It is well documented in literature that teachers play a very important role in child protection work, given that they are the only professional who have ongoing, daily contact with children which enables them to support both the detection and reporting of abuse (Baginsky and MacPherson, 2005; Walsh et al. 2006; Nohilly, 2019). To enable this action to take place however, teacher knowledge of the categories of child abuse and the signs and symptoms of abuse that may present for each category is critical to supporting teachers in making what can often seem like a conflicting decision to report child abuse. This paper presents the findings of Irish primary school teachers’ knowledge of the four main categories of child protection.

Child abuse or child maltreatment remains a social emergency in the current age (Longobardi et al., 2022). The World Health Organisation (2024) define that it includes all types of physical and emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect, negligence and exploitation that results in actual or potential harm to the child’s health, survival, development or dignity in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust or power. Some of the global statistics that give an extent of the phenomenon highlight that one billion children globally are estimated to experience sexual violence (World Health Organisation, 2022), one in five children in Europe are estimated to experience sexual violence (Council of Europe, 2022) and one in four girls and one in thirteen boys are estimated to experience child abuse (National Children’s Alliance).

Neglect is the most prevalent form of abuse that is reported to child protection authorities (Kobulsky et al., 2020). It is named the ‘Cinderella’ of the abuse topics (Tanner and Turney, 2006), given that it is the least understood form of child maltreatment- referred to as the ‘neglect of neglect’ by Wolock and Horowitz (1984). From a school perspective, it is one of the categories of abuse that is more easily identifiable through its signs and symptoms relating to food, hygiene, clothing, support of a child’s educational needs and the supervision of aspects of the child’s life. These ‘signs’ or symptoms of neglect typically are observed over a period of time.Child physical abuse refers to a wide range of acts which are characterised by the intentional use of force against a child and includes kicking, punching, beating, choking, shaking, dragging and burning. These intentional acts may result in permanent or temporary physical injury (Tsur et al. 2021). As with neglect, in the school context physical abuse may be identified through the physical injuries carried by a child and the explanations for same, where there may be unsatisfactory or varying accounts provided by a child about the circumstances of what happened. Ness (2023) considers that that emotional abuse is evident in the quality of the relationship between a parent or primary caregiver and a child in terms of being constituted by both discrete and recurring events. This makes the nature of the abuse invisible and intangible. Nohilly and Treacy (2022) contend that sexual abuse ‘dominates’ the other categories of abuse in media commentary and on the policy making agenda and is considered to be the most serious form of abuse. 

Despite the positionality of teachers and the fact that in many countries, including Ireland, teachers are ‘mandated persons’ and legally required to report child abuse, Buckley and McGarry (2011) advise caution in assuming the existence of a linear relationships between procedures that oblige teachers to report and the identification and reporting of abuse. Treacy and Nohilly (2020) contest that detection and reporting of abuse is both a ‘complex’ and ‘nuanced’ process. 

The current study aims to explore the knowledge, confidence and attitudes of Irish primary school teachers in child protection work. 727 teachers responded to an online survey that was emailed to all primary schools in Ireland. The survey was sent to 3,227 schools- 3,088 mainstream school and 139 special schools in April 2024. The study employed a mixed-methods approach, using an anonymous, online, self-report methodology. Teachers self-reported on a number of attitudinal and knowledge items related to child abuse and whether they had reported suspicions of abuse in the past. This paper draws predominantly on the data derived from participants’ responses to knowledge questions in relation to the four main categories of child abuse; physical, sexual, emotional and neglect. Using a rating scale from 'verylow knowledge' to 'very high knowledge' teachers self-rated their knowledge of physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and neglect. The data was analysed using SPSS. A gender comparison of responses was completed and further analysis was completed to establish if there was a correlation across the responses in terms of same participants self-reporting their knowledge of all abuse categories as 'very high' or 'very low'

On a rating scale from very low knowledge to very high knowledge, teachers generally felt that they had ‘average’ knowledge of each of the four categories of abuse. Specifically, they felt they had better knowledge of neglect and physical abuse than they had of sexual or emotional abuse with emotional abuse being the category they felt ‘least knowledgeable’ about. There was no significant difference between male and female teachers on their ratings of their knowledge of abuse. The ratings of both groups were very similar - Females (M = 14.23, SD = 3.14), males (M = 14.07, SD = 2.58). It is imperative that teachers, teachers, the professionals who spend the majority of time with children outside of their home environments, need to feel that they are very knowledgeable in recognising the signs and symptoms of the four main categories of abuse and are enabled to respond to concerns appropriately. These research findings highlight the importance of comprehensive child protection training for all teachers who may be the ‘eyes’ and ‘ears’ for vulnerable children in need of care and protection.

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