The Presentation on Challenges Encountered by School Attendance Officers on Children who are living in Abusive Homes Introduction The

purpose of this study is to conduct an investigation on the challenges school attendance officers face while dealing with children, who live in abusive homes and implement programmes which would educate the public on the different forms of abuse encountered, by our children in homes, and how they can be prevented. This research, would highlight thedetermine four areas of challenge which officers identified, while working with children, and discuss the impact of abuse on their lives of the children, many of which occur as a result of living in abusive homes. Child Abuse is neglect or harm to a child by another child or an adult. Child abuse takes place in all social, racial and income groups. Child abuse can be emotional, physical, sexual or through neglect. The challenges faced by school attendance officers are identified as follows:

Delinquent parents Parents who are unable to take care of children Avoidance of School Attendance Officers by parents Parents not identifying abuse as a problem

Delinquent parents Delinquency is one of the major challenges that officers encounter on a daily basis. This occurs when parents become delinquent in sending children to school for various reasons. Some of these are inexperienced parents which most of the times are also very young parents or children having children, and also, oOfficers found that most children not attending school are from single parent homes. On a few occasions parents were brought before the law courts by officers because children were constantly absent from school. S and some reasons given to officers by parents as to why children did not attend school; were the father did not bring any money, they did not have no school clothes or that there was no money for lunch. Officers found that in homes where they were
delinquent parents, cases of drug abuse, sexual abuse and child neglect is also prominent. In the United States parents of young children are often blamed held to account for the delinquent behaviour of their children. In some courts parents are even penalized for the antisocial conduct of their children (e.g., Bessant and Hill 1998; Drakeford 1996; Dundes 1994).

Figure 1 The pie chart above labeledlabelled as Figure 1, shows the answers accumulated from a recently completed questionnaire. These questions, which wereas numbered from sixteen (16) through twenty (20), asked the individuals who participated in the collection of information, what wereto identify from a list the major types of abuse identified by school attendance officers while working with children living in abusive homes. Sexual Abuse, was the answer that was selected the most, having 33% of the selected partakers

stating that that was their personal reason. Meanwhile, Verbal Abuse was the answer least selected; only capturing 1% of the partakers. Additionally, Physical Abuse came up with 28%, Child Neglect was selected by only 11% of the partakers, leaving Emotional Abuse to be the ratio representing the views of the remaining 27% of partakers.

Parents who are unable to take care of their children

School attendance officers have to deal with quite a few cases of parents not able to take care of their children due to financial needsdifficulties. This is a form of child neglect which occurs when the childs basic needs are not provided. These can be lack of

food, hygiene, clothing, medical care or supervision. Officers are faced with parents who become physically or mentally ill and unable to care for the child because of depression or anxiety due to unemployment. Cases like these are not always easy to detect in children. In other cases seen by officers, alcohol and drug abuse can seriously impair the judgement of the parent and their ability to keep their a child safe. These parents have trouble taking care of themselves, much less their children. In older children child neglect might not be shown up outwardly as they become used to presenting a competent face to the outside world, especially when they have to take on the role of the parents. Two prominent warning signs officers see in children who suffer from child neglect are continued lateness and usually missing days from school. When an officer sees these signs as information would beis being gathered from the school, the next step move would be to pay the home a visit. Cases such as these are dealt with immediately by the officers as these children are identified as most at risk and . Iimmediately these cases are then referraled is made to the social worker who takes swift action. Avoidance of school attendance officers by parents Another challenge officers encounters is are parents who keep their children away from school when they have been disciplined by officers, teachers or principals at school. These parents allow the children to stay at home whenever the child gets into some form of trouble. When officers visit these homes for the first time, a clear picture is shown as to why the child would behave in this manner. Often times the parent is a single parent that displays the same behaviour as the child. When the parent is questioned by the officer the parent would say things such as the principal had no right to beat my child or the teacher only picks on my child because they dont like him. From the officers experience and length of time in the job these children are always often the ones that would go to prison. The officer then orders the parent to get the child back to school, where and follow up visits are done. From interviewing Mr. Kenville Holder However when follow up visits are done, the parent is never at home but the child is back to school. The School Attendance Officer Mr. Holder also indicated said that these parents often come from a particular area s and can be very illiterate with poor social skills which can make their job very difficult as . Tthese persons are not easy to work with or understand and will may have to be brought before the courts if the need arises. Parents who do not identify abuse as a problem In recent times school attendance officers, when checking reports as they often do, have found that there are increase cases of children being away from school due to abuse by the parent or guardian. When officers see the absenteeism from these children and they do the home visits, they find that children are have been physically abused and so would not be able to attend school because of the visible marks on their bodiesy. Some officers said they saw children wearing oversize clothing to hide injuries. When officers interviews parents they often say they had to punish the child and their actions are simply forms of discipline in order to make the

child behave. As Oofficers then take on the role of reaching out to the child they are often met find the child to be with withdrawnal symptoms, the child may becomes more depressed orand can be very aggressive From reports gathered by officers the abuse is not always an attempt to harm the child. Officers are then faced with the challenge of explaining to the parent that discipline and physical abuse does not go hand in hand, which can be a task. The mission then is to explain to the parent that Pphysical abuse can also result from severe discipline, such as using a belt on a child, or physical punishment that is inappropriate to the age of the child. One officer said that children who are abused by the parent are ofenalways living in fear. Budget A budget has been included to look at the cost of making this report possible. Material Needed Cost of printing paper to do investigation Transport to get information for investigation Literature for analysis Newspapers Ads Total Cost $5,000 $1,500

$2,500 $3,000 $12,000

Conclusion School attendance officers are there to ensure that every child gets an education. However it appears that the public does not understand the role of the School Attendance Officers and in some instances see them as authority figures whom they should fear. This is not necessarily the best way to ensure that the officer, parent and child get the best from the relationship. School attendance officers are to enable the parent to secure the best level of educational acheivment for their children by m itigating any negative siciocultural or socioeconomic challenges the parent faces.

Recommendation School attendance officers are there to ensure that every child gets an education. However it appears that the public does not understand the role of the School Attendance Officers and in some instances see them as authority figures whom they should Fear. School Attendance Officers should be invited to Parent Teachers Association meetings to inform parents about their roles and to build relationships with the parents so that they are better able to address social problems encountered that affect the attendance of children.