been reported) -How well students were able to perform in child abuse drills within the class. This includes how well they were able to detect cases and they utilize their self-defense mechanism. Impact This project will have a very positive impact on the life of students and parents alike. The lives of many students would be saved from the menace of child abuse, as well as parents of these children will be saved from the misery of getting to know that their children have at some point in time been abused and they could not do anything to help them. Then project would make sure students can focus on their education, and not be effected by cases of child abuse (Peske and University of Alberta, 2014). Sustainability The results of the progress made during the project period would be recorded. Later on these results would be shared with the ministry of education, the administrations of various schools, as well as on state governments to convince them towards funding the cause. I believe the results of the project would be enough to convince these parties to help the project sustain in the future. Dissemination Plan During and after the completion of the project, efforts would be made to show videos of the progress of the class who undergoes the project to other class teachers and NGOs as a means of convincing them about the project and getting the idea across the selected class room. All possible efforts would be made to provide the project with a website where the ideas can be shared with others across the globe, thereby convincing people all across the globe that this problem needs to be tackled, along with providing with the ways to handle it. Budget The table below gives a budget of carrying out this project in a class of ten people for a period of one while year. The costs given are from Cincinati Taekwondo Centre (http://www.cincinnatitkd.com/?page_id=200): Item Cost Hapkido Self Defense Tuition ($142 each * 10) First Month Cost $1,420.00 Subsequent Two Months ($72 each * 2 months * 10) $1,440.00 Total $2,860.00 References Watkins, H. (2009). Child abuse. Detroit: Greenhaven Press. Grapes, B. J. (2001). Child abuse. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press. Graham, R. (1996). Primary school teachers encounters with cases of suspected or disclosed child sexual abuse. Peske, S. K., & University of Alberta. (2014). Adolescents experiences of online sexual solicitation. Camp, H. P., & University of California, Berkeley. (2001). Gender and agency in the negotiation of intimate heterosexual encounters. Read More