Detecting Signs of Child Abuse

and what Educators can do to

help
Jaclyn Darling
● Almost half a million children have undergone abuse of neglect before
they even enter kindergarten

● Progress has been made over around the last 20 years about
awareness of the mistreatment of children within the united states

● Child abuse and neglect are now recognized as an urgent national

concern with in our coutry
The importance of Teachers
● Schools play a major role in identifying and reporting child abuse and neglect as
they come in conact with the majority of children all over the country
● School becomes a safe haven for children going through these situations
● Teachers in recent years are now being trained to detect behavioral and physical
signs of abuse and neglect of their students but much more training is still needed
for educators all over our country
● The importance of teachers recognizing the signs of child abuse can save children
from years of trauma, having a lifelong impact to show the child that they are
reliant, irresponsible for the pain they have experienced and create a wonderful
life for themselves once they are in a safe environment. Giving them hope.
● Most children that do not get the help and support they need from an adult grow
up to continue to be dysfunctional into their adult lives.
Warning signs for educators to look out for
● Besides the obvious signs like unexplainable or frequent marks on the child some
other signs to keep a close eye on include the following:
○ Dysfunctional behavior
○ Lack of hygiene
○ Frequent absences from school
○ Jumpiness/ appear to become frightened easily
○ Stealing
○ Social withdraw
○ Give up on things easily
○ Trouble relating to other children
○ Effects the child’s development of not only communicating orally, but also their reading and writing
○ Often act out their pain because they cannot express it into words, which sometimes leads to them
being abusive to other children whether that's physically or verbally
■ In addition to that if the child feels cold and don’t seem to care when they inflict pain on others-
they close their minds off to pain to ease their suffering
What Teacher can do to help these students

● Teachers are required by law to report their suspicions of abuse or neglect

but after this is done many teachers believe there is nothing else they can do
to help these children, which is far from the truth there are many things that
can be done inside the classroom as well
What Teacher can do to help these students within their
classroom
● Teachers need to teach children to how to identify and label feelings and then
how to express them in words
● They can teach children fantasy literature to deal metaphorically with some of
their concerns and fears
● Give them problem solving activities, this does not help them get rid of all of
their problem but at least they learn that they are capable of solving some
and are not completely helpless
● Giving them a say in the rules they follow will help children achieve a positive
sense of control and a feeling of being a person whose ideas are valued
● Stress to children that mistakes are often part of the learning process as
many abused children get hurt from making them that the fear of making
mistakes paralyzes them in a sense
About The Author

Author: Marilyn E Gootman

She has over 35 years of education. Teaching children for part of her career and
teaching college students, educators, camp counselors many educational
strategies dealing with children including child abuse and neglect.

Article Title: Child Abuse and it’s Impications For early childhood Educators

Article link: https://primo-

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