suspected child abuse

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im a camp counselor and one of my boys (kindergartner) shows up each day with fresh brusies on his legs, arms, and inner thigh. I also work in EMS and am trained to recognize child abuse, however i wanted to hear some opinions.

These bruises attracted my attention basically because there are many of them. They dont look like they resulted from a fall because they are too dotted and they are on the backs of his legs in addition to the front. Also his arms too. The one on his inner thigh is also pretty large.

Ive asked him where he got the "boo-boos" and hes said at home, then goes on to change the subject. Ive met his mom and she seems very passive. I really dont suspect her, its more the father i suspect because when I asked if his father is coming to pick him up, he never looks at me and he says idk and thats about the end of that conversation for him.

Another thing that added to my suspicion was that hes very quiet. Hes not the usual hyper 5 year old who screams at the top of his lungs.

This all worried me today, and I went to my camp director to talk to her about him. We decided it was best to speak to the supervisor of our town camps and recreation about it, and ask him about the procedure to handle SUSPECTED child abuse. I am not throwing out any accusations. But yea, do you guys think i am over analyzing this or what?

I just dont want this kid to not come to camp one day and have all these thoughs racing through my head about what happened to him...

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As the mother of a 4.5 year old who is a bonifide bundle of scratches and bruises on any given day.... I'd say you probably should report it if you're suspicious.

Mo is typically banged up in the dotty fashion that you mention and I can assure you that he is not at all abused.

He is very rambunctious at home but usually very timid elsewhere as he doesn't handle separations well.

Still, I'd report it.

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When it involves a child who can't defend himself, I'd report it immediatly. Better to have angry parents than a dead kid.

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I agree - I would report it also!
Kids usually don't have bruises on their inner thighs.
I couldn't forgive myself, if something would happen to
that boy. Children have nowhere to turn to and if his
mother isn't there to protect him, who would?

Have you taken pictures of his bruises? If not, please
do so, they might be vital evidence.

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we spoke about that today, but i would think you cant just bring the child in and take pics, hes gonna go home and tell his parents, which may sound a little weird. I suggested we take a pic of the group, but focus in on him

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Definitely, when in doubt, report it. All too often people don't want to "get involved" and it is refreshing to see that you are willing to go to bat for this little one no matter what. It would be best to let the authorities take it from there, but they never will unless you report it.

Kudos to you for your courage to do what is right!

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Lady J wrote:

Kudos to you for your courage to do what is right!

I'll second that! Actually, now that I have my 9 year old in surf camp I have to say, that all counselors working with the kids are just delightful and very caring. I have to hand it to them, they're all doing a marvelous job. So, here's a big clap on your shoulder too, houzer911.

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houzer911 wrote:

we spoke about that today, but i would think you cant just bring the child in and take pics, hes gonna go home and tell his parents, which may sound a little weird. I suggested we take a pic of the group, but focus in on him

I do not know the law where you live, but where I do, any suspiciojn of abuse must be reported to the child protection authorities immediately.

Here, who has reported is confidential.

I cannot believe that ANYWHERE it would be wise for you to be photographing bruises or attempting to gather any evidence other than that of your eyes and ears. That is the responsibility of the proper authorities.

I would also immediately stop asking the child questions - asking once is fine, or very casual and unemotional questioning about any new, serious, injury - but, if the child IS being abused, then unskilled questioning can lead to later problems with evidence gathering and even cause problems with any prosecution.

Hopefully, the little tacker is just a boisterous player - but it would seem to me you have enough to raise with the authorities. It is then their responsibility to investigate further.

Good on you for noticing and asking for advice!

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I suppose it is possible he has a platelet disorder, that is, a tendency to bruise easily from missing some blood factor - I don't know how that manifests itself. That is not your role to figure out, though. I agree with all that you should report it, and would listen to dlowan's comments.

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houzer--

Welcome to A2K.

You are absolutely right to worry--and to act on your worry. In some states camp counselors are required to report the possibility of child abuse.

You are acting in the best interests of the child.

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yea i just asked him these questions today...very causally, jsut as i would with any of my campers. I mean if they come in with a bruise thats noticable, of course your gonna ask how they got it, and thats what i do. Yea, i agree that its not wise to photograph, and I definatly wasnt planning on it. We already confronted the man in charge of camps so now its in his hands. All i will do here on out is just keep a close watch on him, for any other bruises and just continue my normal relationship with him. Thanks for the help though everyone. I will keep you posted.

