Challenges to safeguarding children

It is essential that all staff have an ‘awareness of safeguarding issues that can put children at risk of harm.’ (Department for Education, hereby DfE, 2015: 15) This is not restricted to classroom teachers, but anyone that has potential contact with children on a school’s premises. There are four main challenges to safeguarding children:

1. Physical abuse
2. Emotional abuse
3. Sexual abuse
4. Neglect

Neglect

Neglect is the most common form of child abuse, though one of the most difficult to identify. (Radford, L. et al 2011) Neglect is defined as ‘the persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs.’ (DfE 2018: 15) Neglect can manifest in a variety of ways, for example, a parent or carer failing to provide food. I have experienced countless situations where a child has entered school without eating breakfast or lacking sleep, which causes the child to be unable to concentrate on learning. Neglect does not only refer to a parent or carer being unresponsive or neglecting a child’s basic physical needs, but their emotional needs, too. Neglect and emotional abuse, then, go hand-in-hand as challenges regarding the safeguarding of children.

Emotional Abuse

Emotional abuse can be defined as ‘the persistent emotional maltreatment of a child such as to cause severe and adverse effects on the child’s emotional development.’ (DfE 2018: 14) Similar to neglect, emotional abuse cannot be classified as one specific mistreatment – this type of abuse can come under ‘making fun’ of a child or bullying them, making a child feel worthless or unloved, or not allowing a child opportunities to express their views. (DfE 2018: 14) Emotional abuse is built up of many different mistreatments.

Sadly, I have had experience of a child that appeared to be experiencing emotional abuse. For example, when working on phonics, the child felt unable to correct his spelling errors because he was ‘stupid’ and ‘sh*t’. This is not the language I expected to hear from a three-year-old, but it hits home the reality that emotional abuse can occur to any child of any age. It is important, then, for teachers to put in place strategies to address the challenges regarding safeguarding children.

What strategies could be used as teachers to address these challenges?

In order to put in place strategies to address these challenges – and others – safeguarding must focus on prevention. There are four key steps to follow to identify and respond appropriately to possible signs of abuse and/or neglect:

1. Be alert;
2. Question behaviours;
3. Ask for help;
4. Refer.

It may not always be necessary to follow the stages sequentially, though it is useful for all practitioners to keep these stages in mind when dealing with behaviours. For example, a child that doesn’t eat breakfast one morning may not be a case of neglect, but simply that the parent or carer were in a rush that particular day. It is important to constantly be alert for possible signs of abuse and/or neglect, and not to be afraid to ask for help if you are uncertain about a particular incident or child.

Safeguarding should follow two basic principles; it should always be child-centred and co-ordinated, as it is everyone’s responsibility. In regards to safeguarding being child-centred, the child must always be the main focus when making decisions regarding their safety and their lives. (DfE 2018: 9) This child-centred approach allows the child to have agency in their life despite any challenges regarding abuse and/or neglect. By using this strategy of putting the child’s safety first, practitioners can provide a ‘safe and stimulating environment for pupils, rooted in mutual respect.’ (Teachers’ Standards, hereby TS, 2011: 1)

Safeguarding as a co-ordinated process refers to the fact that a child’s safety is of upmost important to all those involved in the child’s life. The Teachers’ Standards refers to the need to ‘safeguard pupils’ well-being, in accordance with statutory provisions’. (TS 2011: Part 2) This illustrates that not only is this co-ordinated strategy essential for the safeguarding of children, but it is also a legal government requirement.

It is important that schools globally take into consideration these prevention strategies when creating their own steps for safeguarding. Personally, I will ensure that my own classroom has a child-centred and co-ordinated approach to safeguarding and will engage with preventing any mistreatment. I believe it is crucial for children to be aware of exactly what abuse and neglect is, so this would be discussed early in the school year in order to build a safe environment for the children. These discussions would be open and I would encourage the children to ask questions. The children would know that the classroom is a safe space where they can discuss any issues that are bothering them, either within or outside school.

References 

• Department for Education (2018) Keeping children safe in education, London, HMSO.
• Department for Education (2011) Teachers’ Standards, London, HMSO.
• HM Government (2018) Working Together to Safeguard Children, London, HMSO.
• Radford, L. et al. (2011) Child abuse and neglect in the UK today, London, NSPCC.
• Rotherham Safeguarding Children Board (2018) Referring Safeguarding Concerns about Children, Rotherham, MASH.