How Schools and Services Support and Protect Children and Families - Essay Example

How Do Schools and Services Support and Protect Children and Families? Why Is Protection Such a Complex and Controversial Issue? The dire importance of the physical and emotional safety of the children can not be underestimated. The social evils and horrors of drugs, alcohol, sexual abuse and violence threat a normal healthy upbringing of children all over the world. The lure of substance abuse, an increase in the breakdown of family structure, single parenthood, and growing poverty and violence rate expose the children to countless risks and threats. The epidemic proportions of the incidents of child abuse and neglect are very alarming and call for instant action on the part of government, schools and private institutions. As the rate and the extent of these problems increase, there is also a need for a more unified response on the part of the school, government and other social service providers. The social services along with schools can aid in providing the necessary guidance, support and direction to the children and their parents. The primary functions of the schools to soundly educate are the best protection a child can get. However in today’s world the social and physical problems of the children have grown so large and complex that it is rather foolish to focus on just the academic needs of the children. The problem of physical violence and crime is becoming a common place issue in schools. The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that the number of robbery or violent crime incidents on or near school grounds is 3 million per school year (Hatkoff 1994). The fact that an increasing number of children are fearful and cautious about taking a trip to and from school and tend to avoid particular places at school out of fear of an attack (National Crime Prevention Council, 1993). The issue of violence and assault in schools is extremely complex and the concern over its consequences is increasing as it has long lasting physical and emotional consequences. The government authorities are realizing this and initiating program and directing funds to local school districts for the purpose of making schools safer. There are many programs which are being initiated at schools to help students recognize that bullying is wrong and a cowardly act by people with low self esteem. Children who are known to be affected by domestic abuse or substance misuse are supported effectively at schools. The value of this service is unparalleled as it manages the children’s behavior and supports their development. A study issued by The Department of Education reflects the role of the school in helping the student to build healthy relationships inside and outside the school. The study recommends involving the parents and community to collaborate and aid in building disciplined, safe and healthy relationship of the students with the outside world (U.S. Department of Education, 1993). The teacher having influence and authority over the students can be helpful in creating a safe environment, free of any kind of physical abuse or violence. Teens, Crime and the Community (TCC) is one interactive program that incorporates the students in execution at all the stages of the program. It is launched by the National Crime Prevention Council and it has an aim to educate young people about crime, delinquency and involves them in projects which help them to make their schools and communities safer (National Crime Prevention Council, 1993). This program has been successfully implemented in more than 500 US schools in 40 states, involving more than 400,000 youths. TIPS which stands for both ‘Teaching Individuals Positive Solutions’ and ‘Teaching Individuals Protective Strategies’ is a national program which is designed to teach students positive conflict resolution and crime prevention strategies, and to promote responsible behavior (Education Information and Resource Center, 1989). The best thing about this program is that it can be blended easily into the school curriculum and includes teacher training. Many other non profit private organizations are also involved in prevention of violence and promotion of a safe environment in the schools. These organizations plan and launch programs that have preventive measures incorporated in them. There are many programs and models that exist to involve the children themselves in the in the fight against crime and safeguarding their physical well being. Most of the School’s administrators are launching these programs and are training students to recognize violence, bullying, collectively standup against it and protect themselves from potentially violent situations. There are many courses being offered about conflict resolution and negotiation skills. The objective of these programs is to offer the students sufficient tools to guard against substance abuse, violence and other unhealthy activities. Additionally job training and many other life skills programs also indirectly helps the students in prevention from violence. Schools all over US are working to strengthen their stand against violence by encouraging both students and staff to report and try to prevent these incidents. Parents are seen to be playing their part by showing interest in the well being of their child at the school premises and in general by offering to play chaperons and joining meetings. Regular seminars with the police department, doctors and other social workers have become a norm for many schools. Schools are playing their roles by encouraging the students to come forward