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Objective: This assignment is designed to help you articulate the challenges associated with providing social work to students in schools. 

*Reflect on the below event involving a student, as a school social worker what may prompt you to respond in a manner that is different from what other staff such as the school teachers, administrators, or nurses might expect?

*Consider the Code of Ethics: “Best interest of the child(ren)” who may be experiencing challenges based on race, ethnicity, disability, gender identity, or sexual orientation. 

Example Event:

This is only an example.  

A first grade student comes to school wearing oversized clothing and smells of cat urine.  The child’s siblings are older and all appear to be dressed in size appropriate attire; however, they, too, smell of cat urine. The class teacher complains of the smell and appearance of the child and complains to you and the vice-principal that the student’s condition is both heartbreaking and a cause of disruption to other students in the class.  Both the teacher and the vice-principal believe you should immediately report this to Child Welfare Services (CWS).  You believe you should speak with the child and perhaps the siblings and parents to get a clearer picture of what may be occurring as this does not sound as if it a suspicion of abuse or neglect yet. In addition, you know by law that teachers are not allowed to defer their duty to report and, if a report should be made, it should be from the teacher who has first hand knowledge of the concern. 

Answer:

How would you address this? Remember the sociological imagination and taking on a broader perspective than “judging” the individual.

Provide feedback to at least two of your group members using correct grammar and sentence structure.  Responses must demonstrate insight and foster continued learning.  Responses that are short and  do not demonstrate effort, such as simply stating “Good idea. I agree,” will not receive full points. 

While this activity is graded as complete/incomplete it is part of the course learning experience and counts towards this week active engagement.