To Phone Social Services?

[NameChangedButARegular]

I have changed my name not so much to protect myself but so the identity of the person I am talking about isn't recognised because there are people on here that I know in RL.

I currently work in a local child care facility. There is a boy that I look after who is worrying me and I don't know what to do. He is 6 and behaves in a way that I find unusual for a child of his age.

Firstly on several occasion I have been into the bathroom to find him showing his willy to other boys and trying to get them to show him theirs. This has happened about 4 times. The most worrying time though was when I found him in a cubicle with another boy who was clearly distressed. I asked the other boy what had happen to make him upset and he said that xxxx had been trying to see his willy while he was on the toilet. I have also found this boy in the playtent we have outside, again with another boy showing him his willy.

The second thing that adds to my worry is that I know a person who has taught this boys older sibling and this person once mentioned in passing that this older child always wrote really dark, depressing stories. I myself have met the older child on several occassion and he always appears quite depressed and withdrawn.

I have spoken to my boss about this but he said that some children are just curious about each others 'bits'. I do understand this but I have worked with children for quite a few years now and have never met a child like this before, its just a bad feeling I get.

I have reached the point where I am thinking of making a anonymous call to social services because if I do it without my bosses permission I will be in huge trouble

What did the little boy say when you spoke to him after he upset the other little boy? Im presuming you did speak to him? Also have you raised the issue with his parents at all ? I personally believe the behaviour he is exhibiting is fairly normal for some boys of his age ,other than his willy fixation is he a happy child ,gets on well with other kids ? How old is his older sibling ? as someone else said some children do have very dark imaginations . Good luck though with this ,because i get the feeling that your damned if you do and damned if you dont

As others have suggested, ask who is the child protection officer for your workplace. There should be one. It does sound like it's going beyond playing to a point where other children are getting upset by it, better to respond now than to find the scared boy's parents coming back and complaining that nothing was done about it.

thanks to my ds's penchant for reading other people's child protection details i know quite a bit about this....

1. dont follow the child prot policy its WORTHLESS and "co-ordinators" are often people who are insensitive, immature and dont know how to protect anyone. if you are worried DONT approach the named person, phone directly to SS yourself by anonymous call.

2)CAF assessment is about the worst thing that can happen. the common abduction framework is an excuse for denying services to or snatching children from INNOCENT loving parents. it is downright immoral, and social workers worth their salt dont do it in a child protection case anyway- they do a proper one called a "section 47" or "child at risk of sifnificant harm enquiry".

He seems to be doing it publicly, persistently and in a coercive way too, both the showing off of his own and the looking at others' genitalia. This is different from having a normal interest and curiosity about your 'bits'. I assume he has been told not to do this in school? What is the protocol in the school for calling? Do you have to go through a designated caller or can you call yourself? Better a false alarm than an unheeded problem. I would really go with your instinct here. A lot of children besides the boy himself could otherwise end up hurt. Agree the older sibling thing probably not relevant.

Erm - as far as I know a CAF assessment is a way of obtaining services for a child. My son has had one done to pool all information together about his difficulties in school. Nobody has come round to snatch him away from me - in actual fact it's been useful in getting the services for him to work together.

Please contact SS.. You have an obligation.

this is a year old thread

OP, tricky situation. But, you have no real evidence, only suspicions. The behaviour you describe is perfectly normal. Maybe the child has other difficulties, such as learning difficulties.
As an early years worker, you know the proceedure that you have to follow. You can't really phone anyone without giving your name or how you know the information. I don't really think you have enough evidence to phone. All you can do is to keep a diary of any concerns and let the child protection officer at work deal with it. It's their call.
Also, be careful what you sa to the child; if you ask him leading questions, then the answers can't be used as evidence.
Maybe the best way forward is to really get to know him, and his family, and hope that he does disclose information to you.

am I invisible?

Oh strange...why is it still here then?

I think someone bumped it by replying, having not noticed date and then people started replying again.

Wonder what happened in the end though?

I don't think its unusual behaviour at all in a boy of that age to be obsessed with showing and looking at genitals.