Newspapers / The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, … / Feb. 7, 1985, edition 1 / Page 13
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j L/C7IC7l,llil^ V^lftlU Of County Teacl BY TERRY POPE Outside of family relatioaships, school ttachers are a student's most important contact. Therefore, it is the teacher who often discovers that a child has been abused or negieciea. In addition to their normal classroom duties, teachers must deal with suspected abuse or neglect and determine if a case should be reported. It is a routine that Brunswick County school teachers often face with confusion, fear or uncertainty. I "It's hard for us sometimes," said Myra Turner, kindergarten instructor at Iincoln Primary School. Ms. Turner was one of several teachers who participated recently in a county workshop that focused on recogni? Img una reporung suspeciea craia aouse. The workshop was sponsored by the Brunswick County Association for the Education of Young Children. Last fall, Ms. Turner testified in Brunswick County Juvenile Court in a case involving one of her students who was suffering from rickets. The court ordered the parents to seek medical treatment for their daughter, who is now recovering well. 'In the case that I dealt with, the father was the I cause." Ms. Turner said. "He thought he was doing the best thing for the child, but he wasn't." I Alter reporting the incident to the schoois' social worker, Ms. Turncr was able to sec the case go through the legal process that she now attributes to saving the child's life. I "If you could see her now you would realize that her life was saved. But it had to be such an extreme case to do it," she added. "1 was lucky. It was so obvious." The two stages in helping a child abuse victim are, first, recognizing the problem, and second, doing something about it, said Assistant School Superintendent Stephanna Tewey. Prior to joining the Brunswick County school system in 1978, Ms. Tewey designed and wrote a training program for educators in the urea of child abuse and neglect that includes a manual, filmstrip and teaching aids now used in classrooms i across North Carolina. I j "Everybody recognizes child abuse when they see it," Ms. Tewey said. "Doing something about it was where educators needed help. When I first started the EL project, I had a lot of feelings myself that 1 had to deal Bf with." During her research, Ms. Tewey studied both vieP tims and tlieir abusers and helped identify the potential P abuser and what causes their actions. "It was just outside the realm of my experience and I just didn't understand it," Ms. Tewey said. "I really didn't understand ine problem. I even hud physical reactions: 1 couldn't eat. F imagined the soiuier un the battlefield who sees the people, his buddies, around him I dfitiinu Uv}l arid Iriiifyj ;' , Although workshops often help, Ms. Tewey would t "s1 UUk | i o^wiiii i DSS i Competition was to begin today Primary, South (Thursday i in ihe Brunswick County Shallntte Middle. Spelling Bee with preliminary Middle, Bolivia [ classroom bees at six county .schools. I .eland Middle sehc ( lassrooin winn For the second consecutive \ear tificates. while the bee is sponsored jointly by the receive trophies fr oL-ii.tt. ttII...../"?i.,i. ??,i i,_ \r/ diuiuuttc duiiifi tiuiiKin viuu uuu .Junior mGSuum s ' the Slate Port Pilot of Southtmrt nri7??? ?? fniimxc Winners of the school bees will ad- 13-inch color tel r vance to the county bee, which will be place, a set of cnc held April 18 at the Brunswick t'oun- place, a thesaurus ty Government Center The winner of fourth place, a woi that bee will represent Brunswick fifth place, a dictioi County in the National Spelling Bee Contributions fi held in Washington. D C., June 3-10. chants and individu The Scripps-Howard newspaper expense paid trip group sponsors the national event. D.C.. for the count; Classroom bees were scheduled for an escort. Those i students in fifth, sixth, seventh and tributing donations eighth grades at Waccamaw tact Debbie Hewi Oratorical Contest Be< * West Brunswick High School students and the p students will compete in the annual various topics. American legion oratorical contest West Brunswick r next week. Feb 11-15. . Marion Gore won tl The local competition is sponsored both 1383 and 1384 by American I-egifr. Post No. 247 of '-he state finals, | Shallotte The winner receives a scholarship each ye medal and advances to the district Post Commande contest and the opportunity to com- said West Brur pete tor a casn award. member Kalhell W On the national level, the legion coordinated the cor contest began in 1938 and is intended years, told him reci to help high school students become new contestants to better speakers and to inform for the award this y wm XWOOTTG ( / / {_/ ffL*. y