Child Abuse, Molestation and The Teacher’s Role in Ensuring Safety and Security in Schools – Barrister Taiwo Akinlami

The arrival of the 21st century brings with it opportunities and threats, and as change agents, we have lost the right to be ignorant. Without the right knowledge, the digital age in the wrong hands can be a weapon for mass destruction. The digital age brings with a lot of activity such as gay acts, transgender, pornography which has gone viral as a result of the internet and easily accessible to children. If we as teachers, parents remain in our analog age we can’t protect the digital child.

ABUSE OF CHILDREN

A recent report conducted by UNICEF discovered an increase in violence against children in Nigeria. 1 in 2 children experience emotional violence, 15.1% of girls and 24.8% of boys first experience sexual violence at school and a lot of our children are not reporting abuse on them because they think that no one will believe them. In Lagos, Gov. Ambode signed into law the Child Rights Protection Law stating that it shall be mandatory for all Lagos state child focus organization authorities to adopt the child protection policy. Edu-aid is creating awareness that teachers have a role to play in protecting the rights of children.

ROLE OF THE SCHOOL

Teachers need to be aware of the dangers of child abuse and its effect. They are to report any hint of abuse on the children. Firstly, there are three kinds of abusers:

• Deliberate abuser
• Reflective abuser- this kind abuses a child without meaning to. He/she does it unconsciously.
• The silent operator- this one is aware of the abuse going on and does nothing about it.

The abuser does four things; profiles the child grooms the child, attacks and manipulate the child. The abuser goes in search for the quiet child who can’t stand up for himself when abused and start to call the child funny names from then goes on to manipulate and abuse the child. This is why teachers must be trained on child protective policies and also create a warm school environment where the children feel connected as this enables them to have a better behavioral outcome.

The world is a big place and we need to focus to change our environment and our self. We are the change the world needs today and we must make commitments to safeguard our child, protect them from child abuse.

The Need for Teacher Training

“We did not speak English in my primary school”. That was my friend narrating his primary school experience to me which I was finding it difficult to believe. He went ahead “When non-Yoruba speaking teachers were brought to our school, they either had to learn the language or request for transfer out of the school, because we the student did not understand English”. Still in shock at this revelation, I asked “How then did you learn to speak English?” I had teacher in my first year in Junior Secondary School (A public school also) who took special interest in me; although I had no money, he took me extra classes, monitoring me and ensuring that I was able to catch me with my mates. Though I don’t know where the teacher is today, but his investment in my education was why I could continue my studies and be who I am today”.

This is a sad but true account of a friend who attended a public primary school in Lagos. Although the account was quite a number of years ago, it still reinforces the important role of teachers. The teaching profession is often belittled in this part of the world, even by the teachers themselves. However, the role of teacher cannot be over emphasized. Beyond imparting knowledge, a teacher is a mentor, a coach, a counsellor, and a parent.

However, we do not find many teachers like my friends teacher, who go the extra-mile just to see that a student improves his academic performance with no reward or incentive attached. Many teachers lament about the poor remuneration, which is true and can be demoralizing. However, beyond higher wages, there is need for continuous learning and training for teachers, particularly to improve pedagogy. Teachers often lack the skills to communicate technical knowledge and create an atmosphere for learning to take place.

Just like any business invest in their human resource, it is important that the government begin to invest in teacher training. Teacher training should cover areas such as Classroom Management, Social and Emotional Learning, Instructional Design etc. Quality Teacher Training will improve academic outcomes, as delivery will be more effective.