Picked my son up from vacation care this evening, and was taken aside by an educator to be told that another boy was caught wanking under a blanket next to my son whilst they were watching a movie.
Apparently the kid dared my son to guess what he was doing so my son lifted the blanket up to find him with his pants half down and jerking off. The kid got up and washed his hands and it was at this point the educators cottoned on to what was happening and pulled the kid aside to question him. Of course, he tried to say my son was doing it too, so they took him aside to make sure he was ok and to get his version of what had happened. The educator said she believes my son because she knows when he's being honest or not.
My son is 8. The boy who did it is 10.
I've also discussed it with my son, we have a wonderfully open and trusting mother/son relationship, so I'm not in need of advice as to how I should address it with him.
My question is this- how would expect this to be dealt with from the schools perspective? (Vacation care/oshc is an extension of the school itself so only school students attend.)
Right now I'm extremely angry and sickened. It feels predatory to me.
This is a place where women from different backgrounds, cultures and beliefs come together to support one another judgement free.
4 Replies
It's school holidays and they're not part of the school, so the school can't be expected to do anything, full expectation on the vacation care to handle it.
It needs to be handled really strictly. He's either banned, or at very least needs to be in constant supervision of an educator at all times, I mean within 2 metres of one. That's absolutely unacceptable and they are putting all children, including your son, at risk by allowing him in unsupervised.
The thing is, how does your son feel? Of he doesn't want to see the kid again or speak to him, thats what you tell them and that's his right and you are right to expect them to meet his needs on this one.
I have dealt with a slightly different issue but it would fall under the same umbrella.
What you should expect is to be reassured that your son will not be exposed to anything like this again and you should expect to be given a specific action plan regarding how they will ensure your sons safety/emotional well-being going forward.
Keep in mind mind though that a lot of what they do to address this situation wont actually be able to be disclosed to you (eg, what disciplinary action may be taken against he other child, if a report to child services needs to be made etcetera).
Second thing to keep in mind, school based vacation care programs are usually run by the local council not the school itself. Side note - you should also expect a written incident report. If you haven't already got one, demand one. Then when school resumes, take that report to the principal so they are aware and can also put an action plan in place for your son's safety.
I'm very sorry this happened to your child, I do hope he's okay.
I also hope that other boy is okay, too. That's quite alarming behaviour 😔
Osch in a school are not actually the school, so it's the osch issue only. A for how it's dealt with, that depends on a lot of context that you won't be privy to. Is the boy being abused? Does he have a diagnosis that impacted on his actions/understanding of how inappropriate it is? The only thing you have a right to know is how they're supporting your son. Anything to do with the other child isn't your business, even though I'm sure it really feels as though it is right now.
Just focus on making sure your son is ok.
Even though the OSHC is on the school grounds it can only be dealt with by the OSHC. The school does not have a duty of care.
However the school would probably appreciate being notified of the incident so they can lookout for that behaviour at school.