Kaylee Christner
7 December 2012
Engl 1100-71
E-Portfolio Revision
Project One
Unexplained
Bruises
As a kindergarten teacher begins her Friday morning
lesson, she notices a child is absent from school for the third unexplained day
in a row. The child arrives to school an hour late; she is wearing a green
dress, long enough to hide the bruises, scrapes, and burns; the same dress that
she wore on Monday. There is yet another
bruise on her forearm and scrape under her right eye; she says she ran into a door, the same excuse that she used
last week. The teacher hesitates, but continues her lesson. Although her smile
portrays a simple life of happiness, the child endures countless hours of abuse
at home. Over the weekend, Sophia experiences what seems like an eternity of
abuse. There is no escaping the abuse and the child is killed. Monday morning,
the teacher is informed of the weekend’s events. In this scenario, the teacher
noticed signs of abuse, but did not act on her suspicions. Now imagine the same
scenario, but with a different outcome. The teacher notices the signs of abuse,
and acts on her suspicions. The teacher reports the abuse, the case is
investigated, and the child is removed from the abusive parent(s) and the abuse
is ended. The United States loses five children each day due to abuse-related
injuries (www.childhelp.org). That is five too many. If child abuse is
suspected, child abuse should be reported. School-age children spend eight
hours a day, five days a week in a classroom setting. Teachers and faculty
members should be trained in recognizing the signs of child abuse and what to
do when abuse is suspected. This training should take place when teachers are
first employed and once every five year after employment. If teachers and faculty
members are trained and the abuse is reported as soon as it is noticed;
children suffering from abuse would be removed from the dangerous home
environment. If this preventative action is enforced by the school system,
child abuse can be stopped in the academic setting.
Teachers and faculty members should be
trained in recognizing the signs of abuse and what to do if abuse is suspected.
Teachers should be trained upon initial employment and once every five years
after. This training should take place during the summer or winter at least two
weeks before the start of school, because during that time the school is
vacated due to summer or winter break. The training should last three days; the
first day reviewing the signs of abuse, the second day reviewing how to report,
and the third day a test of 50 questions on the information. Now the question
is; how will it be decided if a teacher has passed the test? My personal
suggestion would be that teachers must score at least 40 out of 50 to pass the
test, and the test can be taken as many times as needed. The first step in
preventing child abuse is to recognize when it is happening. For that to
happen, teachers and faculty members need to know the signs of abuse. Some
signs of child abuse include; sudden changes in behavior or school performance,
unexplained physical injuries, unexplained drop in school attendance, lack of
personal care or hygiene, coming to school early or staying late, frequent
absences, and lack of appropriate clothing for weather conditions (childwelfare.gov).
Any one of these signs may mean nothing at all, but if two or more are noticed
in a single student, abuse should be suspected. For example, if a child’s
school performance drops significantly, it may not mean the child is being abused.
The child may be suffering from a horrible divorce. On the other hand, if a
child with perfect attendance misses three days of school with no explanation
and returns to school with an unexplained broken bone, bruise, or burn; the
child may be suffering from abuse. Of course, kids are active, and falls and
accidents are prone to happen, but if a child comes to class dirty, in clothing
unsuitable for weather conditions, with neglected hygiene, multiple bruises,
and complaints of being hungry, chances are the child is being abused and the
abuse needs to be reported as soon as possible. There are some instances in
which the abuse is reported, but not resolved; as in the case of David Pelzer.
