Abused students frightened of authorities

Secondary school students would be less likely to report physical and sexual abuse if their confidantes were legally obliged to tell authorities, according to a new study.

University of Otago law faculty researcher Debbie Lawson is expected to tell a child protection forum today that just one in five teenagers would report abuse to a teacher if in turn the teacher had to report it to a social worker.

Mandatory reporting of suspected abuse by religious, recreational and other groups involved with children has been introduced in Australia and the US and has been debated here.

But Ms Lawson's research revealed only one-third of secondary students would confide in a counsellor who was required to report suspected abuse to the police or Child Youth and Family.

"The majority of students do not want this information passed on to CYF or police, probably because it is their means of keeping some control over their situation," Ms Lawson said.

"They are often looking for help and information and mandatory reporting to authorities would actually do more harm than good."

The research is being released at a forum hosted by UNICEF and the Office of the Children's Commission in Wellington today.

More than 450 secondary school students from around the country were questioned in the first survey of its kind in New Zealand.

Ms Lawson said that under the present law reporting of suspected abuse to a social worker or police is optional, and she wanted to find out if mandatory reporting would encourage or discourage students from confiding. The survey also asked students if mandatory reporting would discourage them from attending school if they had been abused.

The study found that under the present law only about 23 per cent of students would report abuse to a teacher but more than 62 per cent would report abuse to a guidance counsellor.

Ms Lawson said her research found that under the current law about 59 per cent of students would come to school if they had been obviously physically abused.

This figure dropped to about 44 per cent if school staff had to report suspected abuse to a social worker, while only about 30 per cent would come to school if staff were required to report suspected abuse to the police.

"It [the research] shows mandatory reporting does not seem to serve the purpose of increasing detection of cases," said Ms Lawson.

"It would actually cut out an important avenue for students seeking help."

The forum, with a range of Government and non-government speakers, will see the launch of a publication to help children's organisations protect them from abuse and neglect.

Reporting abuse

* Under New Zealand law, counsellors or teachers are not obliged to report suspected abuse of pupils to police or social workers.

* New research suggests two out of three students would report abuse to a guidance counsellor.

* However, only about one in three students would confide in a counsellor who was required to report suspected abuse to the police or CYF.