Article Database - Domestic Abuse and Children

About a year ago my eldest son, who was in Grade five, came home from school and announced that a boy in his class had told him that his father beat him with a broom. Concerned, I asked him how he had responded. He just shrugged, smiled and said, I laughed! Of course, to my son such an admission could only mean that this classmate had done something really big to tick his dad off. And such news was not surprising. The classmate was continually in trouble with the teacher, was not doing particularly well in school, and tended to harass other students. I understood my sons reaction but, at the same time, thought it was unfortunate. He had no idea that there are children who are abused by one or both of their parents and that to be beaten by a broom was not appropriate discipline. In fact, it is against the law. His classmates behaviour in school was also characteristic of children who are abused or neglected, although such behaviour can be caused by other problems. And sometimes, children who witness or experience abuse never exhibit symptoms.

At the time, plans were already under way to develop an exhibit in the Calgary Police Service Interpretive Centre on domestic abuse and family violence. When creating a new exhibit it is extremely important to identify the audience: who are we developing this exhibit for? It seemed logical that the exhibit would be most helpful to victims, potential victims or associates of victims. There are all kinds of victims of domestic abuse: young and old, rich and poor, male and female. It exists in all cultures.

Early in the research process it appeared that women probably represented the largest group of victims. Research studies indicated that one in eight women in Canada suffer from some sort of abuse. (There are no statistics for men who are abused.) The focus on abuse of women was reinforced by the attention it receives in the media. Should we then gear the exhibit toward this group? Further research revealed the profound effect that abuse within the home has on children. Witnessing abuse is every bit as traumatic as actually experiencing it, and, the long term effects of both may be the same. With some quick arithmetic - calculating that the majority of households have more than one child and that one in eight is affected - it can be appreciated that domestic abuse is not a small problem. Indeed, professionals estimate that one in five children in any given school classroom is witnessing or experiencing abuse. The Calgary Police Service receives about 900 calls per month that are related to domestic abuse.

The Calgary Police Service Interpretive Centre, which opened in 1995, was developed primarily to educate young people about crime, its consequences, and the other poor lifestyle choices that our youth can make. With the research that had been done coupled with my own sons reaction to a classmate who was probably being abused, it was obvious that this exhibit should be and had to be directed to the audience we had already cultivated, school age children. That is not to say that other age groups, male or female, would not benefit from the exhibit. But children, who often have no one to represent their interests, need to know what abuse is, how it can be manifested and that it is not acceptable in any form. Public awareness the primary objective, the main premise of the exhibit is that abuse is a crime, not a private family matter. If abuse of a child, or anyone for that matter, is suspected it should be reported. For example, school teachers are legally responsible to report suspected abuse - not to their school administration - but directly to Social Welfare. The Child Abuse Hot Line is available for this purpose. All school children who visit the exhibit will take home information about how to seek help either for themselves or someone else. After my son had told me what his classmate had said, I contacted the teacher. The teacher was not aware that under the Child Welfare Act it is illegal to strike a child with anything other than a hand, nor was he aware that he had a legal responsibility to report it. He was, however, concerned and said he would discuss the matter with the school administration. At that time I did not know that he should have been reporting it directly or I would have said so. Materials for teachers that provide information about children from abusive homes and outlines their legal obligations will be available at the exhibit.

Children who visit will learn about the dynamics of an abusive home and why the victimized partner tends to remain in the relationship. Anyone, including children who have experienced or witnessed abuse, find this tendency very difficult to understand. Perhaps the two most important messages that we want to convey to youth in the exhibit is that, first, no one has to tolerate abuse of any kind - children have rights including the right to seek help, and second, abuse in the home is not their fault. Unfortunately, many children blame themselves if they see a parent being abused or if they themselves are being mistreated. Often the arguments in homes that escalate into abusive behaviour stem from discussions about the children.

The challenge in creating an exhibit on the topic of domestic abuse was how do we design a display that children would find interesting enough to explore and easy to understand. Domestic abuse is a complex issue. Our answer was to develop a setting that would depict a probable background for the topic at hand and to make it interactive. This approach has been very successful with other exhibits in the Interpretive Centre. Children want to touch things and they relate well to those things which appear to have a semblance of reality. Two of the main areas of the exhibit are a kitchen and a counseling office. The exhibit utilizes computer, video and audio presentations, along with other interactive components such as lift up doors on an office filing cabinet, a colourful puzzle and a scrapbook that they can leaf through.

Domestic abuse and family violence is a tragic issue. If the exhibit does nothing more than create an awareness amongst children and succeeds in keeping only but a few children from becoming victims now or in the future, the effort will have been worthwhile.

The exhibit on domestic abuse will be completed in early May. The Calgary Police Service Interpretive Centre is located at 316 - 7th Ave. SE on the second floor. Call for hours.