Child Sexual Abuse: What to Check Before Enrolling Your Child in A School

Ololade Hector-Fowobaje

A lot of depressing stories of proprietresses, teachers and other school staff defiling little girls as young as 2-years-old are reported on a regular basis. Owing to this and the fact that children spend a lot of time in school, parents need to discuss these measures with their children’s school authorities before enrolling their child.

This is to make sure they are in place to prevent their children from falling prey to sexual abuse from any quarters at school.

-An active counselling department to educate and create awareness about every form of sexual abuse regularly will open up a forum for students to report any assault.

The counsellor should regularly invite students with any fear or issues for discussions. The counsellor should be trained to also disseminate age-appropriate sexuality education to students.

-The school environment must be abuse-proofed and there should be a safety policy manual! This safety policy manual shouldn’t just be about fire drills but should include preventive and reactive measures on child sexual abuse and rape along with other insecurities like kidnapping.

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Safety strategies that should be employed in schools include:

*All toilets should be thoroughly monitored by cleaners or other junior staff. A permanent station (comfortable chair and table) should be provided at the entrance for this attendant to sit on.

*Girls’ toilets should be far from the boys’.

*For purpose built schools, toilets should not be hidden as is the norm. Toilets should in a fairly open location where anyone going in and out can be seen. There is so much emphasis on the toilet because that’s where seventy percent of sexual atrocities in schools are committed.

*Unused rooms around the school should be locked.

*Bushes in and around the school should be cleared regularly.

*After school, no child should remain in the classroom but should proceed to a designated place within the school premises and wait to be picked up.

*Private lessons should be banned in the school premises.

*All school buses should have attendants (female) to assist the driver and monitor the students.

*For boarding schools, junior students especially should be protected from sexual assaults from their seniors. This can be done by conducting essential sexuality education for all the students and getting the school counsellor to have private chats with the boarders regularly; especially with the juniors.

*Female teachers particularly should be empowered to look out for the sexual safety of the girls and boys as well.

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-The staff handbook should clearly spell out the stand of the school on CSA and make it clear that the school will not tolerate any assault on any child. Male teachers especially should be cautioned on the issue and should know that the school will not tolerate any report of sexual abuse.

-Does the school have any record of sexual abuse? If you heard the school management is notorious for covering up abuse, don’t enroll your child no matter the quality education the school offers.

School managements must also note that it is not in the best interest of the child to cover up CSA assaults by teachers and other members of staff. There is a lot more at stake than the reputation of a school. The safety and well-being of the students are paramount! An abuser who gets away with an abuse will repeat such.

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– Can the school vouch for its staff? Some schools do not carry out background checks on  prospective employees, particularly teachers. A teacher was reported by an 8-year-old student for sexually assaulting her and while the investigation was going on, this same teacher had already applied for a job in another school. He was ready to leave to continue his molestation elsewhere. Now, what does this portend for the safety of our children?

-The management of school should also invite NGOs to hold talks with students and parents periodically on the issue, since they are well versed and more current.

-Peer Education platforms. You may suggest this be established if not already in place. The school can enlist the help of experienced NGOs to set these up. Sharing conversation with people of the same age works perfectly. Young people feel free to ask questions from their peers about their sexuality, discuss changes experienced in their bodies, disclose sexual assaults and so on. This is because such platforms do not exist within the home and there would be no fear of being labelled or judged in a negative way because of the questions they ask, especially by parents who regard such talk as dirty and are often unwilling to discuss anything sexual with their children.

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