Quote:
Originally Posted by mixedmedia
Truth is, when it comes to children, schools and government workers are stuck between a rock and a hard place.
If they don't act and something happens, they are vilified.
If they over-react, they are vilified.
If they act appropriately, no one is paying attention.
I don't envy them their responsibilities.
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I am a mandatory reporter, and mixed, in the future, you will be too.
I HAVE to report if I see something suspicious. In my mind, it's safer to report and let the system take it from there. Even if the system is broken, I have to hope that it works when we need it to work.
I have gone through training to "recognize and report child abuse and neglect." I'm probably better trained than most people I work with, because not only have I completed the state-mandated training, but also took a class on child abuse and neglect during the course of working on my degree in early childhood education. That has to be the most depressing class I've ever taken. Ten weeks of studying how people hurt children is terrible. I had to write a research paper during the class, and since I am a mandatory reporter because of my profession, I chose to write my paper about mandatory reporting laws. They are important--they really do make a difference in combating child abuse and neglect. Mandatory reporters, especially teachers, see the children they work with every day, and see the children for longer stretches of time than anyone else in their lives. Even when things go wrong--like the scenario presented in the OP--it's important that mandatory reporters still report.