Vulnerable Children PD
Last week we had a very informative professional development
session on vulnerable children and child abuse.
The first thing that really shocked me was the high
statistics New Zealand has around child abuse. New Zealand has the fifth worst
child abuse record out of 31 OECD countries (According to the most recent
study). I also found out that nearly 9,000 children per year are born “at risk”
(1 in every 30).
There are four main types of abuse that we learnt about;
Sexual abuse, Physical Abuse, Neglect and Emotional Abuse. As teachers we have
a lot of interaction with children and so we need to be aware of the possible signs
of child abuse so that we can keep an eye out for children at risk. During the
session, Lou taught me that when it comes to abuse we need to be logical and
aware of any changes to our students’ behaviour, attitude or dress.
I also learnt a lot about student disclosure, what to look out
for and how to react to it. It’s very important to be on the lookout for any
signs of an abuse disclosure because they can be very subtle! It’s also
important not to promise that you can ‘keep the secret’. Knowing the
appropriate way to talk to children about a disclosure and who to go to when it
happens is essential.
I learnt that if you do need to ask more clarifying
questions (not investigation questions) to get more information, you can use
questions like, ‘how come?’, ‘tell me about it’, ‘explain what you mean’ or ‘describe
that’. Rather than yes or no questions or leading questions.
I enjoyed learning more about vulnerable children in our
community and the signs to look out for. Luckily for me I haven’t had any
children suffering from abuse in my classroom so far, but I definitely feel more
prepared to deal with any vulnerable children that I come across in the future.
I think that Vulnerable Children’s PD is very worthwhile and hope that all
teachers get the chance to be involved in a session.
Hannah
