The International Schools Review Forum

Hello I was wondering how child abuse/ neglect is handled at international schools. Also, discipline of students . The reason why I am asking is this question has come up when I interviewed for a position previously. Here in the U.S. we have CPS for issue that might arise with parents overly discipline their kids. Thank you

Abuse, generally you report to admin first, and then law enforcement (LE), they contact the appropriate agencies as the situation requires. Your school counselor or leadership should cover this during orientation.

Discipline, varies greatly based on IS and region. In general ITs are expected to manage a lot more of their behavior issues. In general, you need to have some guidance or approval before you contact parents. Referrals to leadership are generally the option of last resort. You will likely be the one blamed for continuing behavioral issues and disciplinary/behavior referrals. Aside from that a LOT depends on the disciplinary policy, and the cultural paradigm in the region for your particular class of student.

We have a child protection policy and it is very similar to ones I was familiar with in North America. We are reintroduced to it every year and basically it states that if you suspect any abuse you are to report it. The counselors take the lead role in investigating the allegations and decisions are made up on high. They can include expulsion from the school and reporting the abuse to embassies and employers. In practice I'm not so sure it works as well as hoped but its better than nothing.

@Overhere

Thats a major issue despite its commonality. Child abuse/neglect is the purview of police and prosecuters. Counselors are not investigators, and leadership is simply not an arbiter of what is prudent and what isnt when it comes to criminal activity. Embassies and employers are not substitutes for the criminal/social justice system.

What astounds me is how many counselors are designated the role of such investigations when many of them only know the legal requirements in their domestic HOR. Ive heard many counselors who lectured ITs during orientation that they are "mandatory reporters", when the region they are in does not have any such legal requirement.

The investigation is limited to determine what the school's response is, not whether there will be criminal charges. Our CPP defines abuse in such a way that in some cases no laws are broken, even in North America, but if a parent wants their child to attend our school then they need to follow the policy.