How is Child Abuse, Neglect & Peer-on-Peer Abuse Defined

How is child abuse, neglect, and peer-on-peer abuse defined?

Definitions of abuse are complex and based in various cultures of child-rearing behaviors, gender and role responsibilities and expectations. The primary determination of abuse is that it is dependent on some form of a relationship that is used to meet the need of the more powerful person, either a member of the family, a teacher, or a friend. Research guides much of the definitions that are based in understanding the impact of certain behaviors.

Peer-to-peer abuse is any form of physical, sexual, emotional and financial abuse, and coercive control, exercised between children and within children's relationships (both intimate and non-intimate).

Behavioral indicators in and of themselves do not constitute abuse or neglect. A combination with other indicators, such as family dynamics, may warrant a referral.

Abuse can include any of the following:

• • Inflicting physical injury on a child by other than accidental means causing skin bruising, burns, disfigurement, impairment of physical or emotional health, or loss or impairment of any bodily function, death;

  • Creating a substantial risk of physical harm to a child’s bodily function;

  • Committing acts that are cruel or inhumane regardless of observable injury. Such acts may include, but are not limited to, instances of extreme discipline, demonstrating a disregard of a child’s pain and/or mental suffering;

  • Assaulting or criminally mistreating a child as defined by the AIS-R Board policy;

  • Engaging in actions or omissions resulting in injury to, or creating a substantial risk to the physical or mental health or development of a child;

  • Failing to take reasonable steps to prevent any of the above.

Possible Indicators of Physical Abuse:

• • Unexplained bruises and welts on any part of the body;

  • Bruises of different ages (various colors);

  • Injuries reflecting shape of article used (electric cord, belt, buckle, paddle, hand);

  • Injuries that regularly appear after absence or vacation;

  • Unexplained burns, especially to soles, palms, back, or buttocks;

  • Burns with a pattern from an electric burner, iron, or cigarette;

  • Rope burns on arms, legs, neck, or torso;

  • Immersion burns with a distinct boundary line;

  • Injuries inconsistent with information offered by the child;

  • Unexplained laceration, abrasions, or fractures.

Neglect is:

• • Failure to provide for a child’s basic needs within their own environment;

  • Physical Neglect is a failure to provide necessary food or shelter, hygiene, or lack of appropriate supervision--this would include failure to provide proper adult guardianship such as leaving children unsupervised at home for extended periods of time. Note: Should parents/guardian leave the country for any reason, then the responsibility for informing the school of all appropriate contact details lies with the parent or guardian. Guardian forms are available from divisional offices and Student-Parent Handbooks and are expected to be completed 48 hours prior to parents/guardians leaving the country;

  • Medical neglect is a failure to provide necessary medical or mental health treatment;

  • Emotional neglect is a pattern of actions, such as: inattention to a child’s emotional needs, failure to provide psychological care, or permitting the child to abuse alcohol or other drugs. Specific examples may include verbal humiliation, refusing to acknowledge presence of child, invasion of privacy for no specific reason, violent threats, etc.

Possible Indicators of Neglect:

• • Child is unwanted or basic needs are not met;

  • Child is unkept (repeated wear of clothes, body odor, mangled hair, etc.);

  • Parents are uninterested in child’s academic performance and/or social-emotional development;

  • Parents do not respond to repeated communications from the school;

  • Child does not want to go home;

  • Child is left for extended periods of time (age appropriate) without a parent or guardian;

  • Parent can not be reached in the case of an emergency.

Sexual abuse is:

• • Committing or allowing to be committed any sexual offense against a child as defined in the AIS-R Board policy, or intentionally touching either directly through clothing, the genitals, anus, or breasts of a child for other than hygiene or child care purposes.

  • Sexual abuse has some different characteristics of child abuse that warrant special attention. While physical abuse is often the result of immediate stress and not usually planned, sexual abuse requires planning with results that are more insidious.

  • Planned Sexual Abuse, often referred to as Grooming, results in victims accepting the blame, responsibility, guilt and shame for the sexual behavior of the offender. Sexual abuse requires far more secrecy than other forms of child abuse, so is more difficult to report.

  • Many victims, through the process of grooming, are taught that the sexual act is a form of love, so tend to love their offender and often present as happy, well-adjusted children, with no negative symptoms because of their perception of being loved.

  • Working with the sexual offender cannot be done solely by school counselors. Outsourced professional assistance would be consulted.

Possible Indicators of Sexual Abuse:

• • Sexual knowledge, behavior, or use of language not appropriate to age level;

  • Unusual interpersonal relationship patterns;

  • Sexually Transmitted Infections in a child of any age;

  • Evidence of physical trauma or bleeding in the oral, genital, or anal areas;

  • Difficulty in walking or sitting;

  • Refusal to change into PE clothing and/or fear of bathrooms or change rooms;

  • Child running away from home and not providing specific reasoning for their actions;

  • Not wanting to be alone with a particular and/or any individual;

  • Pregnancy, especially at a young age;

  • Extremely protective parenting or guardianship which inhibits the process of counseling or communication.

Peer-on-Peer Abuse:

Peer-on-peer abuse can take various forms, including: serious bullying (including cyber-bullying and hazing), relationship abuse (including siblings), domestic violence, child sexual exploitation, youth and serious youth violence, harmful sexual behavior, and/or gender-based violence.

Possible Indicators of Peer-on-Peer Abuse:

Signs that a child may be suffering from peer-on-peer abuse can also overlap with those indicating other types of abuse. The list below is by no means exhaustive and the presence of one or more of these signs does not necessarily indicate abuse. The behavior that children present with will depend on their particular circumstances (see AIS-R’s Child Protection Policy Section for indicators of abuse) and can include:

• • Failing to attend school, disengaging from classes or struggling to carry out school related tasks to the standard ordinarily expected;

  • Physical injuries;

  • Experiencing difficulties with mental health and/or emotional well-being;

  • Becoming withdrawn and/or shy; experiencing headaches, stomach aches, anxiety and/or panic attacks; suffering from nightmares or lack of sleep or sleeping too much;

  • Broader changes in behavior including alcohol or substance misuse;

  • Changes in appearance and/or starting to act in a way that is not appropriate for the child’s age;

  • Abusive behavior towards others.