Child protection is EVERYONES business

[Absofrigginlootly]

I see it on here all the time

"Mind your own business"
"It's nothing to do with you. Get a life"
"There's nothing you can do about it anyway"

Child protection is EVERYONE'S business.

Just read this story from the BBC and thought I would start a thread just to highlight the issue.

Maybe (hopefully?) it will make people stop and think before they turn the other way and mind their own business???

Child sexual exploitation: How the system failed
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-43400336

"I was also going to the doctor and the youth sexual health clinic a couple of times a week for three years and getting the morning-after pill."
"Nobody asked any questions."
"I had two abortions and again, no questions were asked as to what was going on in my life."

Heartbreaking. And a complete and utter failure of all these health care professionals

"It is never the responsibility of a child to keep themselves safe; the blame lies with the perpetrator."
"As adults, it's our responsibility to spot the signs and take action to safeguard children, not rely on children to tell us they are being abused."

Op, I cannot think of one thread about serious types of abuse where posters have been told to mind their own business.

the article op linked to was child sexual exploitation

not little kids in dirty homes.....teens

neither can i nickynacky

@Nicknacky she's a DI with considerable CSE experience. I was surprised by what she said as it's not like her to dismiss things lightly but I wondered if it was symptomatic of the police attitude? Clearly it took a long time for them to acknowledge the problem in Rotherham so I was basically asking why.

Nicknaky there was one several years ago that went on for days and days... it was called "my husband treats me like a piece of meat"... it was deleted because MN suspected the OP of being a troll in the end. I remember the first half of the thread was basically posters saying that the one or two posters who expressed concern about the DC in that situation being at risk of sexual abuse were being hysterical. It wasn't until HCPs and Social Workers started to comment with their concerns that the tide started to turn.

'It's everyone's job to make sure I'm alright' is a report issued by the Scottish Government based on their Child Protection review.

There's a process, its not a case of you reporting something and it must be child protection issue, it's looked into and investigated. It's better to be safe than sorry. Children are vulnerable, they need looking out for.

Also this one that is still on my watched list for some reason?

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/2761508-friend-s-friend-drinking-all-the-time

I have seen others although I can't link to them.... I don't know why that's hard to believe. Clearly lots of people in society turn a blind eye to child abuse, otherwise it wouldn't be so endemic.

I know MN is not necessarily a representative cross section of society - but it does show you the views that many people hold

jassmells I’ve met some idiot DI’s in my time. Symptomatic of a previous generation possibly but not now.

@Nicknacky I don't disagree as you can probably tell from my original post (!)

No I can see you agree with me!

Somebody up thread has stated that you shouldn't report unless you are sure. This is so dangerous. If you SUSPECT abuse you must report, the being SURE is the job of the professionals you report your suspicions to. It is not upto untrained people to investigate or wait until something awful that could have been prevented happens to a vulnerable person. I see this attitude alot on other websites, newspaper comments etc and sadly until people speak up so many preventable horrific situations will continue.

nursejackie I agree

This afternoon i reported concerns about a child in my sons year who my nanny said was bawling his eyes out afterschool after an incident with a classmate. She called the school straightaway and then i emailed the head of year. No way am i leaving a child crying his eyes out.

Why would you report a child crying?!

a child you hadn't even seen crying?!

I’m fucked then if that’s what we report nowadays. Unless we are missing some information!

I agree with OP.

Schools are a great starting point. The designated safeguarding lead in a school can record concerns from all sorts of adults, not just staff, but other parents and community members, and a lot of schools are trying to educate other adults on this.

So when you see something or hear something that concerns you for the aafeguarding of a child, if you know what's school they go to, speak to their DSL and report it. Being able to give evidence of concerns is a crucial difference in what actions can be taken to protect children.

I actually disagree. I think people are very quick to report things even the most smallest things. This is my experience IRL anyway.

from the examples given in the op all the people the girls come into contact with should have safeguarding training anyway.......doctors,pharmacists,hcp's etc

"I was also going to the doctor and the youth sexual health clinic a couple of times a week for three years and getting the morning-after pill."
"Nobody asked any questions."
"I had two abortions and again, no questions were asked as to what was going on in my life."

from the op

I've been on several threads in the past that are discussing serious types of abuse (sexual and alcohol abuse inutero) and there were many many "you're being hysterical, mind your own business" comments

Drinking while pregnant is a massive red herring. It’s not advisable obviously but who exactly do you think it should be reported to and what will they do?

Sorry, to clarify, he had an altercation,ie, he was getting beaten up by a classmate and therefore was crying. Sorry but i think reporting an assault to school is totally acceptable. Im sure if it were one of our kids getting beaten up we would want somethimg done about it.

purpledaises ideally the pregnant woman's named community midwife.

Each NHS trust should have a policy about safeguarding and protecting the unborn child.

I have cut and pasted my response from the thread I linked to above which was all about this issue:

22/10/2016 19:34 Absofrigginlootly

For anyone reading who maybe interested in this issue....

www.rcog.org.uk/globalassets/documents/patients/patient-information-leaflets/pregnancy/pi-alcohol-and-pregnancy.pdf

www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/alcohol-medicines-drugs-pregnant.aspx

For anyone who still thinks that HCP wouldn't be interested in hearing about a pregnant woman drinking heavily this is one NHS trusts policy that I found with a quick google search.... All trusts will have something similar:

www.pkc.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=29416&p=0

Here is a government document that makes it very clear the role HCP have in child protection as part of their role (see chapter 2):

www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/419595/Working_Together_to_Safeguard_Children.pdf

I also tried to get the document from the NMC where it lays out your responsibilities under your registration but their website isn't working properly

22/10/2016 19:36 Absofrigginlootly

page 8 from the 3rd link (NHS policy)

"Where a wellbeing concern about an unborn baby has been brought to the attention of the named midwife it is their responsibility to consider the concerns raised and take appropriate action to promote the unborn baby development and wellbeing."

There is reporting genuine concerns and there is reporting maliciously because someone didn't get their own way. We are dependant on those who investigate being able to see the what is right and what is wrong. Even what is not even possible. They get it wrong and make situations into a disaster. To add insult to injury they cant even admit they got it wrong.

wizzy That is something you should have left to his parents. That is none of your business.