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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1996-03-06, Page 8Orldwitsodui T-4 Staff cur ro$ - One puppet confides in another about sexual abuse.** nn audience of about 0 adults watches and Ramis. At a child abuse workshop held at the Herron County Health and Li- brary Complex on Feb. 13, Kids on the Block puppeteers put on an ed- ucational puppet show normally presented to elementary school stu- dents. During the performance, chil- dren often ask questions and son* times confess about ii cidents of abuse. Organized by the Huron County Community Child Abuse Co- ordinating Committee, the two-hour workshop consisted of an overview on child abuse, preventative meas- ures for special needs children and the legal requirements of reporting abuse. Kathleen Babcock, a child abuse prevention co- ordinator at Rural Response for Healthy Children, presented in- formation on how to detect signs of phys- ical, sexual and d emo- tional abuse as well as neglect. "(There) are pretty good indicators you can see and observe," she said, re- ferring to physical mistreatment. Unexplained bruises in different stages of healing as well as welts, burns or scars in a regular pattern :ould indicate a child has been abused, she explained, adding adults should consider whether - an assumed cause of an injury makes sense or not. Signs of extreme dependency or withdrawal may also• be' helloed to. abuse. Children may red* *floe- ;tion displayed by adults or may re- veal theft stories through drawings or nightmares. "There certainly is often a very great change in behavior," said Babcock, adding abused children may act out sexual activities. "Neglect is one of those things that's more observable," she said, citing skin infections and physical complaints as possible indicators. While lack of cleanliness is easy to detect, hunger is not. Signs of malnutrition include begging for food, overeating and excessive fa- tigue. "I guess emotional abuse is really the hardest 'thing to prove," said Babcock, explaining rocking, thumb -sucking, destructive be- havior and hysterical outbursts may occur in these cases. Babcock ended her "When we look at •session by discussing the occurrence of positive responses to a child who discloses child abuse in Hu- about abuse. It is vital ron County there to believe in and re - are 200 cases a assure the child while listening openly and year...The difficulty calmly. Next the adult arises when nobody should record facts reports." and report them im- mediately to child abuse authorities. Following Babcock's overview, Margaret Cressman, a child abuse prevention consultant for Com- munity Support for Families, spoke about special needs children who, :.hex.laimed, are at a one and a half Imes higher risk of being abused. *iirletyhas created a situation in which these children are...taught to McCurdy students hold public speaking contest HURON PARK - All kinds of interesting things have been happening at McCurdy. First of all, all the children received their measles shot. Sec- ondly, the public speaking contest was held. Several winners were se- lected. For the juniors Flung Vo, Ryan Knee and Ashley Arnold were the best. In the senior competition, Crelene Duck, Holly Seabrook and Shauntell Schwartz were the winners. Duck and Vo went on the the Ex- eter Legion contest. In a similar event at Clinton, debating, four McCurdy students faired wry *ell. Lisa Arnold and Ben Hindmaeskwon fustarid willproceed to regionals in Mississauga in March. Dawn Redmond 'and Lance Pfaff placed fifth in the same multi -school competition. 111. primary and junior classes had special Valentine activities while the older students had a dance. The 4/5 class and the 6/7 class enjoyed a visit from the Huron County dairy educator, Carol Bowman, who spoke about the role of milk as a nutritious food choice. After playing games Bowman left each group with a milk -based snack. The 2/3 class was fortunate enough to have a women from Robaris school talk to them about some technology used in dealing with hearing problems. Guitar and piano lessons have beey-aart of the learning happening at the school. Participation in games is also very important at McCurdy. Students from grade three to eight have just completed a session from intramural floor hockey, and are ready now to prepare for basketball and borden- ball. The senior boys and girls have been practicing for the basketball tournament being held