There are many reasons for the high levels of violence in South Africa, but when it comes to violence towards children, the statistics are frightening. Frighteningly, there are no recent statistics on the level of child abuse in South Africa, but police statistics show that in 2011/2012 50,688 children were victims of violent crimes in South Africa, but not all crimes are reported often because the child is too young to report the crime (or tell someone what happened), are afraid to speak up because they fear the criminal, are unsure of what will happen when they report the crime (or tell some- one what happened) or simply don’t know where to report the crime.  

“Abuse can happen in schools not only from other children but from those whose role is to care and educate while under their supervision,” remarks Dr Lauren Stretch, Managing Director of Early Inspiration. “Protecting the safety and wellbeing of children and young people is a fundamental responsibility that cannot be compromised by other considerations.”

Children and young people have a right to:

• be treated with respect and to be protected from harm
• be asked to express their views and wishes about matters affecting their lives and to have those views appropriately considered by adults
• feel and be safe in their interactions with adults, other children and young people
• understand, as early as possible, what is meant by ‘feeling and being safe’
• the support of school based counsellors or designated staff in their education or care environment whose role includes being an advocate for their safety and wellbeing 

This Child Protection Week (May 17th – 24th), an initiative of the Department of Social Development, Early Inspiration is urging ECD professionals to establishing and maintaining child safe environments.

 “Positive actions and efforts of people from within and outside the education and care setting are needed so that interventions on behalf of children and young people are successful and sustained,” adds Dr Stretch. “Be the safety and wellbeing concerns arise within family, community and institutional settings, it’s up to everyone to step up, intervene and educate children about what they can do if they are victim of abuse.” 

There are five obligations that Early Inspiration believes ECD and education professionals should adhere to: 

Screening and suitability Staff, volunteers and other persons need to be screened as part of an on-going process to ensure adults are suitable to work, access or volunteer in ECD centres.

• Suitability must be established at the point of recruitment and monitored continuously
• Continuous monitoring of suitability includes the responsibility of all adults to safely report inappropriate conduct towards children and young people by any person engaged with the site or service 

Training and support

Staff and volunteers need to receive training that explains their responsibilities for children’s safety and well-being and understand how responsibilities should be met with sensitivity and purpose.  

Adult conduct

ECD professionals need to relate respectfully and protectively with children and young people. And they need to understand they have a responsibility to report and intervene against behaviours that compromise the safety or wellbeing of children and young people.

• Staff and volunteers must report and document concerns raised about inappropriate adult conduct towards children and young people
• Staff will follow approved attendance, behaviour management and incident response policies and guidelines

Access to curriculum

Children and young people engage with the curriculum which teaches them about the nature of personal safety and wellbeing, their rights to personal safety and wellbeing, help seeking and self-protecting behaviours and their responsibilities to the safety and wellbeing of others.                           

Communication, collaboration and record keeping

Issues affecting children and young people’s safety and wellbeing are often complex. Successful interventions require carefully coordinated and communicated actions. Staff should meet the following commitments, as required by their role.

• On enrolment parents/carers should be made aware of the ECD centre’s commitment to children’s safety, and that some matters must be reported irrespective of parents’ wishes
• Parents and carers to be appropriately informed about allegations of sexual misconduct and report to the appropriate agencies and organisations when the needs of vulnerable children and young people are identified.
• Education and care staff will actively support interagency efforts to improve family and community safety.  

For more information on the role of child protection in ECD, please contact the Early Inspiration office on 041 373 0884 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA, SEPTEMBER 01, 2016 South Africa’s only Specialist Child Investigation and Training Company is launching a new app called “The Guardian Schools Anonymous Reporting APP”. The app is designed to facilitate anonymous reporting by all stakeholders – learners, teachers, parents and anyone directly involved with a school.

Marc Hardwick, owner of The Guardian commented on the release: “My ongoing investigations has highlighted the fact that learners, in many occasions are aware of potential problems arising, but don’t like being seen as a snitch.” Marc stated further that, in questioning over 2000 leaners, it was evident that “being able to report anonymously on potential problems” and knowing that they “may be reported on” would contribute significantly towards creating a safer environment for the kids of today.

This app arrives in South Africa at a time when sexting, sexual abuse, intimidation and bullying reports have been increasing. It is envisaged that with access to the app, learners may feel more comfortable knowing that they have a way to inform proactively on what is happening, to them and around them. This without the embarrassment of being labelled as a “snitch”.

The app is launched in conjunction with a web based control portal which individual schools can subscribe to and will receive an anonymous report. The school would appoint an ambassador and a minimum of 3 other persons within the school, that would act as custodians of these reports. These reports will contain significant information, showing what is trending within schools. The information will be used to predict future trends and ensure a more proactive school in per-empting problems that could arise. The app is available to download on Google Play Store  

About Marc Hardwick
Marc Hardwick, is passionate about protecting children and the drive to bring to book those committing crimes against children. His efforts have resulted in a number of high profile arrests and his training programs have made those responsible for our children more aware of the dangers.

Find out more on www.theguardian.co.za