As for any medical disorders that would result in brusing. The only other time in my experience with EMS where ive seen easy bruising is with anemic patients. That was also something that I asked myself when i noticed the bruises. I checked his paperwork for camp and theres no record of anemia. That further worried me, so I went to the directors.

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I think we are all in agreement. You should report it.

If report it and are wrong, all you risk is a bit of embarrassment for the parents. If you are right and don't report it, you will allow child abuse to continue.

I speak as a responsible parent... if I were contacted by social services because of bruises on my son were reported by a camp counselor, I may be a bit embarassed, but I certainly would be able to deal with it and would understand the concern of the counselor. Responsible non-abusive families will be able to deal with this.

You should do the right thing and report your suspicions.

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Depending on the jurisdiction, if you were in a position to suspect abuse and did not report it, you can be charged by the police.

Everyone - doctors, bus drivers, neighbours - is required to report suspected cases of child or spousal abuse.

There have been two cases in the news here recently of bus drivers who reported abuse ...

http://www.pulse24.com/News/Top_Story/20050620-009/page.asp

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2005/22/c4892.html

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Quote:

Persons must report directly CFSA s.72(3)

The person who has the reasonable grounds to suspect that a child is or may be in need of protection must make the report directly to a children's aid society. The person must not rely on anyone else to report on his or her behalf.
What are "reasonable grounds to suspect"?

You do not need to be sure that a child is or may be in need of protection to make a report to a children's aid society. "Reasonable grounds" are what an average person, given his or her training, background and experience, exercising normal and honest judgement, would suspect.
Special responsibilities of professionals and officials, and penalty for failure to report CFSA s.72(4), (6.2)

Professional persons and officials have the same duty as any member of the public to report a suspicion that a child is in need of protection. The Act recognizes, however, that persons working closely with children have a special awareness of the signs of child abuse and neglect, and a particular responsibility to report their suspicions, and so makes it an offence to fail to report.

Any professional or official who fails to report a suspicion that a child is or may be in need of protection, where the information on which that suspicion is based was obtained in the course of his or her professional or official duties, is liable on conviction to a fine of up to $1,000.
Professionals affected CFSA s.72(5)

Persons who perform professional or official duties with respect to children include the following:

*

health care professionals, including physicians, nurses, dentists, pharmacists and psychologists;
*

teachers, and school principals;
*

social workers and family counsellors;
*

priests, rabbis and other members of the clergy;
*

operators or employees of day nurseries;
*

youth and recreation workers (not volunteers);
*

peace officers and coroners;
*

solicitors;
*

service providers and employees of service providers; and
*

any other person who performs professional or official duties with respect to a child.

http://www.children.gov.on.ca/CS/en/programs/ChildProtection/Publications/repChAbuse.htm

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i reported it today before i even posted, im just asking what you guys think of it.

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I think you did the right thing.

If you lived here, I'd say you did what you were legally required to do if you reported it to the police.

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It's a good idea.

My response is pretty much exactly the same as Boomerang's -- I have a 4.5-yr-old who is pretty much continuously bruised, all over. The bruises take a while to fade, and she's a very active kid who's getting new ones all the time. Her legs are chuck-full. She's coordinated and everything, but her days consist of a whole lot of running around and jumping and generally bruise-inducing things.

That said, I think you should report. (As you have.)

Only other caveat is that unfortunately, sometimes it ends up being far more than an embarrassment for the parents. Things seem to be getting better and better in that regard, though, and I don't think it's a reason not to report.

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This link is a bit off topic in that it mentions cancer treatment as a cause of low platelets, which it can be, but it otherwise explains something of platelets' role - which is much more complicated than this explanation. Hemophiliacs have low platelets, thrombocytopenia, without having cancer, as do people with thrombocytopenic purpura, and several other conditions.

http://patient.cancerconsultants.com/supportive_treatment.aspx?id=23134

Again, I have no knowledge of typical patterns for normal bruising, abuse bruising, or medically caused bruising. Report to child authorities, and let them sort it out.

Mom's passivity and dad's shiftyness and son's lack of response re home are discomfitting, but of course not 100% sure indicators.

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i dont think a 5 year old child undergoing treatment for cancer would be at camp

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I don't either, and I think it is unlikely the brusing is a medical phenomenon - I am guessing this may well be an abuse situation - but there are many conditions that have it as a symptom, leukemia, for example, and the others I just mentioned, and the family might not know about it yet.

It's your role to report.

I am just speaking conjecturally, re bruising. I gave that link because it was the first one I ran across that explained (slightly) the role of platelets, not really because of the possibility of cancer in treatment.

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suspected child abuse

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