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The safeguarding of every student in your school's care is the responsibility of all your staff. To best protect your students, everyone needs to understand their specific caring responsibilities and how they need to work in partnership with others to promote the best interests of children and young people.

But what are the current biggest safeguarding challenges for international schools and how can staff identify and deal with them? Here are five key concerns that staff should be aware of right now.

You'll find more guidance on each issue in our free guide 5 key safeguarding concerns for international schools right now.

1. Child sexual abuse material (CSAM)

Children and young people have been brought up with the internet and being online enables them to socialise, learn and experience many things in a variety of different ways.

But, as we all know, there are dangers associated with everyday internet use. Child sexual abuse material (CSAM) is commonplace and can be found on mainstream social media and online gaming platforms.

A recent report from the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) discovered more Category A CSAM online than ever before. Category A material is the most severe type of child sexual abuse material, and this has doubled since 2020.*

It's vital that everyone working with children and young people:

• Is aware of risks online
• Has appropriate online safety training
• Works with and learns from children and young people about what they’re doing online
• Makes sure that any technology used is used appropriately
• Ensures children have appropriate routes to support and reporting

2. Child-on-child sexual violence and harassment

Over recent years, there have been growing concerns about sexual violence and sexual harassment between children. Due to the diverse nature of child-on-child abuse, the number of children affected is difficult to estimate, but it’s vitally important to understand that it can happen anywhere, and your organisation should maintain an attitude that it could already be taking place in your school or college.

All reports and concerns must be taken seriously, and your organisation should operate a zero-tolerance policy on this kind of behaviour, be it verbal or physical. Downplaying these incidents will foster an environment in which children won’t feel safe or comfortable enough to report abuse.

3.  Trauma-informed practice

Trauma can be defined as any single, multiple, ongoing or cumulative experiences which:

• Is a response to a perceived threat (even after the traumatic experience has passed)
• Overwhelms our capacity to cope
• Feels or is outside our control
• Evokes a physiological and psychological set of responses based on fear or avoidance

Trauma affects all aspects of a child’s development, including the brain, body, emotions, memory, relationships, learning and behaviour.

Schools are unique environments with wonderful opportunities to offer trauma responsive provisions to children; from building a safe and predictable environment to implementing a relationship policy to ensure staff interact with children with kindness and compassion.

4. Affluent neglect

Neglect is the persistent failure to meet a child’s basic needs and is likely to result in the serious impairment of the child’s health or development.

Neglect can be categorised into: 

Physical: a child’s basic needs are not met such as food, clothing and shelter 

Educational: a parent doesn’t ensure their child is given an education 

Emotional: a child doesn’t get the nurture and stimulation they need 

Medical: a child isn’t given proper health care 

Affluent: this refers to neglect in wealthier families and is often linked to emotional neglect 

Affluent neglect can be difficult to spot. This may be due to preconceived conceptions about what neglect actually is and who can be impacted.

5. Mental health

The wellbeing of young people is a key concern for anyone entering education, and the need for children to have a happy and well-rounded experience should be at the heart of every schools’ ethos. Enjoying good relationships and being able to deal with setbacks also helps to preserve mental wellbeing and builds resilience.

How we approach, understand and respond to mental health can be influenced by our culture. Different cultures have different ways of looking at mental health.

Some cultures stigmatise mental health conditions and consider them an area of weakness, which makes people feel ashamed if they need support. Other cultures take a more holistic approach and believe that both physical and mental health are at the core of everyone. 

To achieve positive outcomes we must understand and be sensitive to the factors that influence a person.

For more information, download our free guide 5 key safeguarding concerns for international schools right now to ensure that all your staff have the essential information they need to protect all your students.

Download guide

To keep all your staff up to date with the latest training in safeguarding, compliance, health and safety, and wellbeing take a look at our whole-school online training package, ÌÇÐÄVlog Safeguarding.

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