11 October 2012

Training teachers to recognise abuse just the start

Moves to train teachers to recognise signs of child abuse are being welcomed by the PPTA - as long as there are back-up services available.

The White Paper for Vulnerable children, launched by Social Development Minister Paula Bennett today, recommends teachers be given training to recognise neglect or abuse and report it.

PPTA president Robin Duff welcomed the move but said the services need to be in place to support students when abuse is recognised.

“Recognising and reporting neglect and abuse is just the start. The social services need to be available to protect and support the students affected in a much more coordinated way than we are seeing now.

“Currently schools are often disappointed by the inadequate response to reported abuse,” he said.

The database proposed in the paper was a good method in that it didn’t focus on mandatory reporting, Duff said.

“It builds capacity and support rather than narrowly focussing on accountability – but data is no use without action,” he said.

The paper’s main fault however was it had too narrow a focus and did not address the major underlying issue of child poverty, Duff said.

“The paper talks of monitoring 30,000 at-risk children while at the same time the Children’s Commissioner has released a report saying 270,000 New Zealand children are living in poverty.”

Part of the paper’s definition of a vulnerable child was material deprivation but it only focussed on the worst cases instead of addressing the underlying problem.

“There needs to be a focus on equity across the board with resources available for all who need them instead of focussing on small targeted groups,” he said.

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