Mandatory Volunteer Training
All volunteer applicants are required to review the mandatory volunteer training and adhere to all of the requirements. Please review the Child Abuse Prevention & Reporting and the Adult Sexual Misconduct information below.
Child Abuse Prevention & Reporting
Child abuse and/or neglect is an act or failure to act on the part of a parent/guardian/caregiver that results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation.
Types of child abuse:
Child Sexual Abuse
- Child sexual abuse occurs when an adult (or an older child) uses or tries to use, a child for sexual gratification.
- Child abuse can be physical abuse, or it can also include contact that is not physical but is sexual in nature (e.g., voyeurism, exposing oneself, sexual solicitations, exposure to sexual material or conversations that are sexual in nature).
Emotional Abuse/Mental Injury
- Emotional abuse/mental injury is the chronic act or omission that interferes with a child’s psychological/social development. It can be difficult to detect.
- Emotional abuse by a caregiver refers to a pattern of behavior that may include the following:
- Ridicule or rejection of a child. Berating or telling the child that they are worthless, unwanted and/or unloved.
- Terrorizing a child by threatening them directly or a child’s family members, loved ones, possessions or pets.
- Ignoring or refusing to interact with the child.
- Socially isolating the child so that they cannot develop other relationships.
Neglect
- Neglect is the most common type of abuse.
- Children are considered neglected whenever their basic needs are not met.
- Neglect is the chronic or repeated failure to provide children with food, clothing, shelter, medical care, attention to physical hygiene, social and educational opportunities, and adequate supervision.
- A child must never be left in a position of authority or in situations that they cannot handle, depending on the child’s maturity.
Physical Abuse
Threat of Harm
- Threat of harm is defined as, “all actions, statements, written or non-verbal messages conveying threats of physical or mental injury which are serious enough to unsettle the child’s mind. It includes expressions of intent to inflict pain, injury, or punishment on the child.”
- Threat of harm exists whenever a child’s health or welfare is endangered by a caregiver.
Abuse of children experiencing disabilities
Children experiencing disabilities are at a higher risk of abuse than children without disabilities. Children experiencing disabilities may have difficulty communicating clearly, and the abuser might think that the child won’t tell anyone what has happened or that the child won’t be believed. Some children experiencing disabilities require adults to provide personal hygiene care for them, making it less obvious if sexual abuse is occurring. There may be a lack of education for children experiencing disabilities about healthy sexuality, body boundaries and self-protection mechanisms.
Children under the age of 6 and children who identify as LGBTQIA2S+ are also more at risk for abuse.
If you see something, say something
Any person may report incidents or suspected child abuse or neglect. School personnel, day-care providers, social workers, health care workers and law enforcement officers are all designated as mandatory reporters in Oregon. Oregon state law requires mandatory reporters to notify the Department of Human Services (DHS) or a local law enforcement agency of incidents or suspected child abuse.
A volunteer who observes signs or becomes aware of potential child abuse or neglect should immediately report it to a teacher, staff member or school principal. Under no circumstances should anyone contact a student’s parent/guardian about a child abuse report. Volunteers must keep all information about students strictly confidential.
Adult Sexual Misconduct
Adult sexual misconduct is any sexual activity (physical or not) directed to a student with the purpose of developing a romantic or sexual relationship (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2014). It also can be sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature. Harassment does not have to be of a sexual nature and can include offensive remarks about a person’s sex/gender/orientation (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission).
Warning Signs
Child grooming is establishing an emotional connection with a child to lower the their inhibitions with the objective of sexual abuse.
Perpetrators of adult sexual misconduct hide their behavior by:
- Appearing above reproach
- Claiming to be acting out of concern
- Developing close ties to family and school
- Going on the attack
- Working to develop loyalty in the student
Inappropriate behavior includes:
- Being alone in a locked room
- Hanging out with students off school grounds in non-school activities
- Inappropriate sexual talk or behavior directed at or expressed in the company of students
- Inappropriate touching, such as patting the buttocks, back rubs or front hugs
- Overly personal messages, notes, texts, yearbook inscriptions and the like
- Poor boundaries/oversharing
- Private internet contact or “sexting”
- Risqué jokes or degrading or provocative remarks
- Students singled out for favors/gifts
- Secretive or flirtatious behavior
- Showing porn or risqué content to students
- Suggestive teasing or innuendo
So what is okay with students? Appropriate behavior may include:
- Appropriate humor
- Legitimate non-sexual touching: side hugs or comforting an injured student. However, children have a right to not be touched at all, if they prefer. Respect their boundaries.
- Non-personal compliments
- Overt and public interactions
- Positive reinforcement