1) Child abuse is defined as intentionally inflicting physical or mental injury on a child, or any intentional act that could reasonably be expected to result in injury. 2) As a school district employee, you are legally required to report any suspected child abuse to the school counselor or administrator. 3) If a child victim discloses abuse to you, you should immediately report it, reassure the child they have done nothing wrong, and allow them to speak freely without eliciting detailed information.

1. Reporting Abuse, Neglect,
and Exploitation of Children

2. OBJECTIVES
After successfully completing this course, you will be
able to:
• Define child abuse.
• Recognize the signs of child abuse.
• Know how to respond to a report of child abuse.
• Understand how to protect yourself from child abuse
allegations.
• Define professional judgment and understand how to use
professional judgment when working with children.

3. Lesson 1:
What is child abuse?

4. What is child abuse?
As an employee of Walton County School
District—and as a responsible citizen—
you need to know that child abuse cannot
be tolerated in any form.
Child abuse, according to most state
statutes, is defined as:
• Intentional infliction of a physical or
mental injury upon a child.
• Any intentional act that could be
expected to result in a physical or
mental injury to a child.
• Active encouragement of any person
to commit an act that results or could
be expected to result in a physical or
mental injury to a child.

5. Case Study

6. STUDY EXERCISE
INDICATE WHETHER THE STATEMENT IS TRUE OR
FALSE:
AN ACT MUST RESULT IN PHYSICAL HARM TO A
CHILD TO BE CONSIDERED CHILD ABUSE.
TRUE OR FALSE?

7. Lesson 2:
What Are Your Responsibilities?

8. What Are Your
Responsibilities?
As an employee in an educational
institution, you are required by law to
report child abuse.
Walton County Protocol requires that you
report suspected child abuse to the
school counselor or school
administrator.
Teachers, school officials or other school
personnel who know or have reasonable
cause to suspect that a child is abused,
abandoned or neglected, have a
responsibility to report the suspected
abuse for the protection of children.
Report child abuse. It is the
law!
(O.C.G.A. 19-7-5)

9. STUDY EXERCISE
YOU ARE REQUIRED TO REPORT ALL OF THE
FOLLOWING:
SUSPECTED ABUSE
NEGLECT
ABANDONMENT
TRUE OR FALSE?

10. Lesson 3:
Report the Abuse Right Away!

11. Report the Abuse Right Away!
As an employee of Walton County
School District, if you know or suspect
that a child has been abused and you
intentionally fail to report it promptly,
you can be arrested and charged with
a criminal count of "Neglect of a Child."
The penalties of such a
charge range from
misdemeanor to felony.

12. Case Study

13. Lesson 4:
Protect the Child

14. Protect the Child
If you witness or hear reports from a student, student’s sibling, a
parent, or a reliable source, you must act. Child abuse includes:
 Threat of abandonment
 Severe demeaning comments
 Beating
 Withholding food or essential medical care
 Lewd or sexual acts between adults and children
 Exploitation of a child, or
 Child pornography viewing
Report the abuse to your school counselor, or if you cannot locate the
school counselor then report to your school administrator. If you
witness or hear anything that you feel is abuse, you are required to
report it.

15. Case Study

16. STUDY EXERCISE
INDICATE WHETHER THE STATEMENT IS TRUE
OR FALSE:
YOU MUST WITNESS ABUSE FIRST HAND IN
ORDER TO REPORT IT.
TRUE OR FALSE?

17. Lesson 5:
When a Child Victim Tells

18. When a Child
Victim Tells
According to the Children’s Advocacy
Center, when a child victim tells about an
abusive episode, you should:
• Support the child and immediately report
the incident.
• NOTE: The reporter’s identity is kept
confidential by investigation agencies.
• Reassure the child that he or she has
done nothing wrong and it is his or her
right to tell someone.
• Explain to the child that you are required
to do whatever you can to ensure his or
her safety.

