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The Christchurch Civic
Creche Case |
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Following recent national
publicity relating to the vulnerability of New Zealand children with learning
disabilities to sexual abuse, drugs and other health hazards, I have had a
number of calls from politicians and bureaucrats asking which special schools
were involved in our research. They should have been asking, "What can
we do about it?" The names of the schools are
irrelevant because the statistic (44% of both boys and girls reporting sexual
abuse) is consistent with overseas findings. One solution is obvious: all New
Zealand teachers and early childhood professionals should be trained to
recognise signs of abuse and to handle and report them sensitively. Teachers
are the most important professionals in child protection, given that most
abuse victims are in school or early childhood centres. No other
professionals are with abuse victims on a daily basis. All teachers are (or should be)
educated in child development and it is part of their professional role to
observe changes in children's behaviour and respond to their special needs. All teachers should be trained to
deliver your child protection curriculum (Keeping Ourselves Safe) and involve
parents so that they know what is being taught and how they can reinforce
safety concepts at home. New Zealand has the best
school-based child protection programme in the world. Your police education officers
and special education counsellors have shown that, with activity learning
methods, repetition and reinforcement, children with severe learning
disabilities can be taught their rights and torecognise
and report inappropriate behaviour. All children should have the opportunity
to live in a safer world. (Abridged)
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