with their problems and report any kind of violence in their neighborhood and school. Along with the physical health, there is a need to amply develop the social and emotional skills of the pupils. In fact sound physical is largely due to social and emotional stability of the children. Most of the schools today are striving to create a safe and emotionally healthy school environment which is conductive to learning. School encourages the students to form good social and emotional relationship with the teachers. The pupils learn all kinds of social skills at school by forming friendships and bonds, working in teams, solving problems, dealing with conflict, managing strong feelings, learning to be calmer and optimistic which additionally helps them to recover from setbacks, compete fairly, and respect others' rights and value diversity. The significance of the role of Parents is very important. There are many Social programs designed to highlight the importance of support parents and guardians provide to their children when they are developing social, emotional and behavioral skills and engaging in school-based work. These programs aim to facilitate and collaborate with parents in recognizing and respecting that their child will need to form certain skills with their help if s/he is to cope with the complexity of the social environment at school. Additionally parenting support is also widely available. These programs are tailored to sufficiently meet the individual family circumstances. Parents can understand, support and manage their children’s development and behavior with the help of these programs. The child abuse is the maltreatment and exploitation of a child under the age of 18 by a parent, caretaker, or anyone who comes in contact with the child (Briggs & McVeity 2001). This mistreatment must cause injury or put the child at risk of physical injury. Child abuse can be physical (such as burns or broken bones by inflicting physical pain), sexual (such rape, fondling or incest), or emotional (child neglect). Child neglect takes place when a parent or responsible caretaker/guardian fails in the responsible provision of adequate supervision, food, clothing, hygiene, shelter or any other basic need for a child (Briggs & McVeity 2001). It is a very common type of child abuse. Child neglect is relatively hard to spot because of it rather subtle cues. Child neglect can occur because of a number of reasons including inadequate physical or mental health of the parents which makes them unable to care for their child, a serious injury, untreated depression, or anxiety can be other instances. Other reasons can be alcohol or drug abuse on the part of the parents which may seriously impair judgment and the ability to keep a child safe. There are some very subtle but quite recognizable cues of a neglected child for the teachers to spot. The clothes of the child may be ill-fitting, dirty, or inappropriate for the weather. The child can quite possibly have hygiene problems, he may come to the school unwashed, matted and with unwashed hair and noticeable body odor. He may come to the school frequently late or regularly miss classes. In a high neglect case he may suffer from untreated illnesses and physical injuries. These signs are only apparent in the little kids, however as they grow older, they might learn to put a strong front for the rest of world to see and may not show outward signs of neglect. They at times also take up the role of the parents for their younger siblings. But the harsh truth is that at the end of the day these neglected children are not getting their physical and emotional needs met which leaves them emotionally crippled, disrupt and interferes in their normal emotional development. The Department of Children and Family Services is renowned for its good child protection services. The ultimate goal of the Department's child protection program is stated in the state's Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act: "The Department of Children and Family Services shall, upon receiving reports made under this Act, protect the best interest of the child, offer protective services in order to prevent any further harm to the child and to other children in the family stabilize the home environment and preserve family life whenever possible" (The Department of Children and Family). The school being one of the primary socialization agencies for the child provides him a safe haven from the neglecting parents. There are many social welfare workers who are specialized in the child, family and school and they work in close collaboration with the State or local government to determine the best course of action for both the child and the family. The parents who are neglecting or abusive towards the children are provided support such as parenting classes, anger management or other resources to aid in the social and emotional well being of both them and their children. Child sexual abuse is a very complicated form of abuse because of its intricacies of guilt and shame. It is very relevant to consider that sexual abuse does not essentially have to involve body contact. Sexual abuse can also take place when the innocence of the child is exploited by exposing a child to adult sexual situations or material. The fact that sexual abuse usually occurs at the hands of somebody the child knows makes the whole experience for the child more traumatic and damaging. Quite surprisingly the ratio of the boys being molested and sexually abused is slightly more than the girls. In US someone is sexually abused every two minutes which accounts for 720 