Located Across From Ruts Ford _ m Abuse Part hers' Schedules like to see all teachers undergo a 30-huur training course preparing them for handling abuse cases. After teachers report the incident to the school social worker, community help should also involve doctors, judges, juvenile services, Uie sheriffs department, heaith department and other organizations. In instructing the teachers recently, Ms. Tewey urged, "You can't do it by yourself. You have to learn to work together. I've been involved in some child abuse cases where there would be 30 different agencies involved." Detecting child neglect or abuse is not always easy, she added, especially in a family with limited resources. Clothing unsuitable to the weather, like long I sieeves in the summer, can be attributed to poverty or | to lulling uif; SigTiS of abuse, such as bruises ui burns along the arms. "Wc get a lot of that, but it's hard for us to tell if it's neglect," Ms. Turner said. "They've been told since the abuse started not to tell anyone," said Pauline Williams, kindergarten instructor at lincoln Primary School. "It seems like they're more open when you don't show any emotion." However, getting children to open up and admit they've been abused requires skills that not every teacher possesses, Ms. Tewey suiu. it is best to talk to the child in a comfortable, private setting, such a3 a quiet section of the classroom, if a teacher chooses to investigate a case on their own. Some educators can often develop good relationships with the parents, Ms. 'l'ewcy said, but understanding and helping the abuser is another difficult area for teachers to deal with. One must take the same attitude towards the abuser as they do to the victim?they both need professional help, she added. According to Ms. Tewey, child abusers can be categorized as often under a lot of stress, young with families living far away or in another state and living in a small space with few friends in the neighborhood. It's a description that matches a lot of military families, which are common to southeastern North Carolina, she added. "The more stressful situations you introduce, the more vulnerable you become," Ms. Tewey said. "Their actioas are aimed not totally at a child, but at all of ui 5c things. Soir.etirr.es you may have a growfrup person standing there who Is really a child." Recognizing situations vulnerable to abase and doing something about them can help teachers save children's lives, Ms. Tewey said. "Evcrytimo we have a training session, the Department of Social Services will complain that they're getu a ? ?1? .( -UJIJ _? it II- rr? l-l iii.f, iw tiuiii) i cfntt t.i u. t luiu nuusr, mo, trwcjf aam. However, It's better to plav it safe and continue to report suspected esses of abuse or neglect \?hsr. you may be saving a child's life, she advised. -ntnrc l-irct Wm mri _ I I Xrf I W ! Ol E VC/W I IVI port Primary, chairman for the Shallottc .lunior South Rnuwttiefe Woman'" CliiK. "1 ?S4-fM12 after 4 IClementary and p.in iols. Joseph Southern of .inuthport, a ?rs receive cer- student at Southport Primary School, countv winners won the county bee last year, oin the Sliallotle lub an:! asserted first place, a evision; second l/jf 45 yclopedias; third f and dictionary; rjlc 1 Id almanac; and f. iar> utn local iner- lt_J. f ~ ats provide an allto Washington J. y bet* winner and ntcrested in con- ^ are asked to con- I" fit. spelling bee \v- j 3ins ublic at large on fin ? I ligo Scnool senior le local contest in and advanced to earning a 1500 r Jim Buffaloe iswick faculty i Ilia ins, who has fe itest the past six I ently she expects push Miss Gore fSj I ^ ^ t * .?a? i \ i SS3M j ] n I!i - ill H Parents C Cases Re; BY TERRY POPE Several cases of human lice have recently been discovered at Lincoln Primary School, causing some parents to become concerned about the county schools' policy for dealing with the infestations. "We need to be educated," Leland resident Sudie Mintz told the Brunswick County Board of Education Monday night. "Very few of the tCCn^nrc h?YC 2H" u'Kat r\ Ionic for. Parents don't know what they're looking for." Ms. Mintz' daughter, a student at Lincoln Primary, has contacted human lice twice since the start of the school year, once in November and again in January. She contends the school needs to step up its efforts to rid of the pest. Ms. Mintz said it took the school nine days before checking students on her daughter's school bus for other infestations, a routine check that revealed no other cases in November. After contacting the pest a second time in January, a check of her daughter's classroom revealed two more cases while one case was found on the school bus. "It's humiliating, it's embarrassing." Ms. Mintz said. "1 tell them it's not a disgrace to get lice, It's u disgrace to