You are summoned to the campus front
office. An upset father is demanding to
see his son immediately. You quickly verify that
he has the right to do so.
You go get the student from class and tell him where the two of you are
headed. He then begins to beg you not to
take him to see his father.
After asking a few questions, you are
convinced that the student is genuinely fearful of his dad, although you don’t
have concrete evidence of any abuse.
How do you respond?
Because the father has the right to see his son, I would take the son to the father. With that, I would make sure a counselor is in the room with them, or you place them in a room with a window where you can see them. Or leave the door open. Badicly figure out a way to make the student feel safe and for the dad to realize yall are watching. After, speak more with the child and call child services if necessary.
ReplyDeleteWhen faced with the fear that I'm violating the law, I need to remember courts generally side with the school if the decisions being made were in the best interest of students. I would first take the student to the counselor's office and then inform the SRO officer or an AP of the situation and ask that he/she makes their way to the general area the parent is in as a precaution. I would take another counselor or AP to the parent to open a dialogue about the situation and hopefully calm the parent down. If I have reason to believe the student is being abused, I would report it to CPS as is my legal and moral obligation.
ReplyDeleteyou continue to ask questions of the student. On your way to the office, you stop by the counselor or similiar support office and ask the person to come with you and the student to see his father. Hopefully as the father waits, he is calming down. You briefly inform the counselor what is going on and ask them to be present when taking the student to his father. You attempt to get the father to meet with the student in you and the counselor's presence. If the counselor sees something suspicious that may cause you to suspect abuse, you immediately report the incident for further investigation by professionals.
ReplyDeleteI like what Megan just said. That's the approach I'd take.
ReplyDeleteAs educators we are required to report suspected abuse, I have to decide on what the student is telling me. I need to ask the student if he is being abused. From there I may need to report the incident, depending on what the child answers, it could just be a normal upset dad speaking to his son about just taking the car without permission or
ReplyDeletescenario two
-you still are obligated to bring the student
-Speak to the dad alone before handing over the student
-report to CPS
1. I take the student to the counselor's office and ask the counselor join us in the meeting.
ReplyDelete2. Before entering with the child, I have my counselor talk to the child to ensure that we are not dealing with a situation of abuse. I do this because I have the duty to protect the child.
3. While my counselor is talking to the student, I re-enter room to talk to the father. In a friendly manner, I chat with the father about his purpose for seeing the child. I try to determine what the father's purpose is and whether or not we are dealing with an abuse situation.
4. I excuse myself to check on the child's whereabouts and speak privately to the counselor. From there, we determine whether or not we think this is an abuse situation. If we believe it is abuse, I call CPS and our campus police. I will seek their suggestions about how to best protect the child.
5. I have the counselor, AP, and possibly campus police sit in on the meeting, if we suspect abuse. If we do not suspect abuse, I still ask counselor and AP to sit in on meeting. We work together to de-escalate the situation.
6. I follow up and document what happened.
My thinking automatically shifts to student safety, but in this case the student could resist seeing his father for one of two reasons 1) the student is fearful of getting in trouble as a result of a school consequence perhaps, or 2) there is something going on behind the scenes that we do not know about.
ReplyDeleteI would further ask the father why he wants to see his son, what the purpose is. If the purpose sounds legit, I would still take the son to see his father, but at the same time I would not allow the father and the son to be in a room by themselves at the same time. I would watch them interact, and if there is anything said that threatens the safety of the student, I would make note of it. If the father says something along the lines of "You're in trouble", it is hard to justify that being threatening in nature. Nevertheless, if it is something more severe, such as "You're not eating for a week" (for lack of a better example and because parents tend to be pretty blunt when they're upset) then I would consider potentially calling CPS. But in a nutshell I would honor father's wishes, but would not let them be alone.
I agree as well. The main thing for me would be ensuring a counselor or AP was with the student at all times while on the school grounds and reporting the incident to CPS if there is reason to believe there is abuse in the home.
