Sep 27, 2018

I am excited to have an opportunity to speak at the Utah School Counselors Association conference in Ogden, UT, on October 12, 2018. The topic of my presentation will be “Prevention of child sexual abuse – the ethical challenges”. This will be another opportunity to make the point to a group of school counselors that anyone working with children in any capacity must be aware of the risks children face in the community.

I have spoken in front of school counselors on many occasions. Through these presentations and subsequent discussions I have come across several school counselors who felt that they really did not need to sit through a presentation like this. They felt that their jobs do not necessarily require them to be aware of these issues associated with child sexual abuse. I have always tried to explain to them that first of all, every adult (irrespective of what they do for a living) needs to be aware of these issues and must look out for the red flags. And secondly, anyone who works with children on a regular basis, in whatever capacity, must understand these issues well and know what to do and how to do it in case a relevant situation arises.

A victim had once told me that she had reported a sexual abuse to her school counselor, but the counselor immediately went back to her family and discussed it with the victim’s mother, who minimized the situation and denied the problem. After that incident, the victim had decided not to say anything to anybody at all. This is one of the reasons as to why school counselors need to be aware of all the issues associated with child sexual abuse.

 

© 2017 - Sumi Mukherjee
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