keep lice." In addition to presenting the board members with a folder of information on lice Monday night, Ms. Mintz also offered some suggestions to help reduce the spread of lice in the schools. Once lice has been discovered, the schools should thoroughly clean all carpets, toilet facilities, furniture and rugs, she said. "Coatrooms should be eliminated," she added. The coatrooms at Lincoln are small, allowing the students' coats to touch which could cause Uie transfer of lice from one garment to another. Also, the moment a case is discovered, the entire student body should be screened, Ms. Mint* advised. In November, several cases ot human lice were also discovered at union Primary School. School nursf-a went classroom to classroom inspecting the students, but only a few cases were iound, said Principal Freeman House tn a November interview. 1 iie problem ihcic nan declared contained after the students were treated and allowed back in the classrooms. iiv i?rur??ViCK t-uiiuiy uOur?< c. Health adopted a policy last year titled, "Health Education, Nursing and Referral Procedures For Human Lice and Scabies In Schools." Under " * ferns damaged fro nurricane Diana! ock Sets & scellaneous Hardware < ~ " " " """" "" ? M ? 2 while supplies M PADITE W ? m m K a mm* 1WY. 17 & 211 THE BRUNSWICK BEACON. 1 nnrornorl i ?'WW* ? u sorted At L the plan, the county health department acts as a standby in case the school nurses, four for the 11 schools, need assistance. The lack of school nurses during a lice outbreak is one of the problems, Ms. Mtuiz saiu. A nurse 'is stationed at Lincoln on Wednesdays and part of Thursdays, "and we have lice every day," she added. "It's not something that's just one and a half days." Board Chairman Dr. James Forstner, a family practitioner, said there is usually a "surge of reported cases of lice at the start of the school year and the beginning of T-ball season." . ukuimiivi;, urcy uuu i carry any dangerous diseases or the bubonicplague," he said. Under the policy, if a student is found to have lice or scabies, then he or she Is isloated from the rest of the students or sent home for treatment. Parents are instructed to contact the family physician or the county health department for treatment procedures. The condition can be treated with several drug-shampoos, some of which can be purchased over the counter, such as HID or Kwell ShamNew Brochure Approximately 10,000 copies of a revised emergency plan brochure are in the mail to Brunswick and New Hanover County residents who live within a 10-mile radius of Carolina Power & ljght Co.'s Brunswick nuclear nou-er nlnnt This brochure, prepared annually, describes emergency plans for areas near the plant. It outlines precautions resident could be advised to "raMPLCTE^Nl EI HI DECORATING SEF jf|\\ Lovelor blinds Cor| f Vortical blinds V\ Original patming? by Bryan *9//> 09 ij Ocean i*io Sq Ot von Itlo Hoodi C S/9 6091 fxiatq oeadi y'ttwUo 6407 C F Onli I ^ lonq Beach 7 ~ ' -* " I (MM till II r.:: ?k nf, "\\ , ? last. %-' R ? toNC Sq?t][ 754 ; "hursday, February 7, 1985? Page 13-A \s Lice incoln poo. The health department provides residents with such treatment shampoos. but Ms. Miritz said they should also be available at the individual schools. "The parents are going to have to get out tuere and be aware of it," satu board member James Clemmons. "We have a very transient group of people up there 11 .eland). They move around quite a bit." According to I .incoln Principal Joe Butler, the school is following the county's policy for handling reported lice cases. "One of lite problems is having personnel always available at the mojvinnf " "Wc CllPi'k if* COO if the child has been treated. According to my knowledge, once they have been treated there is a test to determine if those nits are still there. I know of two cases where we had to send the child back." Head lice can live two days and body lice from four to seven days away from the body. Head lice eggs can survive ten days off of humans and body lice eggs 30 days away from the host, making it important to retreat w ith shampoos in seven to ten days after removing the nits with fine-tooth combs. *s Are In Mail take in the event of an accident at the plant. It also provides information on radiation, describes how the Brunswick plant produces electricity and provides a list of nuclear terms which woudl be used in explaining an emergency situation, should one occur. Anyone who does not tccoive a ...... ...... hi, utnnnimi UltlVIIUlV Hint t/UMtiM vrnv >fj .?v|>|>ui^ at the Brunswick Visitors Center in soumport or 'jy calling 457-6011. n Ooinway liJ J&SlI "? fr*\y ,*#gf 78 3959 '-V' Uf !NCe -4331
The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Feb. 7, 1985, edition 1
13
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