ATLANTA — As COVID-19 cases continue to surge in Georgia, school districts are making tough decisions. Many of them turning to digital learning. But, home isn't safe for all children.
Amid the pandemic, the National Sexual Assault Hotline is seeing a record number of calls for help. Many of them are children.
"Since March 1, over fifty percent of hotline users, victims have been minors," said Scott Berkowitz, the president of the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.
They said many children experiencing sexual abuse at home often find themselves isolated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"When we think about child sexual abuse overall, most of the time it's committed by someone who is known and trusted by the child," said Laura Palumbo, Communications Director at the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.
While there is a spike in calls to the national hotline, official reports of abuse to many state child protective agencies are down.
"We've seen a lot of fewer reports of child abuse come into state hotlines across the country, and that's because the kid's safety net has really broken down," Berkowitz explains.
That safety net consists of teachers, nurses and bus drivers - all of whom - by law - have to report if they have any suspicion that a child is being abused.
"The people who are there everyday for kids and the first to notice abuse aren't seeing them every day so they are not reporting it," Berkowitz said, adding that there are still ways for educators to keep a close eye on students. "Even though they can't see the kids in person, take the opportunity to ask them how they are doing, particularly if they see any change in behavior that might suggest that there is abuse going on."
In a statement, a spokesman for Gwinnett County Public Schools said:
"All of our counselors will have an eclass page just like our teachers where they can support students in asynchronous discussions and SEL (social-emotional learning) lessons and provide counseling related content. Counselors also will continue to support students by adhering to the required k-12 lessons regarding personal safety and career guidance. Some lessons will be standalone counseling lessons and some will be collaborations with our teachers. Our emergency response teams will still be available to support schools via our virtual platforms when needed but each local school counseling department and social worker also are prepared to support students experiencing grief and loss. In addition, our counselors, social workers, and school nurses will participate in additional professional development on trauma, cultural responsiveness, and grief to help better equip them to support students during this difficult time."
As for Cobb County Public Schools, a district spokesperson sent a statement saying:
“Like our teachers, our school counselors are adapting to the way they support student needs just as they did when they outlined how to provide virtual grief support to students--a plan they shared with counselors and educators around the nation. Our counselors will continue to focus on the social and emotional health of students when students return for remote learning in August.”
Fulton County Schools also issued a statement to 11Alive, saying in part:
"Child Abuse Training is done annually with all FCS Staff. We are currently in the process of adding information to our training materials that will include child abuse signs, questions to ask students, ways to observe and other strategies for teachers to use in a virtual environment. Every FCS employee is a mandated reporter and are required to report any suspected abuse or neglect within 24 hours, regardless of learning environment (face to face/virtual).We also kept social workers on staff during this summer in order to support students and families and developed a school community connection hotline that students or parents could call to get social work supports."
MORE HEADLINES: