Reporting Abuse/Sexual Abuse Training

[JaneYoung]

In this training/training proposal - is there anything written that helps to protect mentors from false accusations? That's the flip side of this.

Jane

[Carolyn_Grace]

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

In this training/training proposal - is there anything written that helps to protect mentors from false accusations? That's the flip side of this.

Jane

I would have to talk to the group/person who would lead the training (that I propose to organize) about focusing on adults working with teenagers, because the training that I attended recently was definitely based more for adults working with children between the ages of 1-12 (where most cases are NOT false accusations). Still, the training did have an emphasis on protecting yourself from false accusations. In all honesty, for most of us working with high school students, this would be the main concern. And the best thing to do is to avoid one-to-one time with students. If it can not be avoided, make sure that one-to-one time is in a public place where anyone can drop in at any time. Hopefully this is a practice already in place for all teams.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Carolyn,
That statement is meant to involve someone who has the training and skills. It is meant to bring someone else into the equation who is better prepared. If a student brought a complaint to me, I am not trained nor have I been given the responsibility to follow through. I must inform the teacher of the complaint I have received.

[dtengineering]

I don't know about the laws in other jurisdictions, but in British Columbia teachers are legally obligated to report to the ministry of social services and/or police when they have reason to believe that a child has been abused (sexually or not).

As most (not all, but most) FRC teams are associated with high schools, presumably the districts/schools have guidlines for preventing abuse at school events. In BC we have strict policies on criminal record checks for volunteers and the districts have proactive policies regarding field trip supervision. We also have education for students, beginning in elementary school, on their rights and how to seek help if those rights are violated.

And those all help reduce abuse... but there are still incidents of children being abused by those in positions of responsibility. Very, very few, but still too many.

So as far as adult/student sexual abuse, unless there are jurisdictions or schools that are far behind the times in their policies, protocols and procedures, it would seem to me that an FRC session would be somewhat redundant.

But certainly it never hurts to remind people... adults and students alike.... that there are boundaries that must not be crossed.

Jason

[Carolyn_Grace]

Originally Posted by dtengineering

So as far as adult/student sexual abuse, unless there are jurisdictions or schools that are far behind the times in their policies, protocols and procedures, it would seem to me that an FRC session would be somewhat redundant.

But certainly it never hurts to remind people... adults and students alike.... that there are boundaries that must not be crossed.

Not all teams have teachers helping out, and some teams only have one teacher helping out (like ours). The rest of the mentors are engineers, or mechanics, or some sort of professional outside of teaching. This is where I think the need is.

My opinion is that all mentors on the team should be trained in this, mostly to protect themselves, not just one adult on the team.

But, if there isn't interest, then it's not worth it to organize, so it really depends on what other's opinions are.

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by Carolyn_Grace

Not all teams have teachers helping out, and some teams only have one teacher helping out (like ours). The rest of the mentors are engineers, or mechanics, or some sort of professional outside of teaching. This is where I think the need is.

My opinion is that all mentors on the team should be trained in this, mostly to protect themselves, not just one adult on the team.

But, if there isn't interest, then it's not worth it to organize, so it really depends on what other's opinions are.

It is where the team is formed. That is the connection. It isn't necessarily that a teacher is helping out - it is the fact that the teacher is often the direct connection/link. Other teams are connected to organizations like Scouts and 4-H. That is their direct connection/link. If there are any teams that have formed without any links - then they would definitely want a handbook with set policies to protect the team.

If you are interested in pursuing this discussion, the NEMO forum might be a place of discussion among mentors. That's just a thought.

Jane