How to Identify At-Risk Students

It is on the local news, graces the pages of most every newspaper and it plagues every town in the United States. Child abuse is a serious crime that is inflicted upon the most innocent of our society. Though the causes are often linked with poverty, child abuse and neglect can be found in every socioeconomic level. Children that are exposed to child abuse will carry long lasting psychological effects that will stick with them long into their own adulthood, and possibly motivate them to become abusers, continuing the vicious cycle. This is why school districts are encouraging teacher training that is aimed at helping them identify an at-risk-student. Sometimes, it is the teachers that truly can make a difference in the lives of their students, and they can be that one adult figure that can step up to plate and free a child from the violence of child abuse. But, it is essential that they are armed with the tools of knowledge that will help them monitor the warning signs of an at-risk-student.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Make an effort to learn about students home environments. Are they living in poverty or single parenting homes? Are they very wealthy and parents are hardly visible or place immense pressure of their child to be an over-achiever? Are the parents extremely young? These types of households may be very stressful environments. Where there is stress, there is a possibility for child abuse and neglect.

2. Watch for students that display negative behavior and aggressively angry behavior. This is a huge warning flag that the student may be acting out because they are being abused in their home. They cannot get at the parent(s) that is inflicting violence or neglect; so, they take it out on teachers and peers. It is often a cry for help.

3. Look for sudden and unexplained drops in grades and academic performance. It could be due to the student carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders and feeling hopeless in their home environment, but it definitely reflects that there might be something troubling the student.

4. Displaying a lack of motivation is also an identifying marker that this student may be at-risk for child abuse. Is the student more lethargic and cannot seem to focus? Is there a lack of motivation to get classwork done or turn in homework? These can all be indications that there is something going on in the student's life.

5. Changes in friends and peer circle or antisocial behavior should also be looked at as a possible sign of an at-risk student. Many children that are being abused at home will become rebellious at school, and part of that rebellion will be hanging out with the wrong choice of friends and becoming involved in more deviant behaviors. It is the child's way of trying to get even with their abusive parent(s). On the flip side, some at-risk students will become or are antisocial. They shy away from peer interaction and socialization because they live in fear and are often afraid that someone will find out what is happening to them and they will get in even more trouble.

6. Monitor for signs of depression and anxiety. Students that are at-risk will be more withdrawn. They may also be more anxious or paranoid. There could be signs of mood swings, where the student is upbeat one minute and irritable and abrasive the next.

7. Obvious signs of diminished self-esteem often go hand-in-hand with at-risk students. When they are subjected to physical, emotional or even sexual abuse in their home environment, it has a tendency to wear down their self-esteem and self-worth. Older students may show more signs of promiscuity due to a diminished self-esteem. Some at-risk students will stop taking care of themselves and you will be able to identify poor hygiene habits.

8. Watch for changes in school attendance. At-risk students may have an increase in absences, and this can be due to trying to hide the signs of abuse. Older students may start being truant because they cannot take the pressures of school and academics piled on top of what they are going through at home, and sometimes they just can no longer see the worth of going to school.

9. Look for physical signs of abuse. When abuse is physical in nature, the student may come to school with more injuries or look malnourished.

Tips & Warnings

• Teachers that suspect a student is at-risk should alert the school psychologist and follow proper protocol for initiating an investigation. Remember, a teacher may be that one person in a student's life that can help them out of a bad situation.

Resources

• Prevent Child Abuse America
• ChildAbuse.com
• Child Welfare

[Walkaboutangel]

on 4/24/2009 Good advice. Some of our kids are really at risk....