Secondary school teachers and the emotional abuse of children: a study of three secondary schools in Gaborone, Botswana

Abstract

Teachers and other human service professionals have crucial roles to play in the provision of social programmes to support and protect children from violence and abuse. The objective of this study, therefore, was to find out the extent of the knowledge and understanding of emotional abuse held by teachers; their ability to identify children showing symptoms of such abuse, their personal feelings about, and experience with, emotional abuse and their awareness of support and other available services in the community. Thirty five teachers from three government community junior secondary schools participated. Overall, it was found that most teachers knew of emotional abuse and its aspects. However, about a third of them had no knowledge of emotional abuse or how to identify signs of abuse in children. It was also found that teachers do not consider their jobs entail providing support for abused children. From the data, it is evident that teacher training and in-service programmes must equip teachers with the skills to enable them contribute effectively to the prevention and management of emotional abuse of children.




Journal of Social Development in Africa Vol 16 No 1 2001, pp. 139