A Child Called “IT” is
based on true events that occurred in David Pelzer’s childhood. David is taken
away from his abusive, alcoholic mother and is set free from the pain and
suffering that he endured for what seemed like an eternity. “My long sleeve
shirt has more holes than Swiss cheese. It’s the same shirt I’ve worn for about
two years. Mother has me wear it every day as her way to humiliate me. My pants
are just as bad, and my shoes have holes in the toes. I can wiggle my big toe
out of one of them” (Pelzer 8). As stated earlier, coming into class in clothes
unsuitable for weather conditions and appearing dirty or uncared for are two
signs of child abuse and teachers should recognize this as so. David Pelzer is
the outcast of Thomas Edison Elementary School. The other children taunt David,
often calling him “PelzerSmellzer” (35). There is nothing wrong with David; he
is just like any other child. The only difference is, David is abused and
neglected by his alcoholic mother. Teachers notice the abuse, and at first they
do not act on their suspicions. The abuse is reported once, and a social worker
comes to the Pelzer residence to investigate. David’s mother cleans the house,
and puts on an act for the social worker, making the accusations of abuse seems
untrue. “Mother told him how David often struck and scratched himself to get
attention, since the recent birth of his new brother, Russell.” (32). The case
is dropped and the abuse is continued. The first mistake teachers made was
letting their suspicions die down after the case was dropped, while David was
still coming to school with new, unexplained injuries and in the same ragged
clothing. Nothing changed; David’s mother just started aiming her blows where
they could be easily covered. Teachers’ should have continued in their pursuit
of reporting the obvious abuse that was taking place. After a while, the abuse
spirals out of control. David’s mother stabs, burns, and forces David to eat
the contents of his siblings’ diaper. On March 5, 1973 the school nurse calls
David in for the “normal” routine. She examines David’s body and writes down
information on the different scars, burns, and bruises (8). The morning ends
with David’s mother losing custody of David.
“I lean back against the seat. A reflection from the sun hits my eyes. I
turn away from the rays as a single tear runs down my cheek. “I’m free?”” (13)
He escaped from the abuse, because the faculty members at Thomas Edison
Elementary School supported David through the process of reporting the abuse.
In this scenario, the child was able escape from the abuse, because the faculty
members and teachers were educated in recognizing the signs of child abuse and
took preventative action by reporting the abuse. Now imagine the same scenario,
but with a different outcome. The teachers and faculty members are not educated
in recognizing the signs of child abuse and the abuse is not reported. The story depicted in Concrete Angel by
Martina McBride is a great example of what can happen if child abuse isn’t
reported. “The teacher wonders, but she doesn’t ask . . . A statue stands in a
shaded place, an angel girl with an upturned face. A name is written on a
polished rock, a broken heart that the world forgot.” In this scenario, child
abuse is suspected, but the teacher does not report the abuse, resulting in the
death of the child. The deaths caused by abuse-related injury have increased by
two children in one decade. The United States loses five children each day due
to abuse-related injuries (www.childhelp.org). That is five too many. If child
abuse is suspected, child abuse should be reported.
If
a teacher fails to report child abuse, the abuse will continue and the child
will suffer mentally, academically, and socially. Child abuse causes important
regions of the brain to fail to form properly, resulting in impaired
development. Abused children often have little or no reasoning skills, big gaps
in their knowledge on topics presented, little ability to learn as much, and
they fail to perform their best (ehis.ebscohost). If a child’s brain fails to
develop properly, the child may not be able to retain information and will not
be able to excel academically. If a child cannot perform age appropriate
activities, the child will fall behind academically and socially. The National
Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being (NSCAW) found that children who are
victims of abuse and neglect tend to score lower than average on measures of
cognitive capacity, language development, and academic achievement
(www.childwelfare.gov). Typically, a developing child tends to achieve language
fluency around age three. However, children who live in an environment filled
with trauma, neglect, stress, or abuse may experience abnormal physical changes
in the structure of the brain which interfere with normal language development.
Abuse causes levels of stress hormones such as cortisol to increase; those
hormones "...wash over the tender brain like acid"
(earlychildhoodnews.com). In some abused or neglected children vital areas of
the brain appear like black holes-dark, undeveloped, and inactive
(earlychildhoodnews.com). Training teachers and faculty members will benefit
the children that have been abused or have been affected by abuse. When the
abuse is reported and the case of abuse is found true, the child suffering from
abuse will be removed from the dangerous home environment and will be able to
learn the same as their classmates; meaning there will be little gaps in
knowledge, putting all children on the same learning level.
