Mandated Reporting and Crisis Communication, Essay Example

The incidents of child abuse, sexual harassment, and corporal punishment in schools are not uncommon. Children suffer the consequences of such traumas, which later show through their misbehaviors, difficulties in education and learning, and their inability to develop strong ties with their peers. For these reasons, education professionals and school workers are responsible for monitoring and reporting such cases to authorities.

1. The evidence about suggested child maltreatment comes either from direct or indirect sources. The direct sources of evidence include body injuries (occasional or frequent), a fear of going back home from school, unusually aggressive or passive behaviors, continuous fatigue, stealing (especially food), the lack of parental attendance or supervision, etc. Indirect sources imply information from external parties (i.e. other students, neighbors, other teachers, etc.).
2. Any school employer with a reasonable cause for making such report must provide local authorities with the information about child’s name and address, full information about child’s parents and the school. “Reasonable cause” implies that the reporter has direct or indirect evidence about suggested maltreatment/ abuse, or that the reporter has reasonable grounds to make such assumptions (for example, practical experience).
3. School employers must inform parents about the report.
4. Regardless of whether the information about possible abuse comes directly from the child or from any other person, school employers must react to such information immediately.
5. School employers do not carry any responsibility for making their reports in good faith.