Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Stopping Child Abuse; Virtus Workshop

Last week during class we had to take part of a workshop call Virtus. To be able to work with the children at St. Mary's it is required to take this workshop. This workshop was not a common one. The topic was children abuse mostly focusing on sexual abuse. We watch two films that explained real life situations spoken by either the abuser or the child that was abused. These poor people, it was heartbreaking to watch. Throughout the film we were taught warning signs of abuse and how to report an abuse. As I watched this film all I could think about was how could someone do something like this! But guess what it happens and by watching these films I learned signs to look out for as I work with children. Even though it was an emotional and disturbing workshop I am beyond glad I took it because now I know what to do to help a child that I believe is going through abuse and I could even stop the abuse from happening to that child. Knowing that I could save a child from being abused because I am now aware of signs makes me glab that there are workshops such as these. I believe that it is crucial to report an abuse if you notice a child displaying signs of abuse. It personally drives me crazy to thing about the scandal at Penn State. If someone just called the hot line and reported the abuse they could of stayed anonymous but they would of stop the abuse sooner and could have avoided many children being abused. What were they thinking not reporting this? How could someone know about a situation like this and not get help? Another scandal that has recently been brought to public attention is at Syracuse University. Even though the abuse happened many years ago it is now being revealed. If someone would have reported this abuse when the signs were being shown this man would have not been able to abuse any more children. As a future educator I will be spending majority of my time with children. It is my job to keep them safe when they are under my responsibility and thanks to the Virtus workshop I will be able to try protect my students from abuse by being aware of the warning signs. Also I have learned the proper way to report an abuse and I will not hesitate to do so. Being a teacher parents and guardians look to you to protect their children as well as educate them I believe every educator should be educated on abuse warning signs and the proper way to report an abuse.

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