ReplyDelete1. to buy some time, I would say that the child is testing, then go see the student to ask him some follow up questions
ReplyDelete2. since his response is that he's fearful, I would sit with the child and father (although I'm not sure if that is allowed)
3. based on conversation between father/son, I would consider next steps around CPS or to connect student to counselor, etc
My initial thought would be to soften the interaction. We would head back to the office I would ask if the father had some time to talk about his sons grades or something the student was really excelling in. This would give me an opportunity to brag on the student and to share that I really care about and appreciate his son. I then may ask the father if there was anything that the school could do to make sure he continues to be successful or if he had any general concerns. This may open up the issue in a way that is civil and in a way that you could help and address a need. If nothing comes out of the conversation, I would give the two some time in my office to chat. I would be near just keeping myself busy but aware of what is going on. After the father leaves, I would check back with the student to ensure that he knows that I care about his well-being and safety. This student may open up more about the situation. Based on information given and immediate/constant followup I would make a decision to report it to CPS. The key is monitoring and being very proactive.
ReplyDeleteSince the father has the legal right to see the son, I would continue to bring the son to the to see his father, bring them both to the counselors office and stay present throughout the entire meeting. Like Megan mentioned, if I believe/suspect the student is being abused, I am obligated to report to CPS.
ReplyDeleteWhat did you do Dr. Coulter??
ReplyDelete1. Placed the child in the care of an adult while I went back to visit with the father.
Delete2. Told the father of the son's fear, and my belief that it was genuine (though the cause unknown).
3. Informed the dad that he had a right to see/talk to the son, but that per law (in loco parentis) I would be present for their conversation, if held on campus.
After some brief and civil exchange with dad, he decided that the issue could wait until they got home that evening.
Dr. C, what did you do?
ReplyDeleteI would have the father follow usual protocol for visiting a student on campus, speak to the counselor, and sit it on the meeting. If I think there is abuse involved, I would report it.
ReplyDelete1. Because the student appears to be fearful, I would be in the room during the father and son interaction.
ReplyDelete2. Afterwards, have a discussion with the student to clarify my assumptions of abuse.
3. Inform CPS because I am legally obligated to do so.
4. Set up meetings with the student and the counselor to dig deeper into the situation and provide help where needed.
5. Monitor the student and their attendance closely.
I actually don't know if I could inform CPS immediately because a student being fearful does not mean he's being abused. I would have the counselor follow-up with more pointed questions, then decide to enter a CPS report or not.
ReplyDeleteThoughts on the CPS issue??
What qualifies as "suspecting" abuse?
DeleteWhat qualifies as "suspecting" abuse?
DeleteI have been in this situation a couple of times and usually if you just ask the student what's going on they will open up. Once they share that information, you have to report it. I was once told by the counselor that even if suspected because of child's behavior, I had to report it.
DeleteOf course their is a difference between parent discipline and abuse. Keep that in mind.
DeleteI have to have some pretty concrete evidence, or a good amount of corroborating evidence, before I make the call to CPS.
DeleteAlejandro, I think you have to tread carefully but err on the side of caution in this matter. It is not our responsibility to investigate, but we do have the responsibility to report if we suspect possible abuse. I agree with those of you that said a fearful child does not indicate abuse, in and of itself. If you do suspect abuse, what would you do prior to letting the dad see the child?
ReplyDeleteThat's true. I just don't have good experience with CPS acting on information. But I do think it's warranted an additional conversation with the student instead of a hallway conversation. I say this because the kid could be afraid because he didn't do his chores in the morning. OR it could be more serious
DeleteI think it's always good to hear Dad out. The kid could have done something really really bad, and should rightly be afraid of the consequences. I think if my gut tells me there is abuse, it's got to be reported. But either way--- there needs to be space for this issue to be worked through, and I'd create that space at our school with at least myself and a counselor working through the issue with dad and boy.
Delete