Child abuse and neglect are concerns throughout the world and are violations of a child’s human rights that create obstacles to their academic, physical, emotional, and spiritual development. Schools fill a special institutional role in society as protectors of children and need to ensure that all children in their care are afforded a safe and secure environment in which to grow and develop.
Educators have the opportunity to observe and interact with children over time and are in a unique position to identify children who are in need of help and protection. ICS is a non-violent community, dedicated to supporting the development of every student. Physical violence and emotional mistreatment of children is not acceptable, and is inconsistent with the school culture at ICS. Children develop most fully when they live and learn in a community free from intimidation, free from emotional injury, and free from physical threat.
ICS seeks to be a safe haven for all students and as such has adopted the following comprehensive child protection program, which it will communicate annually to all staff, parents and new applicants. The child protection program defines the various forms of child abuse and child neglect and outlines the school’s requirements for:
mandated reporters and procedures for reporting,
screening and selecting staff, faculty, and volunteers,
maintaining a child protection team,
training and education about child sexual abuse prevention for staff and students,
a code of conduct that guides interactions between adults and children,
follow-up care and service plans for families in need.
Child safeguarding concerns include suspected, alleged, self-disclosed, or witnessed abuse of a child by anyone associated within or outside the school which must be investigated and followed by appropriate action.
In conjunction with Ethiopian laws, ICS maintains that all school employees are mandated reporters of child abuse, neglect and/or harassment. If any employee of ICS has reasonable cause to suspect that a student is being mistreated in any way, he/she is to report the suspicion to a school counselor or administrator immediately. Failure to report may result in the termination of the employment contract and/or legal accountability.
Reporting and follow-up of all suspected incidents of child abuse or neglect will proceed in accordance with the guidelines in this handbook. In the case of a staff member reported as an alleged offender, ICS will conduct a full investigation following a carefully designed course of due process, keeping the safety of the child at the highest priority.
Cases of suspected child abuse or neglect may be reported by the school to the appropriate employer, to the respective consulate in Ethiopia, to the appropriate child protection agency in the home country, and/or to local authorities.