Double post

[chrissyk]

Double post

 

[charabby]

Teachers and school personnel are legally required to report suspected abuse so I would expect that young, inexperienced teachers may in fact report issues that turn out to be nothing more than more experienced teachers.

 

[Texan Mouseketeer]

As an experienced teacher, I reported someone only once and it ended up being due to what the daughter said. She came to school with a broken arm and a black eye within three days of each other. When we asked what happened, she said her mom told her she wasn't allowed to say. Red flag! Then, she confessed to a teacher that brother hit her in the face with a baseball bat and earlier he broke her arm when they were wrestling. We reported it immediately. Turns out, brother did that because she walked up behind him while he was playing baseball and he didn't see her back there. She left that little detail out when we asked! And the previous one was a fluke while they were playing. Mom was furious with us at first until we were able to explain to her how it was told to us and the whole deal about mom saying 'not to tell'. Mom had done that just so we wouldn't call CPS. I would rather be safe than sorry, but nothing else has ever come up to where I have had to report it myself. Most times the counselor does it because a child confides to her.

 

[minkydog]

In my job as a nurse i have had to make reports a few times for situations with injured or neglected children. One time it was for a parent who called to report that their newborn, born at home within the last 24hrs, was lethargic, not nursing, and had not urinated in hours. I patiently explained to the father(a chiropractic student who delivered the baby himself--they had no midwife ) the importance of having the baby examined by a (real) doctor and getting the baby medical treatment. The father was adamantlty opposed and went off on a rant about the "medical establishment" yadda,yadda, yadda. I tried to refocus him,appealling to his medical knowlege of newborn chemistry, dehydration & low blood sugar being a risk for brain damage, etc. He would not be moved.

In reterospect,i really don't know why he called--what did he think I could do for them at home?? Finally, he hung up on me, so I called our hospital social worker, who ultimately had to get a court order to force the family to bring the child to the ED or be arrested by the sherriff immediately for child endangerment. They did bring the baby in 6 hours later and the baby was hospitalized for several days in the NICU for dehydration and heart irregularities brought on by low blood sugar.

I would not assume that minor injuries i see on a child were inflicted by an adult, but when an adult brings to my attention a serious situation I am obligated under law to report it. And I will.

(And just to make it clear--I have no problem with home birth supervised by someone trained to midwife, and I have no problem with chiropractic. I am a traditional medicine-type, but I do not push my agenda as the only way. There is room in the world for alternative treatments, as long as they don't endanger the life of a child.)

 

[chrissyk]

double post

 

[va32h]

No investigations by CPS, but my husband was accused of spousal abuse once.

We were living on post, and our house had a pretty steep, uncarpeted staircase. I was carrying my son (then still a baby) dowstairs when I slipped and fell. I held on to my son, and made no effort to break my fall, so I got pretty banged up.

Dh took us to the emergency room - ds was fine, I had a fractured wrist and a jammed elbow. The nurses hustled dh out of the curtain area and tried to get me to tell them "what really happened". They just couldn't believe I had fallen; the dr too, kept asking why I hadn't tried to break the fall. Hello! I wasn't going to drop my baby just to keep myself from getting hurt!

Anyway, after questioning us separately for a very long time, they let us leave, but they did hand me a bunch of pamphlets about spousal abuse.

 

[Texan Mouseketeer]

Those both seem like legitimate instances of reporting suspected abuse, and I would not dispute a teacher or nurse reporting such things. What I was talking about was what was mentioned on the pacifier threat. The mother reported the fight between the 2 kids to the police since she was (legitimately IMHO) afraid of being accused by the teacher of abusing her son. This sort of "mandated reporting" just goes too far IMHO.

Other people's examples on that thread of schools and daycares calling CPS on them for "suspected abuse" are truly disturbing. I wonder how many people have this happen to them and never do anything about it. If a teacher reported something like my child wetting her pants in school to CPS as indicative of abuse/neglect in the home, I'd be all over that school system with my lawyer in a heartbeat, I would be calling the newspaper, etc.

I would say that most teachers are probably pretty realistic and not going overboard on this because it is a lot of work on their part, too. Problem is drawing that fine line between what is abuse and what is not. What if someone second guessed themselves into not reporting something that truly was abusive? Then they can be held liable and eventually lose their job over it depending on the severity of the issue. I am sure that some people go overboard, but there's always people out there to make anyone's profession look bad.

 

[rhanditresmom]

No investigations by CPS, but my husband was accused of spousal abuse once.

We were living on post, and our house had a pretty steep, uncarpeted staircase. I was carrying my son (then still a baby) dowstairs when I slipped and fell. I held on to my son, and made no effort to break my fall, so I got pretty banged up.

Dh took us to the emergency room - ds was fine, I had a fractured wrist and a jammed elbow. The nurses hustled dh out of the curtain area and tried to get me to tell them "what really happened". They just couldn't believe I had fallen; the dr too, kept asking why I hadn't tried to break the fall. Hello! I wasn't going to drop my baby just to keep myself from getting hurt!

Anyway, after questioning us separately for a very long time, they let us leave, but they did hand me a bunch of pamphlets about spousal abuse.

Something similar happened to me, although with very differents results in the ER. I passed out in my front hallway in the middle of the night. Of course, I landed face first and really messed up my face...knocked out some teeth, etc. Well, DH took me straight the the ER (I have a history of fainting, by the way! I just usually do it on carpet ), I was absolutely astounded that the ER dr/nurses asked NO ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS about the circumstances of my injuries. They asked only me and, I guess, completely believed my story. Let me tell you, I looked really bad. I looked like I had been beaten for a long time and without mercy. My eyes were black, my lips were swollen and required stiches. It was not pretty. I didn't think about it until we had gotten home, but I was just shocked that they did not probe any further. Makes me worried for other women coming in with similar injuries...caused by their SO's.