people every day (Gutermorth 2010) and a horrifying figure of more than 262,000 people every year (The Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network). The emotional damage that the predator does to the sexually abused child is way more than the physical damage. The sexually abused children are tormented by shame and guilt and they hold themselves responsible for bringing such shameful acts on themselves. The potential of sexually abused children to hate themselves is also more (Briggs & McVeity 2001). Children who have had such tormenting experiencing may grow up to be inclined towards excessive promiscuity or a complete inability to form intimate and emotional relationships. The shame and the fear of the stigma attached with the sexual abuse withhold many children from coming forward and thus many cases go unreported. The obvious signs of child abuse include trouble in walking and sitting of the child, display of knowledge and interest in sexual acts which can be deemed inappropriate to his age. The child may make deliberate efforts to avoid a specific person, reluctance in changing clothes in front of others or taking part in other physical activities. A STD or a childhood pregnancy is some obvious signs of sexual abuse. The additional signs of sexual abuse include pain, itching, bleeding, torn or stained clothing of the child, withdrawal in to a fantasy world, drug/alcohol abuse and indirect subtle cues might include the child telling a teacher "I'm afraid to go home tonight" or "I want to come live with you" (Oregon Health Division 1987).  Schools have started to realize the problem of child sexual abuse and instilling in pupils knowledge of good touch or bad touch. The school-based educational programs work to help protect the children against child abuse by educating and cautioning them to be on a constant guard. The children can be better equipped to protect themselves if a situation like that arises if they have the former knowledge about how to get away from the person and where exactly to go to seek help. So these programs at school can prove to be very viable tools that a child can use to fight against the sexual abuse. The effectiveness of these programs have been questioned a number of times. It is very difficult to measure with certainty if the programs do any good to the children when they are faced with the real situation. In fact there is whole school of thought that is quite against tormenting and burdening the children with such frustrating and cruel knowledge. The children needs to be made amply knowledgeable about sexual abuse without compromising their emotional well being (Sherryll Kraiser 1989) Child abuse and sexual abuse are such complex problem that no one sector of society be it school or the social service, can tackle it single handedly. That is why collaboration between school personnel and child protective services organization have taken place to collectively work to remove this social horror for good from the society (Lumsden, 1991). Greg McClare (1990) recommends making use of a consultant or resource person to be supportive, facilitating and reassuring to both principals and staff facing a frustrating situation of a child-abuse crisis. The most important component of managing of child abuse is the collective effort of schools and child protection teams (Haase and Kempe). Most of the school consults teams of relevant specialists such as educators, social workers, doctors, lawyers, police, and mental health professionals who coordinate together by bringing in their individual specialized knowledge and expertise to tackle a case of child abuse. According to McEvoy (1990) these coordinated effort by the teams serves to minimize the potential of mistakes when dealing with child abuse because decision making is shared amongst specialists and second opinions are taken in to account. Almost all the children have a consistent contact with the schools, so this social institution of school can be used to identify the mal-treated, neglected and sexually abused children. The prevention and intervention efforts of the schools are doing wonders for the endangered children in helping identifying them and getting them the help they need. The school plays a key role in the fight against abuse. However this excruciating problem needs to be tackled at many levels. The biggest challenge lies in changing the social attitudes and conditions that promote and tolerates the social disease of child sexual abuse. References Hatkoff, A. (1994) Safety and Children: How Schools Can Help. Childhood Education, Vol. 70, 1994. Gutermuth, A. (2010) Student Corner: With teenage sexual assault, awareness is key Education Accessed from http://www.journaltimes.com/news/local/education/article_792d5d36-40ea-11df-bcd5-001cc4c03286.html Oregon Health Division AIDS: The Preventable Epidemic Curriculum, Salem, Oregon, 1987 Kraiser, S., Susan S. Witte, and George E. F., Jr. (1989) Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Programs: What Makes Them Effective in Protecting Children? Children Today pp: 23-27 McClare, G. (1990) The Principal's Role in Child Abuse. Education and Urban Society pp: 307-13.  Haase, Carol, and Ruth Kempe (1990) The School and Protective Services, Education and Urban Society pp: 258-69  McEvoy, Alan. (1990), Child Abuse Law and School Policy, Education and Urban Society 22, 3 pp: 247-57  Lumsden, L. (1991) The Role of Schools in Sexual Abuse Prevention and Intervention ERIC Digest Series Number 61  Briggs, F. and McVeity M., (2001), Teaching Children to Protect Themselves, Allen & Unwin Academic, Read More