19. What Else Should You Do?
 Express belief that the child is telling the truth.
 Use discretion when talking with the child to
respect his or her privacy.
 Respond to the child in understanding terms.
 Allow the child to speak in his or her own
words.

20. Lesson 6:
What NOT to Do

21. What NOT to Do
• Do not elicit detailed information from the child after initial
disclosure. This could contaminate the case. Attaining information is
the responsibility of the investigators. Please refer to your handout
for permissible general questions.
• Do not call the child’s parents. Until the initial investigation is
complete, you cannot know if the parents are involved. Even if the
parents are not the abusers, they may have had knowledge of the
abuse and did not intervene.
• Do not make promises. Refrain from telling the child things like, "If
you say this or do that, I promise this will or won’t happen to you."
• Do not allow your emotions to affect the child.
• Do not call the abuser a "bad person." The abuser may be a relative
or close friend of the family.

22. STUDY EXERCISE
FROM THE LIST BELOW PLEASE SELECT FOUR (4) THINGS
YOU SHOULD DO IF A CHILD VICTIM TELLS YOU HE OR
SHE IS BEING ABUSED.
• Immediately report the incident to your school counselor or school administrator.
• Notify the parents.
• Reassure the child that he or she has done nothing wrong.
• Elicit as much information as possible from the student.
• Allow the child to speak in his or her own words.
• Express belief that the child is telling the truth.

23. Lesson 7:
Rules of Thumb

24. Rules of Thumb
Never Minimize the Seriousness of Child Abuse
It is important that you remember to never minimize
the seriousness of child abuse. The child’s
happiness and future are at stake.
You may be the only individual willing to protect
the child, thereby saving him or her from a
lifetime of physical and emotional harm.

25. Rules of Thumb
Never Cover Up Your Suspicions
Sometimes you may be unsure or
feel that your suspicions are
unfounded, and, if so, that your
actions might actually be harmful to
the alleged perpetrator. Never
attempt to excuse or cover up your
suspicions of child abuse.
Report all cases of suspected
child abuse.

26. Rules of Thumb
Report All Suspected Child Abuse
Immediately report all suspected child
abuse to the school counselor or
administrator.
You may fear that reporting child abuse
places you in an uncompromising situation.
From our formative years, we are taught to
mind our own business, but when it comes
to child abuse, the child’s safety is and
always will be our business. The need to
report the abuse far outweighs our natural
tendency to avoid "telling" on someone.
You have a responsibility to report the

27. Case Study

28. STUDY EXERCISE
Which of the following statements is TRUE regarding
your responsibility to report suspected child abuse?
A You should only report child abuse when a student admits
he or she is being abused.
B Minimizing the seriousness of the abuse will help the child
heal more quickly.
C If you are unsure, you should not report your suspicions.
D You have a responsibility to report ALL suspected abuse.

29. Lesson 8:
What if the Suspect is a Coworker?

30. What if the Suspect is a Coworker?
At some time during your career you
might suspect that a coworker is
abusing his or her own child or the
children in the classroom. This is
certainly a difficult situation, but the
same rule applies.
You must report your suspicions
to the school counselor or
administrator.

31. Lesson 9:
Professional Judgment

32. Professional Judgment
To prevent allegations of abuse being leveled at you, as an employee of the
school, you must make sure that your behavior is above reproach.
Your behavior will, in most cases, be the behavior that either builds a strong
relationship with the community or destroys that relationship.
Using professional judgment will help build trust and a sense of community
pride in your school. Ensure that your actions do nothing to destroy the trust
placed in you by parents and others in the community.

33. Using Professional Judgment
Use "professional judgment" when interacting with students.
 Maintain a professional barrier between you and your students. You
are the professional: act like the mature adult, not like one of the
children.
 Keep the classroom door open when talking with students
individually.
 Refer students to the appropriate person for counseling and
discussions about personal matters.
 Do not discuss your husband, wife, girlfriends, or boyfriends with
students. Keep these matters to yourself.
 Use verbal praises and reinforcements.