 

[tw1nsmom]

Those both seem like legitimate instances of reporting suspected abuse, and I would not dispute a teacher or nurse reporting such things. What I was talking about was what was mentioned on the pacifier threat. The mother reported the fight between the 2 kids to the police since she was (legitimately IMHO) afraid of being accused by the teacher of abusing her son. This sort of "mandated reporting" just goes too far IMHO.

Other people's examples on that thread of schools and daycares calling CPS on them for "suspected abuse" are truly disturbing. I wonder how many people have this happen to them and never do anything about it. If a teacher reported something like my child wetting her pants in school to CPS as indicative of abuse/neglect in the home, I'd be all over that school system with my lawyer in a heartbeat, I would be calling the newspaper, etc.

If you sent your lawyer in to sue, you would be out of a lot of money. You cannot sue a mandated reporter for reporting suspected abuse.

The problem with all the outrage, is that sometimes the same symptoms you find ridiculous to report, are in fact results of abuse. Frequent incontinence can be a symptom of sexual abuse in children. How are teachers/reporters supposed to tell which ones are nothing and which ones are abuse? The "looks" of the parents? Socioeconomic class? Community reputation? Abuse crosses all barriers.

Also, as intrusive and embarrassing as a investigation is, I would rather a person report suspected child abuse in my children than ignore it because they don't think I could possibly do those things. Most abuse is done by family members and friends. What if someone else in my family wass abusing my children and I hadn't detected the signs? I would hope that there were others in addition to me that were looking out for the best interests of my children.

 

[chrissyk]

double post

 

[tw1nsmom]

If someone was abusing my children and I didn't know about it, I would rather have someone report it, lose my children, and have to fight to get them back, if it meant that the abuse would stop.

 

[I_Know_You2!]

A friend of ours tripped when she was carrying her vomiting 2 year old out of a restaurant. Her son's leg was broken. It was witnessed by a handful of people, including a couple of the employees.

They took him to the hospital, where it was "determined" the break could only have come from being twisted. The SW wouldn't let them leave until they talked to the restaurant, and agreed to a visit. They were stupid enough to agree, so they could go home. CSB decided during the home visit that the house wasn't clean enough. The fact that the whole family of 6 had the same bug Tyler had for the entire week, meant nothing. You can bet the house was not up to par!

It was a huge mess that was dealt with by power hungry social workers. They actually believe that they have the right to enter homes without proof of a problem. That is more power than the police. The state legislature recently let them know otherwise.

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

I was upset at first, but I know why they did it. The lady from CPS said they had to investigate all claims, no matter how trivial it may seem. I didn't pull her from the school (though I certainly thought about it!), because I didn't want them thinking I had something to hide. DD is neither abused nor neglected and I know that and everyone close to me knows that. That's all that matters. She won't be taken away from me, because it's a silly claim. Even CPS could see that.

 

[chrissyk]

double post

 

[Cindyluwho]

After thinking about it, I guess I would rather they erred on the side of caution and called CPS - rather than just ignoring suspected abuse. Our daughter was at the infamous Shorewood Elementary right after the Mary K Latourneu fiasco. You wouldn't believe how many teachers went to the principal and the administration with their suspicions about her an Villi. It was all ignored and CPS (or the police) was never called.

 

[I_Know_You2!]

You are right, she totally screwed up by letting them in the door. This was in Columbus at Children's hospital. The problem with the legisation is that they don't seem to be teaching it to the casemanagers!

They went to court to stop all interaction with CSB and to close the case as undocumented. At least I think that was it. The restaurant employees were incredibly helpful. If they hadn't had witnesses, they could very well have lost Ty for a time-period.

 

[chrissyk]

double post

 

[DVC Jen]

Remember that teachers are and can be held legal responsible if a child is harmed or worse and his/her teacher never reported what they suspected.

We have a case at our school right now where it is VERY borderline. The child is obviously neglected but not to the point of it being immediately life threatening.

We have talked to a CPS representative and he said it definately warranted an investigation but because this child is not on the verge of being (sorry for being so blunt) immediately harmed or killed it could take weeks or months for someone to get to her case.

 

[Pamlur]

My oldest granddaughter went from barely walking to running in like a week's time, so she kept falling and running into things. She had multiple bruises, a black eye, a swollen lip...and then she got an ear infection and had to go to the doctor. My daughter called me and told me I had to go with them, because if she didn't see the regular pediatrician she didn't know if any other doctor would believe her story. We saw the regular doctor, who was also my kids' pediatrician. He looked at the baby, and said "Been a little busy this week, haven't you?" Thank goodness.

 

[Disney Doll]

I will never be of the mind that CPS is looking out for the best interests of anyone's children. This is one messed-up organization. It's not an intrusive or embarrassing investigation that you have to worry about...it's losing your kids and being able to do NOTHING about it. If someone in your family were abusing your kids and you hadn't detected the signs, than you would be "guilty" of not protecting your children in the eyes of CPS, even if you had no way of knowing that the abuse was occurring. This is the reason that we are adopting internationally rather than through CPS. I've done enough research to know that I would never feel secure that any child that I adopted through CPS was taken justifiably.

Also, you most certainly can make a police report that a false CPS report was filed against you. I don't care WHO the reporter is, I would be making that report AND spending whatever I had to on a very good lawyer to ensure that it never happened again.

Sounds like you had a bad experience somewhere along the way. Lots of bitterness there.