in March. Students from one to seven have been skating each Friday of February as well. Avid chess players and rookies have been playing on Fridays in prep- aration for the spring tournament. The electronic age has come as some of the students are playing on the computer. The junior and senior floor hockey teams challenged the staff to a game of floor hockey. Once again, the staff team proved dominant. Bible school organized at Hensall United Church It will run from March 18 to 22. Liz Sangster HENSALL - The March meeting of the Hensall and District Horti- cultural Society has been cancelled. At Hensall United Church, Rev. Annen's message was "When God Speaks". Douglas Klopp was or- ganist for the ministry of song. Jeanette Turner greeted the wor- shippers. The ushers were Lloyd Ferguson and Cecil Pepper. Fol- lowing prayer and greeting one an- other, the food gifts were dedicat- ed. The children sang "Hallelujah, Praise the Lord!". "Help Found Here" was the children's story. Mu- sic was provided by the senior choir. Confirmation classes are being held after church. Bible study is be- ing held March 5 from 1:30 to 3 p.m. All are welcome. Bring a pen and a bible. The Thursday Afternoon ladies meet March 7 at 2 p.m. You are invited to prepare small crafts for the United Church's table at the yard sale, May 25. Vacation Bible school will be held from March 18 to 22, 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Leaders and helpers are needed. Call Pam at 262-2016 or 262-3322. The topic is "Easter is for Everyone." World Day of Prayer was held at Carmel Presbyterian Church, with Rev. Roushorne speaking on Haiti. Rev. Roushorne also sang accom- panying himself on the guitar. Joyce Pepper was pianist for the service. Ann Annen, Shirley McAl- lister, Cathy Bell and Marilyn Campbell assisted in the service. The offering was taken by Winnie Skea and Dorothy Taylor. 1-800-263-0626 THIEOFORD 1-800-823-8369 LONDON cued WHAT A TheHo e`Country Kahle DISH be;.,vicdats7 she sa'Id. explaining reinforced 'negative stereotypes of *packed needs children results in de- valued individuals. "'Often they have been segregated or institutionalized...They are taught 10 obey persons in author- ity...They may be more easily tricked, manipulated or bribed." Cressmatt minted out many child abuse ptogcalts Aye based on the premise rofteaching children their bodies belong to themselves. In many cases of special needs chil- dren, she pointed out, due to a great dependency on caregivers, their bodies are not necessarily their own. These individuals are oftenover- protected and lack peer re- lationships. Because they are viewed as incapable of under- standing, they don't get the sex ed- ucation they need. "If they don't know, it may be hard for them to say `no,'" said Cressman, who feels with pro- tective measures in group homes and institutions overlooked in the past, combined with communica- tion barriers and a lack of clear policy on how to report abuse, spe- cial needs children have been put at a higher risk of abuse. According to Cressman, pre- vention includes appropriate on- going sex education as well as pro- moting a positive image and al- lowing children to make their own decisions.. • "We have to step into their world and find out what they need to know." To conclude the workshop, Greg Brown, an intake program manager with the CAS, discussed legal re - - F to help,: - of a VideootN ahit Ilse Child Flat, he tried to encourage people to re- port meta of o?til4 jtbtpa. "When we loofa N{he occurrence of child abuse in Huron County there are 200 cases a year," he said, adding in general, one in four girls• receive unwanted sexual contact while one in three boys experience the same. A child's response to abuse, he explained, may u include with- Society has created a situa- drawing from tion in which these children sharing feel- ings eelings as well as refusing to trust. As a result, he said, these individuals may become angry, violent or ill. According to Brown, most psychiatric illnesses are affiliated with child abuse and about half of all inmates suffered abuse as chil- dren. Babcock added nearly all prostitutes have had incidences of abuse in their past. "The cost of this is actually quite phenomenal," said Brown. "The difficulty arishen nobody re- ports." The seminar video stressed the importance of reporting incidents of child abuse. "If the well-being of one of those children is at risk then we just may have to go qut on a limb," stated a character in the film. "You don't have to be sure. You just have to suspect." In answer to a concern someone featured in the video had about 'fig up awrlei about abuse, the response was, "Talking about abuse is rare enough. Lying about it is really uncommon...As a worker in a youth group, you are le- gally bound to report this." Under Section 72 of the Child and Family Services Act, although everyone has a duty to report sus- pected child abuse occurrences, professional people are required to report such incidents if they have reasonable grounds. According to the • act, pro- fessional in- dividuals in- clude health care .workers, doctors, nurs- es, dentists, pharmacists, psychologists, teachers, principals, social workers, family counsellors, police, clergy- men, coroners, day care workers and lawyers (when not under the at- torney-client agreement). If a professional person does not report what they suspect may be child abuse, they could be fined up to $1,000 or imprisoned for up to one year. Such charges, laid by the police, are rare, with the only case in Huron County involving a Wing - ham Doctor. However, reporting offences are growing more com- mon. At the abuse seminar, Brown stressed the significance of lis- tening to children while they dis- close abuse experiences and urged adults not to pressure for details since traumatic incidents are often re -lived through discussion. are...taught to be... victims... They are taught to obey persons in authority... They may be more easily tricked, ma- nipulated or bribed." Kids on the Block puppeteers put on a child abuse presen- tation for adults at a seminar held at the Huron County Health and Library Complex on Feb. 13. f Triangle's Specials March 5 to, 18, 1996 Disposable 5's BIC SHAVERS ' Prima Feminine Napkins i Maxi Silk, Prima Dry Plus Feminine .99 LESS .COUPON DENTYNE ICE GUM COMPLETE FINNESSE LINE OF HAIR PRODUCTS LAUREL SKIN LOTIONS SPIRIT 3 IN I SOAP WISK POWER PLUS DETERGENT CORRECTOL 12's MAYBELLINE NAIL POLISH FLINTSTONE VITAMINS 2/1.19 $2•69 $1.49 .69 $S•49 $1.99 $1.49 $4.99 TRIANC LE DISCOUNT... 433 Main St. Exeter 236.1601 Hod% and Beauty Needs. Pop, Tobacco Lottery 'Doi** "Don't go probing," said Brown, adding it will usually become ev- ident what happened. Besides, he. pointed out, if kids are pushed toomuch, they won't talk. If an adult is overwhelmed by a child's disclosure about abuse, Babcock added, the child may tone the story down while telling others. When a child reveals information, it's important to assure them some- thing will be done about the in- cident. The law gives the CAS authority to speak to children when they are away from home. Joint child abuse investigations are carried out be- tween social workers and police. "In a vast majority of cases we can probably help the family and ...the child," said Brown, although he did admit about 40 per cent of reported child abuse incidents are unsubstantiated. Half of the unsubstantiated cases are unfounded while half do not gather enough evidence. "We do not disregard anonymous calls," he said, adding. the CAS is obligated to investigate all sus- picions. The incidence of children calling in to the CAS•is about five per cent since younger children usually con- fide in someone they trust. Brown ended the workshop by answering an audience member's questions about spanking. "Spanking is really a nebulous thing...The difficulty of using force is you run the risk of injury." He said spanking is not an ef- fective form of punishment, ex- plaining it is legal to spank as long as the child is not injured in the process. MEETING INOTICE EXETER - GRAND BEND STEPHEN - USBORNE AMALGAMATION COMMITTEE The Council representatives of,the above municipalities are ,meeting on an ongoing basis to determine the feasibility of amalgamating the four municipalities into a single municipal corporation. These meetings are open to the' public Next Amalgamation Committee Meeting Friday, March 8, Time change 9:30 a.m. at Stephen Township Council Chambers The Magic of Mardi Break Begins at Delta Bring Your Little King and Queen for an lochaating Visit! • Raptors Basketball • Ontario Silence Centre • Royal Ontario Museum • & alghlin Planetarium • let Wary of Ontorio • diodcueelc Pioneer Village • Indoor Skyht Pod • (Mren's Creative Centre • Video Gomes • Children under 18 stay for free if sharing room with parents • dtildree 6 and under eat free ADella Toronto Airport Hotel 1-e00468-1 444 (deo z Climbed