Training Teachers to Spot Abuse

About four years ago, Superior Court Judge Pam Iles had an epiphany when a 16-year-old boy walked into her courtroom and broke her heart.

The boy was testifying against his father, who was accused of beating his mother.

“It happened all the time,” the judge said of the domestic beatings. “But he just stayed in his room and turned the TV up . . . to cover the [sound of] impact of the blows.”

For Iles, the case represented a “flaw in the system” and moved her to create an annual conference for teachers and school officials that focused on domestic violence.

Some 600 teachers, school nurses and other educators gathered Tuesday at the Irvine Marriott for the annual Domestic Violence Training and Awareness Program.

This year’s theme was “Children in Crisis,” a sometimes graphic glimpse into the problems that youths carry with them when they head off to school.

Iles, who has spent years specializing in domestic violence cases, said she believes one of the most direct ways of dealing with domestic violence and problems in the home is for teachers to be vigilant and report concerns.

The conference featured speakers ranging from emergency room doctors who see battered children, to therapists, to Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas.

The conference was jarring to many. A haunting 911 tape of a boy calling police as his parents fought in the background was played. Photos of battered children--one with a knife in his neck--were shown.

Organizers said the purpose of the vivid sounds and images was to serve as a lasting reminder to teachers that they are uniquely close to children and have a duty to vigorously watch for signs of abuse and other problems at home.

Teachers and school officials are mandated under state law to report child abuse, but some said they aren’t sure where to draw the line. Cases of abuse are not always visible or easily identified, teachers and officials who attended the conference said.

And sometimes a problem is simply too hard to believe. Kelly Newell, a kindergarten teacher at Arroyo Vista Elementary School in Rancho Santa Margarita, said that soon after she began teaching a dozen years ago, she second-guessed herself and opted not to report her suspicions that a young girl was having problems at home.

Newell said she “didn’t want to interfere in somebody’s family” and was intimidated by the fact that the father of the young girl was a prominent citizen. She said she regrets her decision to this day.

“I think this conference helps take awareness to another level,” the teacher said.

Leslie Dixon, a nurse at Tarbut V’Torah, a private school in Irvine, said the conference was a statement to educators and school officials that they are “often the first line of defense when it comes to matters of domestic violence. The conference is a big gut-check for us.”

Through the daylong event, Dixon and her peers were told how to read warning signs in students, to understand why a youth might lash out or how a child’s stomachache may have more to do with emotional stress at home than what he or she had for lunch.

“I’ve come here for many reasons,” Dixon said. “One is to be as educated as possible. Another is so I can go back and teach other teachers not to be afraid of being more aware, and to not be afraid of saying something . . . being an activist.”