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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1985-12-18, Page 29•e Abuse action A group of professionals in Huron County will being forming a child abuse review team in January to help with the identification, in- vestigation, treatment and prevention of child abuse. Increasing community awareness of the issue to aid in prevention is one of its • • • • goals. Books such as It's O.K. To Say No! aimed at the protection of children have already helped to increase that awareness. ( photo by Susan Hundertmark) abuse with new review team .. One in ten children suffer physical abuse provincial statistics say BY SUSAN HUNDERTMARK Lying on the floor in the bedroom of a young girl who'd been a victim of child abuse, a social worker coaxed the girl, who was cowering under her bed, to tell her story. She'd already told the same story five times before Huron Family and Children's Services ( FCS) had been reach- ed. "The fewer times a child has to tell the story the better. If we could know right away, we could save the child that kind of experience," says Sheila McCaffrey, supervisor of Huron FCS. And, it's in that spirit that Bill 77, the Child and Family Services Act which was proclaimed on Nov. 1, requires that a child abuse review team be set up for every FCS in Ontario. After recently completing an inter- disciplinary training course on the preven- tion of child abuse, a group of profes- sionals from Huron will form the review team in January. The training brings together social workers, police, teachers, family doctors and nurses. psychologists and public health nurses to work together in the iden- tification. investigation, treatment and prevention of child abuse to serve the best interests of the children of Huron. "We're very dependent on teachers and health care professionals for referring cases to us and we need doctors to help with medical issues such as whether in- juries are accidental or deliberate. When we have a case we're involved in, we'll share it with the team and have them help us," says ,John Penn. executive director of Huron FCS Though it's difficult to know the actual incidence of child abuse. Penn says Huron County's statistics pretty well reflect pro- vincial averages "Statistics say that one in 10 children suffer physical abuse and T see no reason to believe that wouldn't be true for Huron." he says. Static cs also say that one in four girls and one in 10 boys are vic- tims of sexual abuse. in Huron, 10 sexual abuse cases and 27 cases of all other abuse were referred to FCS in 1984 and 13 sexual abuse cases and 19 cases of all other abuse in 1985. "The shift to sexual abuse is quite dramatic throughout the province while our numbers are fairly stable," says Penn. But, because statistics only reflect child abuse that is reported, it's difficult to know how much child abuse happens in the coun- ty, or anywhere for that matter. All we can do is make the community aware that they need to report it and res- pond to it the best way we can when it is reported," he says. Each of the members of the review team will increase awareness of child abuse by first taking any new information back to their peers. Dr. Mario ('auchi. of Goderich, who will be a member of the team, says that while family doctors are very knowledgeable about the issue of child abuse, they are not suspicious enough to think of child abuse when it's not obvious. "Unless the child has two black eyes and Yom{ WARNING SIGNS 1. usually and consistently fearful 2. withdrawn 3. overly compliant 4. irritability 6. affectionless 7. listless 8. detached 9. attempts for self care 10. consistently makes attemps to parents 11. Habit disorders in children e.g. 3stent and pervasive thumb sucking, bit masturbation, enuresis, rocking, head banging. 12. Conduct disorders in A) older children e.g. lying, stealing, running, truancy, te; ince, rebellion, deviance, sexual act 'ii B) younger children e.g. extreme and imagination♦' consistent and riosiy, sleep and speech disorders. 13. Psycho -neurotic traits in older children e.g. hysterical reactions, phobic, obsessive, compulsive, hypochondriac. a broken arm. the doctor might sub- consciously cover up for the parents since he has a close bond with the families in his practice." he says. "Everything doctors do is to help peo- ple: they're trained to trust and might give the benefit of the doubt to the parents in borderline cases." As awareness of the problem of child abuse increases. more cases are reported. Dr. Cauchi says he often sees child abuse linked with wife battering and family violence "A lot of the increased awareness of family violence has to do with women stan- ding up for themselves and liking themselves," he says. From his experience at his private prac- tice. Dr. Cauchi says child abuse is com- mon enough to he a problem. • '1 might have a day with two cases and then not have another case for another few weeks or months," he says. While physical abuse is the easiest to spot, emotional abuse or neglect is much harder. Both men and women abuse children though men are more often the abusers in the cases of sexual or physical abuse, says Dr. Cauchi. And, most of the time, abusive behavior is learned by the adults as children from their families. As a member of the review team, Dr. Cauchi says he sees his role as helping to interpret medical reports and recommen- ding treatment. Keeping teachers aware of the possibili- ty of child abuse is something the school system will continue to do, says Gary ,Jewitt, principal' of Seaforth and Walton Public Schools. "We're continually made aware we're not immune to child abuse; it's a reality. We're helping more children in need of protection than we were 10 years ago," he says. Though teachers, or any other profes- sionals, must report suspected cases of child abuse under the law, they are careful to have serious concerns before reporting. "This isn't a witch hunt. There is a definite procedure for teachers to follow. The big thing is getting help for families if they need it. We wouldn't want parents to think we're obsessed by it," he says. In his experience, Jewitt says he's been involved in child abuse cases, but not to a large extent. During his two years in Seaforth, he's seen less than five cases. In Grade 3 and under, children are often very close to their teacher and will talk to him or her if being abused. In Grade 4 and over, children are much more reluctant to talk and the abuse they suffer will more likely come out in a change in behavior, he says. The greater public awareness becomes, the more child abuse can be prevented, says Jewitt. At his school, training ses- sions have already been done for teachers on the law and understanding of the issue. Increasing public