The importance of recognising and responding concerns about children’s development.
The importance of recognising an issues with a child’s development is major, if you are unable to recognise a concern with a child’s development then you are failing that child and not doing your job role properly. Responding to an identified concern with a child’s development in the correct manner is just as important as recognising them, no matter how big or small you think the concern may be it should always be reported to the appropriate person, if you are able to recognise and respond that is a good indication you are doing your job correctly.
Example1:
Recognising behaviours shown by children and young people may be indicators of abuse or neglect. There are many signs to look out for if you feel a child is being mistreated or abused. The most common factors of this is, the child may be frightened of their parent or career , they may act in a way that is inappropriate to their age and development, they may be withdrawn and quite or they may act out towards other children or adults. There are many types of abuse physical, mental and emotional abuse. No matter what kind of abuse it is, it will have a serious impact on the child’s development it will affect all areas of development as a whole (holistic).
They may be mentally damaged that they do not know how to socialise therefore making and building new relationships will be a struggle. Children that are abused do not tend to have very much or if any self esteem they blame themselves which can make then hate themselves and led to self harming because of this they may be unable to empathise with others. Abuse if not dealt with can leave the child with a life time of suffering. It is very important to respond to an issues such as this as no one else may have noticed and you have now brought it to the attention of the correct staff who can now find the appropriate way of removing a chid from an abusive situation and they may be able to have a better life with the correct help and support. So it is very important to respond as you could be saving a child’s life. Example2:
To recognise the signs of bullying is important to a child’s development as it can affect most areas and in some cases all areas. We know all children are different and are individuals and should be treated as such, so some children can be naturally quieter than others or some more intellectually developed. These are stereotyped targets for bullies, any child can fall victim to bullying so its important to recognise the signs either from the bully themselves or the victim. If bulling is not recognised in the adequate manor, then this can have a big affect on a child’s development in a negative way. There are many ways to recognise if a chid is being bullied, they may start to become distressed going to school, they may start to develop anxiety, have panic attacks, there may be marks on their body from physical abuse and their school work may suffer. Bullies can attack their victims by hitting, kicking or stealing their personal belongings. They can attack them emotionally by isolating their victim from joining in with group activates and social acceptance from their peer groups. Verbal is also another form of bulling by saying racist remarks, threats and name calling. The most common type of bulling in today’s society is cyber bulling by being intimidating, spreading rumours on social networking sites or by just being an internet troll which is someone being constantly nasty to the point where the victim becomes distraught and withdrawn. A child’s social, intellectual, physical, emotional and communication development can suffer as a consequence of these factors. To respond about concerns regarding bulling is again very important as the child’s all round developments will suffer. By law all state schools must have a behaviour policy in place to prevent all forms of bulling and promote good behaviour. School staff may have different ways when dealing with a bully but once they have been informed, depending on how serious the bulling is the bully may be disciplined, parents called in for a meeting or in some cases the school will report it to the police and social services. There is always a lot to consider when dealing with bulling but recognising and responding is the first and accurate way of dealing with this situation.
