Column: Schools provide a safe haven for some
As schoolteachers and administrators across America brace themselves for a return to school during these uncertain times, it’s worth taking a moment to think about a group of students who, unfortunately, are a certainty: Abused or neglected children for whom school is a safe haven.
Primarily, schools are a place where children go to learn, make friends and to grow into responsible members of society. There are books, swings and other kids there, as well as computers, air conditioning and a free or discounted lunch.
In the modern era of two-income families and households with single parents, the school day also provides several hours of supervision. That supervision comes from the adults who keep schools running.
Those teachers who send home notes whenever a kid cracks wise or fails to turn in 10 assignments in a row are the same teachers who see the sad little girl with the hopelessly tangled hair, the angry boy who never has a clean pair of pants and the tween who hasn’t been given their own stick of antiperspirant.
Educators know that in some of the worst cases, the school day provides scared kids a few hours of safety, away from those who hurt them. For some kids, the adults who work at school are the only adults looking out for them.
“The people who usually see these children and have eyes on these children are not seeing them every day. Some of our reporters are those in the school system. Those are the teachers, the nurses and the counselors,” Mary Walker, a spokesperson for Child Protective Services, said during a March interview with KENS-TV.
Because of fear, unemployment and stay-at-home orders stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, families are socially isolated and many are unusually stressed. Keeping everybody at home might be a way to keep coronavirus numbers down by forcing social distancing, but the numbers of at-risk children who aren’t getting the help they would otherwise receive in schools could very well increase. It’s against the law to ignore suspected abuse or neglect, but you can’t report what you never get a chance to see.
Schools aren’t just a place to learn how to read and write; they serve as a social safety net. Those who work in schools have always been on the front line against abuse and neglect, social issues that have bigger consequences than a bored student’s stack of unfinished homework.
That’s something we all should remember as they go back to work, armed with masks, sanitizer and a higher-than-average level of caution.
