Over the years, I have been writing about misconceptions regarding the schooling process. The purpose of these posts is to explain why I disagree with various comments that I have heard people make about schooling. These are meant as personal thoughts rather than conclusive proof, and I will admit that I'm not always the best at explaining my thoughts. Regardless, I have decided that I should be willing to share these posts when I encounter someone online who makes an argument that I have already discussed.
Reports of child abuse decrease during the summer. This is primarily because teachers are mandatory reporters of child abuse. Parents don't become less abusive just because they have access to their children. In fact, parents are more likely to abuse their kids during the summer despite the decrease in reports.
This doesn't mean that abuse increases when school is out for the summer. It only means that abuse in the home increases. There are other forms of abuse. Keep in mind that teachers are the biggest reporters abuse. Do you honestly think that teachers are as quick to report themselves as they are to report parents?
When I was in school, all of my teachers pushed the idea that if I didn't let them control my childhood, they would destroy my future. Obviously, they didn't use those words, but this is a very widespread message. It also clearly qualifies as a form of abuse. Unfortunately, government-sanctioned child abuse has been normalized. We think nothing of it when it happens.
This isn't the only form of child abuse that occurs in school. It has been estimated that one in ten students is sexually abused by teachers. Schools are also grounds that foster bullying and not just by the teachers. In all honesty, I would be shocked if any student has actually avoided abuse in government-run schools. This could help explain why suicide rates among school-aged children tend to track the school year. Children are legitimately dying because of our schools.
Abuse in the schools is almost certainly underreported. Additionally, abuse in the home is unlikely to match reports. Reports can include multiple reports for families, meaning that repeat offenders will inflate the stats. Some teachers could see things that aren't there and report abuse that isn't happening. There are also vindictive teachers who could intentionally file a false report to get at a child's family.
I'm not going to lie. Abuse can and occasionally does happen in homes. This is more likely to happen if a child is actually home. The problem with the narrative that I have been hearing is that it completely ignores abuse in schools. If a kid is out of school for the summer or otherwise taken out of a schooling environment, that student is being taken out of an environment where abuse is rampant in favor of an environment where abuse is possible. We shouldn't fear the possibility any more than the certainty.
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