awareness is one of the aims of Constable John Marshall, of the Goderich OPP, a member of the review team. Starting in the fall, Marshall began showing a film dealing with sexual abuse called Better Safe Than Sorry to students from Kindergarten to Grade 6 throughout Huron County. Because the film ends by telling the au- dience to talk to someone they trust if sex- ual abuse has happened to them, Marshall has come across 17 cases of abuse since he started showing the film. "One little girl came to me after the film ani: said it had just happened to her the night before. From that, we found out that two other girls were involved. The man's in jail, now," he says. Reactions from parents about the film have been mostly good. With some cases, the film has precipitated a complaint from a child whose parents have taken the case further to FCS. Marshall says he'll also he giving lec- tures to members of the police department on all forms of child abuse. Madeline Roski, a public health nurse in Goderich, says her main role in child abuse is prevention. When she enters a client's home to help with a nursing problem such as nutrition or hygiene after a referral from the schools, hospital. PCS or a member of the community, she can offer a role model or appropriate information about parenting. "Showing how to talk to and smile at a child as you feed it or how to deal with a child's behavior other than spanking it help to change an attitude about paren- ting." she says. Cases of neglect could only he caused by a lack of education about parenting and can he solved by offers of help. "A lot of parents aren't sure how to ask for help but they're relieved when you of- fer it. And, when people want help, you get results," she says. When a situation in a home Roski is visiting goes beyond nursing problems, she refers it to other agencies. Each of the times girls have confided to her about sex- ual abuse, she's reported it to FCS. "In Huron, each of the agencies already work well together with a real team ap- proach. The child abuse review team will make sure each agency has input into a case," she says. POSTSCRIPT By Susan Hundertmark Mrs. S. Claus meets Gloria Steinham It occurred to me recently that women have been left out or assigned bit parts in the legends or stories of Christmas. All the gift -givers from the three wise men to Santa Claus in the history of Christmas are men. In the Christmas story, there are few parts to be filled by females. Certainly, the Virgin Mary is a woman but the rest of the roles from Jesus to the Angel Gabriel to the shepherds to the Little Drummer Boy are male. Does this mean the significance of the story should be lost to those of the female gender? I think not. It only proves once again, that history is his story, not hers. I've begun to wonder if Santa Claus has heard any rumblings emanating from the kitchen at the North Pole in the past 20 years or so. Have Ms. magazines and assorted other feminist literature arriv- ed with the postal code marked HOH OHO? Has Mrs. S. Claus (does the poor woman have a first name of her own? ) begun to have her consciousness raised? In short, has the women's movement made the arduous trek to the northern- most reaches of the globe? , I really hope so! Because, when you think about it, Mrs. Claus has been in the background for far too long. Though a full partner in Santa Claus Enterprises, Inc. since the company began, Mrs. Claus has been shoved off behind a snow bank while Santa has become the star of stage, screen, song, Christmas advertis- ing and the local Christmas parade. Mrs. Claus is the epitome of the woman in the old saying, "Behind every suc- cessful man is a woman." Who do you think keeps Santa well-fed so he's fat and jolly for the kids? Who washes, irons and mends the red suit for its seasonal use? ( And, you're right if you guessed that -the white fur is terribly hard to keep clean the way Santa's up and down those chimneys all night. ) Who keeps things neat and tidy at the North Pole, cleaning up after the elves and reindeer? Who cares for the elves, nurses them through their various colds and keeps them productive in the toy shop? You guessed it—Mrs. C. Who feeds the reindeer, brushes their coats until they shine and polishes Rudolph's nose until she can see herself in it? You really didn't think Santa did all the work by himself, did you? And, who gives Santa the inspiration to answer the millions of letters he receives from around the world every year? Who sets his appointments at all the shopping malls? Who keeps him happy enough to continue his jolly "Ho, Ho, Hoing"? The labors of his hard-working, uncelebrated wife, Mrs. Claus are never done. The woman is a wonder. But, despite all her work, she still has to cajole her husband to stop by Shopper's Drug Mart to pick up some of the feminine amenities. In my letter to Santa this year, I think I'm going to ask the jolly old man to start promoting equality between the sexes starting at his home at the North Pole. 1 know he only gets out once a year but there must be enough requests by boys for Cabbage Patch dolls and by girls for hockey sticks that he recognizes there are some changes going on in society. He could start by sharing some of the glory ( she already shares the drudgery 1 of his work by taking Mrs. Claus with him on his annual trip around the world. He could also give his wife some non- traditional training in the male - dominated fields of reindeer -flying, chimney -jumping, stocking -stuffing and cookie -eating. With Mrs. Claus's proven work record, there's no reason why she couldn't pick up these skills. Besides, there must be a government incentive program for affirmative action somewhere in the world that Santa could tap into to make it worth his while. And, once Mrs. Claus mastered these new skills, she and Santa could exchange roles so that Santa could begin to ap- preciate the labor which keeps him pro- ductive during his one workday (or work night, I guess oy Ty year. Once the two a h:eve a true egalitarian relationship, t'i« could trade jobs every year giving both boys and girls role models of loving, generous, capable, dynamic, good-natured. hard-working, magical gift -givers of both genders. I know Santa's an open-minded sort so I'm sure he'll give my idea some thought ( even if he hasn't been hearing many of the same arguments at home, already.) In the meantime, I'm sure many forward -thinking teachers are moving into the future with the same sort of spirit by modifying some of the old stories to reflect today's world. 1 wouldn't be sur- prised if those carrying the gold, frankincense and myrrh to the Chri t child in local Christmas pageants were the three wise women. Aftefall, the Christmas spirit of love, peaceland goodwill is not gender -related.