This workshop focuses on the standards and procedures and appropriate courses of action to ensure the safety and protection of children under our care. In addition to providing a physically safe environment for children to move around safely, the human environment is crucial to support children’s emotional well-being and development. MSF, Singapore states that ‘Child abuse is any action or inaction by an individual (e.g. parent or caregiver) that endangers or damages a child’s physical or emotional well-being’.
Child abuse and neglect can have immediate and long-term effects. Being abused or neglected as a child is linked to physical, emotional, and behavioural issues later in life. Under the Children and Young Persons Act (CYPA), it is an offense for any person who has the custody, charge or care of a child or young person to “ill-treat” him or her. Any form of ill-treatment is unacceptable even if the act was done with a good intention of correcting misbehaviour. This definition of “ill-treatment” extends beyond the physical well-being of the child and includes the child’s mental and emotional needs. Some examples of emotional injury include “terrorising a child, rejecting or degrading a child, isolating, exploiting or corrupting a child”, as well as depression and anxiety. Participants will examine the impact of abuse and neglect on child development, the identification of types of abuse and neglect, and the educators’ responsibility as adults to protect children in their care from harm.
