Providing Services When Threat May Exist

Working with children can be difficult and time consuming because you never know what is going on unless they allow you into their world. Children will only allow a stranger in if they are scared of someone, have trust, or they know you well. This can serve as a difficult situation when a child is the victim of abuse or neglect and the outcome can lead to a negative outcome for the future of the child’s lifespan. The areas will involve mental and physical issues, poor academic development, social behavior issues, and health problems. As a human service worker and a leader in the community rather it be a teacher or counselor it is their role to ensure a prevention method included and an intervention is available to assist with children who may be suffering from child abuse or have suffered from child abuse. An abused child will at times show signs of depression, low self-esteem, and anger. This will in time affect the child’s social skills, academic skills, and the need to be somebody will now be there.

Communication will help a child develop the need to want help out of the abuse or neglect. Allowing the child to be heard and feel wanted is a good way to show the child, this will help to find the truth and understand what is actually going on. Looking at visible abuses cannot determine abuse alone because children have accidents all the time and that is not enough facts and evidence to go on. Especially if the child is terrified of the abuser and the feel the community cannot help them because the abuser could have a bad reputation of showing anger and mean to individuals. Individuals who working around children should have enough tools to help with identifying abuse and when a child is in need of help. Noticing when a child have changed their emotions, how they act when their parents are not around, and if they are constantly acting like they are hiding something. Know the signs and understanding them should be a huge factor when it concerns working around children.

If the signs of abuse is not detected in time it can leave negative traits and will hinder the child’s adult abilities. This can include the child repeat what they with through as a child and committing the same crime to another child or they can commit murder or suicide. Preventions and interventions have to be near in order for healing and rebuilding to occur, and the workers who work around these children can be the ones to prevent this from happening or continuing to happen. A parent have to be there for their child mentally, physically, educated them, and instruct them of what may be ahead for them in the near future. If the parent is the abuser it can be difficult for the child to learn all of these methods when they are terrified of their parents and when this happening it will be the responsibility of a human service professional to use primary interventions to help with the present abuse as well as preventing any future abuse.

The first primary intervention and method that used is setting up an assessment, this will help the Human service professional determine who the individuals are, what they struggle with, their strengths, and weaknesses. Finding out personal information from the parent will help to assists them with change and finding the right program to help them to stop the abuse as well as becoming a better parent. “Primary preventions programs are usually local in nature. They may be developed from a national pilot or model program, but they are administered locally with a plan to prevent abuse and neglect by direct services family” (Hirschy, S. T., & Wilkinson, E. (2010). The use of the primary preventions will help the parents with programs that offer shelter, food assists, protective services, and child care programs. This method will help to reduce the stress the parent may have to give them the extra time to get themselves right to become better parents, and able to teach their child to become a productive individual when they reach adulthood.

Even if there have not been no child abuse or neglect these programs can the parent to now become a suspect of child abuse, learning what avenues they have and the education to help them will become a superior primary prevention to child abuse. Primary intervention and methods Human service professional use to prevent child abuse and neglect in a school setting is a little different than it will be in a family setting because a family setting will have a longer lasting relationship with the child than the school setting would. The individuals that work in the school setting having an obligation and responsibility to teach and look after the children. Especially if the individuals notice any visible marks on the child or the child communicate with them about abuse in their home. Rather it is the teacher, principle, or counselor it is their job and role to ensure safety first to the child and anyone else around even if calling the police have to happen. Whatever the solution is to stop the abuse than that is what have to happen.

“Schools and child care programs must set up policies regarding appropriate hiring practices. Screening of teachers and all personnel involved with children should include a background check, fingerprint check, check references, and interviews. Teachers should be trained before hiring and routinely after hiring in issues regarding abuse and neglect” (Hirschy, S. T., & Wilkinson, E. (2010). With using this method in a school setting it will help to not lose a child to child abuse because the lack of education the teacher has to notice what is going on with the child. A teacher needs to know when a child changes their program from a happy child to a now depressed child, notice when a child is staying covered up even when it is hot outside, have knowledge of the reaction of the parents when the teacher have to notify them about their child, a teacher should always have records from emergency numbers for child, and how the child should get home because leaving a child alone should never happen. When a child is left in the care of the school it is the responsibility of the school to protect, teach, and observe a child while they are in their care.

When this is done it will limit the ongoing abuse and any future abuse that can occur, no matter the fear the teachers may have for the parents they have to report any possible abuse or neglect that may be happening to the child to the police immediately. Although school system want to keep the children safe as well as themselves, ethical issues get involved and distracted the school system from doing the right thing. Teachers are faced with parent’s retaliation from reporting abuse, students will deny the abuse, and reporting false abuse. The school system can only go by what they have notice and observe when reporting abuse, and no matter had the parents feel the police needs to be notified. Parents may try to intimidate the teachers from reporting the abuse by; threats, stalking and actual physical harm. The school system should still hold their ground and trust the law will protect them.

The student can be so scared of the repercussions of what the parents might do to them, will cause the child to lie the abuse never happen, and it will make the teacher look like a liar if evidence is not found. Other factors that may arise when working with children in a school setting, is the discipline the child lacks. The child can be constantly disruptive and not willing to listen to authority and this can caused the teacher to become frustrating from the child’s actions. A child can be born with health issues for as; down syndrome, obesity, mental issues, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Those are some common issues that may cause some ethical issues in a school setting, and will have some effects on the teaching as well as the learning. Although some children are faced with health issues that may cause them to act out, other issues are a child does not know how to act.

A child only does what he/she sees, taught, and hears which can cause the child to act a certain way. A child that is loved, sheltered, protected, and discipline will have greater chance to live a productive lifestyle than a person who so or experienced abuse. A child that have seen or experienced abuse will become mean, depressed, withdrawn, and unstable which produce them to not want to obey in school. Children is brought into this world with no knowledge to what is going on, they will only know what they are taught to do. Learning life is always hard because it is done with practice and persistent time no matter what is going on a child will do things of how they feel or see. This is why it is important a child have adults around him/her to protect them and become their voice of peace and a healthy environment. The professionals around the children rather it be the teacher, counselor, doctor, or social worker it is their obligation and responsibility to commit to their role which is keeping a child safe and reporting any wrong doing.

Reference
Hirschy, S. T., & Wilkinson, E. (2010). Protecting Our Children. Understanding and Preventing Abuse and Neglect in Early Childhood