34. Using Professional Judgment
Professional judgment, in the context of interacting with
students, means conducting yourself in a proper manner.
• Attend chaperone-only school-sponsored functions.
• When serving as a teacher or chaperone on field trips,
understand your responsibilities and the limitations on
personal interactions with the students.
• When transporting students, coordinate transportation ahead
of time with your principal or supervisor. Never transport
students in your personal vehicle. Use school buses or mass
transportation whenever possible.
• When on field trips, use a buddy system. Avoid situations
when a lone student is separated from the group. Always
have two or more staff members or volunteer chaperones with
each group of students.
• Avoid leaving students unsupervised at any time.
• Treat students with respect.
• Know students’ rights. If you do not know their rights, refer to
the student handbook, or contact the principal.

35. Using Professional Judgment
To keep yourself free from allegations of abuse, as an
employee of the school, you must make sure your behavior is
above reproach. There are always situations and behaviors
that you must avoid. Always remember to use professional
judgment and avoid the following "do nots" when interacting
with students.
• Do not socialize with students outside of school.
• Do not drink alcoholic beverages in front of students.
• Do not use corporal punishment. Use a consistent
disciplinary behavior plan when dealing with students.
• Do not transport students in your personal vehicle.
• Do not take students home with you. Never!!
• Do not ask students to accompany you to outside school
events. This can lead to a misunderstanding of the activity
or your actions.

36. Using Professional Judgment
• Do not pick up students from their homes or anywhere else.
• Do not make telephone calls or write notes of a personal nature
to students.
• Do not harass, tease or mistreat students; do respect their
differences.
• Do not flirt with students.
• Do not discuss your personal life or personal matters with
students.
• Do not discuss your husband, wife, girlfriends or boyfriends with
students.

37. STUDY EXERCISE
Which of the following is an example of appropriate
behavior when interacting with students?
A Picking up a student at his or her home.
B Talking to students about your husband or wife.
C Keeping the classroom door open when talking with
students individually.
D Leaving students unsupervised.

38. Lesson 10:
Questionable Activities

39. Questionable Activities
Avoid teacher interactions that are considered questionable:
• Avoid any activity that you fear may be misunderstood by a student or by
anyone that may witness your actions. If you are not sure if the activity is
questionable, it probably is. Discuss the matter with your principal or
supervisor before proceeding.
• If you witness or are told about a questionable activity that happens on or off
campus between a fellow employee and a student, immediately discuss this
with your principal or supervisor. This also includes witnessing or hearing
about another employee engaging in a questionable activity.
• If you witness or are told about a questionable activity that happens on or off
campus between adults and students, discuss them with your principal as
soon as possible after witnessing or hearing about the incident.

40. STUDY EXERCISE
YOU WITNESS A FELLOW TEACHER DRIVING
A STUDENT TO SCHOOL. YOU SHOULD
REPORT THIS ACTIVITY TO YOUR
SUPERVISOR OR PRINCIPAL.
TRUE OR FALSE?

41. Lesson 11:
Protecting the Children

42. Protecting the Child
We are glad you have chosen a career in education and know that you are a dedicated
educator or supporter of education because you love children and want to see them
succeed. The greatest reward for an educator is a student discovering the joy of learning,
and you are the catalyst in this amazing process.
When you listen to an abused child’s call for help, do the right thing and
report it. You can play a crucial role in helping a child escape from an
abusive situation. None of us wants to see a child suffer.
Child abuse is a problem that most of us are reluctant to discuss. It is a
delicate and appalling topic. To protect the children, you need to openly
discuss it and report the abusive treatment as soon as possible.

43. For any further questions, please contact the
Student Services Department at the central office.
(770) 266-4510
- Gina Meadows, Student Services Director
- Eric Rubio, Student Services Coordinator
- Pam Reaves, Student Services Coordinator