The rise in deaths
caused by abuse-related injury is becoming a national epidemic. My senior year
of high school, I spent two months interning at an elementary school to receive
credit for graduation. The story of Sophia in the introduction is a true story
that I experienced during my internship. The child abuse was reported and the
child was removed from the abusive environment. The teachers and faculty were
trained in recognizing the signs of child abuse and at the first sign of abuse,
it was reported. To lower the number of
deaths caused by abuse-related injury, every educational institution should
require teachers and faculty members to be educated in the signs of child abuse
and how report the abuse. For example, the Wisconsin public school board ensures
all employees receive training provided by the Department of Public Instruction
within six months of initial hiring and at least every five years thereafter
(dpi.wi.gov). Ohio has also adopted this requirement for all elementary,
middle, and high school faculty (education.ohio.gov). If every state adopted
this as a requirement for public school employment, and teachers and faculty
members reported every case of child abuse, the death toll would plummet. Now,
the questions are; who will pay for the training and will teachers be paid for
this training?
Michigan State University (MSU) conducted a study that
compared the costs associated with child abuse to the costs associated with
child abuse prevention services. The costs of child abuse were estimated at 823
million dollars a year and the costs of prevention services at 43 million
dollars a year (msu.edu). Not only would prevention services decrease the
number of children who are being abused, it would also decrease the amount of
money that is being spent dealing with child abuse. The money saved could be
used in paying for the training sessions for teachers and school faculty
members. Teachers should also be paid the same they would for a day of classes.
Teachers will be paid for the three days of training and testing, but will not
be paid for retesting. Now, the question is; who will teach the class? Teachers
and faculty members who have completed the class can apply to teach the class
for new employees. Why continue to spend so much on child abuse related injuries
when you can save more than half a million dollars by simply preventing it?
In
conclusion, school-age children spend eight hours a day, five days a week in a
classroom setting; which places preventing child abuse in the hands of teachers
and faculty members. If teachers and faculty members are trained and the abuse
is reported as soon as it is noticed; children suffering from abuse would be
removed from the dangerous home environment and would be able to learn all the
material, attend school on a regular basis, and possess the ability to excel in
the academic setting. If this preventative action is enforced by the school
system, child abuse can be stopped in the academic setting. Why would we pass
up an opportunity to put an end to such a malicious thing as child abuse? Why
haven’t policies like these been put into place already? The time is now, we
need to come together and convince school systems that these classes must be
mandatory.
Works Cited
Caldwell, Robert A. The
Costs Of Child Abuse vs. Child Abuse Prevention: Michigan's
Experience.
12 June 1992. Web. 5 December 2012.
Child Welfare
Information Gateway. Recognizing Child Abuse and Neglect: Signs and
Symptoms.
2007. Web. 4 12 2012.
Childhelp. General
Statistics. 2012. Web. 17 09 2012.
Crosser, Sandra.
Enhancing the Language Development of Young Children. n.d. Web. 5
December
2012.
Martin, Christina G.,
Jennifer J. Freyd and Lisa D. Cromer. "Teachers' Beliefs about
Maltreatment
Effects on Student Learning and Classroom Behavior." 1 October 2010.
ESBCOhost.
Document. 5 12 2012.
McBride, Martina.
"Concrete Angel." Greatest Hits. 2002. CD.
Ohio Department of
Education. Safety and Violence Prevention Training Now Required K-12
Professionals.
19 September 2012. Web. 19 September 2012.
Pelzer, David. A Child
Called "IT". Deerfield Beach: Health Communications, 1995. Print.
Wisconsin Department of
Public Instruction. Wisconsin is transforming its education system.
20 September
2012. Web. 21 September 2012.
