I say happy New Year dear readers to you dear reader. I am persuaded it is a glorious year for us and our dear children.

The third scenario is very close to the last one. This is where the leader of or management of an organization, which claim to be responsible for the welfare of children are aware that abuse is being perpetrated against the children, who are under their care and in an attempt to protect their organization covers it up. This happens in institutional homes and institution of learning.

The number one disposition of many organizations, who claim to work with children, is self preservation and not child preservation. When they are confronted with a report of abuse, their first disposition is to deny same.  They price the continued existence of their institution over the welfare of the child.  The organization, I lead has a Child Protection Policy and it is one of our cardinal provisions is that if a case of child abuse is perpetrated by anyone within our organization, no matter highly placed, we will never cover it up. We will expose same in the best interest of the child, even if it will amount to our organization being brought down.

Another variation of this scenario is that a teacher or non-academic staff or a caregiver abuses a child and he’s found wanting by the police or the court of law. He/she is sacked. The school or institutional home does not take the case beyond that. They would not do a disclaimer in the newspaper or send his details to other schools or homes.  They leave him roaming and roaring, looking for whom to devour.  The attitude of the school owner or leadership may be different, if an accountant of the school embezzles the school funds. They may proceed to the newspaper to do a disclaimer.

A six year old girl is sexually molested by her twenty four year old teacher. The child reports to the father and she is taken to the hospital and she is confirmed molested. The father reports the matter to the school owner. The school owner denies the matter stoutly in the face of medical report. She would not even make an effort to ask the teacher. Her interest is to defend her school. She reaches out to the police in an attempt to compromise them. The father of the girl would not relent. Finally the police arrest the suspect and he is charged to court and granted bail. The school is shut down. Few weeks later, the suspect is in another school employed as a teacher.

The fourth scenario of the doctrine of silent treatment is that your friends, colleagues or client, are innocently and ignorantly about to make or are making terrible mistakes in raising their children and you know better and you just keep quiet. You explain it to yourself that you do not want to interfere in their private matter. You are not able to draw the line between interference and advice. You forget that the Holy Writ says, ‘faithful are the wounds of a friend.’ You are not also aware of the admonition of the Holy Writ that ‘open rebuke is better than love concealed.’ You do not understand that what you owe them is a piece of advice and not a decision. You simply keep quiet and allow the mistake, which constitute an abuse to the child and his/her destiny to continue.

Well, they may never find out and that will hurt and haunt the destiny of the child forever except there is divine intervention. If they discover their mistake and finds out you have always known better, how do you think they will perceive you and everything you claim to share?

The matter is worse if the one who has submitted to the doctrine of silent treatment is a professional, whom the client is depending on to give credible and professional advice. It is not only a slap on professional integrity. It is a betrayal of trust, first to the child and the institution. It is my firm belief that my client does not need to like what I have to say, it must be the truth of the situation from the professional angle and declared to her with wisdom and in good conscience.

Thank you for visiting…Think the CHILD…Think TODAY…Think the FUTURE…

Note: Excerpted from my forthcoming book: ChildProtectionCREED Handbook. Watch out…