Day 1 of Asher's Journey

THURSDAY MORNING

Asher woke up tired this morning. Asher's parents were fighting last night and it had been difficult to sleep.

Asher's Dad became frustrated that they are running late and that Asher hadn't been able to get chores done. Dad started yelling at Asher, telling them they are worthless.

Asher is used to this and tried to keep moving, heading towards the kitchen hoping to get breakfast. Dad's yelling escalated as he grabbed Asher by the arm, twisted Asher around and started hitting.

Asher struggled at school today, couldn't concentrate and got in trouble for not doing the math problems. Hunger and lack of sleep led to a cranky mood causing Asher to push another child at recess. Asher got in trouble in the afternoon during quiet reading time when the quiet room made it too hard to fight the need for sleep.

Towards the end of the day Asher's teacher noticed that Asher was having a hard time raising their arm to answer questions. The teacher reflects on the difficult behavior from the day, wondering if something is wrong.

THURSDAY - LATER THAT DAY

After class, the teacher pulled Asher aside privately, to ask if they are OK.

At first Asher was reluctant but disclosed that their arm hurt because they got in trouble that morning and when Dad grabbed their arm they felt pain. Asher doesn't talk about parents fighting or the harsh words used by their Dad or the lack of food or the hitting.

It would be easy for the teacher, at this time, to make the assumption, based on Asher’s apparent misbehavior in class today, that Dad was simply trying to react to an unruly child and that nothing bad is happening.

But the teacher has had mandatory reporter training and learned about some of the dynamics of child abuse and there is just something about Asher’s demeanor today. So, they asked, "Why were you in trouble?"

Asher explained that they were trying to get breakfast and Dad got mad about that.

By this time the teacher knows that Asher has to go to catch the bus home. They don't have enough information to know that Asher is in immediate danger but in thinking about the situation they know it is their duty to make a Mandatory report. The teacher calls the Child Abuse Reporting Hotline (855-503-7233) and makes a report of the information they know.

PARTNERING WITH OUR SCHOOLS

Teachers and other school staff are an incredible support for the vulnerable children in our community and are an essential component to keeping kids safe. The Amani Center works closely with our schools and connects with Teachers, Counselors and Administrators providing support, resources, and trainings to confirm that critical information is shared when appropriate, and establish the safety and support of the children in their school.

The Amani Center provides Mandatory Reporter Training and other trainings in our community. This year the center provided Mandatory Reporter Training for Columbia County employees and provided information about mandatory reporting requirements to several community agencies. Training is provided free of cost in our community but it costs the Amani Center an average of $130.00 in staff time alone to provide this training.

Making a donation of $130.00 or any amount today to support the Amani Center’s operations can help to ensure that training services remain available to our community and partners.

CONSIDERATIONS

We have intentionally chosen for Asher to be a nondescript character (without gender indicators, racial or cultural background identifiers, economic status, physical or mental ability, etc.) however you most likely have an image in your head of a particular child. Take a moment to think about how different aspects of a child can impact their access to justice.

ANOTHER CONSIDERATION

For example, if we picture Asher as a student of color, research has shown that even well-meaning teachers are more likely to judge misbehavior more severely for students of color. The Equity Project at Indiana University notes that “Nearly 40 years of research has almost universally found black students, black males in particular, to be over represented in the use of exclusionary discipline, out-of-school suspension, and expulsion.”

If this teacher in our story had chosen to use exclusionary discipline, they may not have noticed the struggles Asher was having with their arm and this concern of abuse may have been missed.

MORE CONSIDERATIONS

If Asher were a child with a disability the CDC notes that abusers may take advantage of kids who have problems speaking, hearing or who don’t understand social situations very well. This may have presented challenges for Asher to tell the teacher about what had happened.

These are just two examples of how different aspects of a child’s life or experience might impact a child’s outcomes and their ability to access protection and justice. Many different aspects can play a role in outcomes; gender, race, ability, culture, language or limited English proficiency, age, socio-economic status and more have been studied and shown to impact outcomes for children.

We challenge you to imagine different versions of Asher in these scenarios and throughout the story and imagine how the story might be different or change.

If you have questions about our program, please don't hesitate to reach out to Beth or Amelia at info@amanicenter.org. We are happy to discuss what the Amani Center does for the children in our community.