Abuse in schools- Part 2

Whether the incident of abuse is mild or severe it is important to pay attention to it. A child has several years to spend in school and his experiences can influence his development and attitudes later on in life. Incidents of abuse in the classroom are indicators that the teacher is having difficulty, either personally or professionally. A teacher who is having difficulty needs help and support. Start to build a relationship with the teacher. Make time to say a few pleasnat words to the teacher, especially in the morning. It helps to set a positive tone for the day. Pay him a compliment, appreciate him or validate him. Be specific, e.g. " I appreciate the time you took to explain........", or " I like the way you taught the students about.....". show your concern for the teacher as a person also and not just as the teacher.

Remember that a person who abuses (whether verbally, physically or emotionally) has himself been abused. Encourage the teacher to talk about his experiences of being mistreated even it was long ago.It also helps for him to talk about what school was like for him. Let him know that it is okay to express all the hurt feelings (crying if it is grief, raging away the anger, giggling through embarrassment and shaking off fear). The more he works through these bad feelings the clearer he will be to figure out what needs to be done. Working through his own experiences and releasing the hurt feelings attached to those experiences will interrupt the cycle of abuse. Do not offer any advice or relay any expressions of disaproval, annoyance or impatience. Remember that what the teacher needs is to remove the feelings of anger,fear and sadness that are locked in and preventing him from thinking well. Teachers are intelligent people! Being in a classroom full of lively, energetic, active children with 25 - 30 different personalities and problems all day can be a very stressful experience. Leaving one stressful situation to go home to another on a day-to-day basis leaves little attention for being cheerful, creative,zestful and taking care of oneself. Frequent opportunities for relieving this stress are vital. Every teacher will welcome an extra pair of hands sometimes.There are many ways to offer that extra pair of hands- help to prepare teaching aids, photocopy material, help to supervise the children before or after school, volunteer to be on a committee that will give you time to spend and chat with the teacher.When a teacher is having a hard time with a child it always helps to have someone who can remove the child from the situation and stay with the child while another person gives the teacher some attention to deal with his immediate feelings.

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