Prevention Case Study: Nova Scotia Provincial School Code of Conduct
A Review by Priority Kids
A Code of Conduct is one of my FAVOURITE documents. I can decode a lot of valuable information from a Code of Conduct.
For example, if I go to an organization’s website and have trouble locating their Code of Conduct, that tells me something.
If I ask about a Code of Conduct and the response is, ‘yes, we have one… I think… Somewhere… let me get back to you’, that tells me something as well.
I was intrigued when I learned that our Nova Scotia Provincial Education Minister, Becky Druhan, is talking about reviewing the Provincial School Code of Conduct.
On Saturday, October 28th the Chronicle Herald reported that the Honourable Becky Druhan made this statement,
“I had previously directed the department to review the code of conduct to make sure it is up to date and current”
We've taken a look at the Nova Scotia Provincial School Code of Conduct and are sharing a few of our thoughts and impressions about the document and it's ability to protect children.
To begin, we looked at the question,
What is the PURPOSE of the Code of Conduct?
Druhan told reporters that the Code of Conduct should include,
“everything it needs to include to ensure that it supports our educators and staff and supports students to make sure that our schools are safe and inclusive spaces”
At Priority Kids, we advocate for a Code of Conduct that is designed to protect children from the risk of sexual abuse.
Our first scan through the Provincial Code of Conduct was to determine if the document is designed for the PURPOSE of keeping kids safe from sexual abuse. Secondly, we looked to see what it tells staff, volunteers, and older youth about how to interact with children.
Our conclusion is that the Provincial Code of Conduct is not designed to protect children from sexual abuse, and it does not tell staff, volunteers and older youth about how to interact with children, other than in situations where a child has misbehaved.
The document strongly reads as a guideline for student behaviour.
Let’s take a look at some of the sections to better understand the purpose of THIS Code of Conduct.
In Section 3. Establishing Safe and Inclusive Learning Environments, the Code outlines some of the ways that the school will respond to unacceptable behaviour.
Reading through this section, it becomes clear that the ASSUMPTION is that the person behaving unacceptably is a student.
For example, one of the commitments is that the school will, “assist students with developing new behaviours and strategies to reduce the reoccurrence of unacceptable behaviour” (pg. 1).
No such statement exists about dealing with teachers or parents or volunteers who behave unacceptably.
Further on it reads that schools will, “remove students from class only after acceptable strategies have been implemented to support a change in behaviour or as necessary to maintain a safe learning environment…” (pg. 2).
Again, the assumption is that the student is the one who is misbehaving.
There are no statements about what will or will not occur when an adult has conducted unacceptable behaviour.
We see that in this section, the goal is to address unacceptable behaviour perpetrated by students.
What is missing from this section is the acknowledgement that it could be staff, volunteers or caregivers who behave unacceptably. The document does not provide guidance or instructions for responding to incidents perpetrated by this group of adults.
At Priority Kids, we encourage organizations to include descriptions of inappropriate behaviour that recognize the FACTS about child sexual abuse.
Some Facts that are helpful to consider are:
34% of children are sexually abused by age 18
90% of child victims know their abuser
60% of children are abused by people the family trusts
In order for an environment to be safe and inclusive, it MUST protect against child sexual abuse.
Section 4. Roles and Responsibilities, goes on to discuss recording and tracking of unacceptable behaviour. The Code lists the information that will be collected and it begins with,
Naming the student
Again, the assumption is that the unacceptable behaviour was perpetrated by a student. It is important to know the FACT that 40% of children who are sexually abused are abused by older or more powerful children. So we agree that it is important to document and respond to incidents perpetrated by students.
But what about the incidents that are not perpetrated by students? This document does not acknowledge this possibility.
Section 4 ends with the statement that schools are responsible for,
"monitoring incidents of unacceptable behaviour of all students to identify areas requiring more supports" (pg. 3) This is great. We love to see students getting more support.
However, there is no comparable statement that says that schools are responsible for monitoring incidents of unacceptable behaviour of all staff or volunteers.
Adults need support as well. School personnel identify 52% of all child abuse cases yet 66% of teachers do not receive specific training to prevent, recognize or respond to child sexual abuse.
Prevention training for adults is essential to help monitor and address unacceptable behaviour of staff, volunteers and students.
Section 5. Provincial School Code of Conduct, has a subheading called Promoting Acceptable Behaviours.
We were pleased to see the title Acceptable Standards of Behaviour with a description of acceptable behaviours.
Unfortunately, under the next sub heading, Promoting Acceptable Behaviours, it becomes clear that the Acceptable Standards of Behaviour is really only for children.
The list of behaviours does not specifically exclude adults, but the next section outlines how broken standards will be addressed, and it ONLY mentions children who have misbehaved. It does not address adults who have broken standards.
The summary statement says that when standards are not met,
"Responses to these behaviours may include student and/or parent conferences, creating a plan for restitution, coaching students to help them learn new behaviours, restorative approaches, and/or detention as a time to reflect." (pg 4)
That is a response that is designed for a student who is misbehaving.
Without a similar response plan for adults, it can easily be assumed that the Standard of Behaviour is intended only for students, not adults.
Adults need guidelines about what is acceptable for their behaviour as much as students need guidelines.
Section 6. Responding to Unacceptable Behaviour, outlines various strategies that the school and teachers will take when a child is behaving unacceptably.
Again, there is no mention of adults who might behave unacceptably.
At Priority Kids, we know that it is not just children who misbehave.
Some adults seek to harm children and safe adults have a responsibility to be aware and be willing to intervene to protect children from those unsafe adults.
It is important that a Code of Conduct is written to encourage adults to protect children.
Let’s go back to where we started when we considered the question of PURPOSE.
What is the PURPOSE of a Code of Conduct?
The Provincial Code of Conduct seems to have several purposes, but it reads primarily as a document that is designed to address and manage students who behave unacceptably. Which of course, has value.
However, our prevention training teaches us that a good Code of Conduct should describe how staff, volunteers and older youth will interact and conduct themselves with children. Because children need to be protected.
We can better protect children when we are open and clear about how we expect each other to interact with children. We should also acknowledge that these expectations will shift and change over time, and the Code of Conduct needs to reflect current expectations.
An organization’s Code of Conduct should be specific about what are Appropriate Interactions.
An organization might include these types of descriptions of Appropriate Ineractions:
Offering praise and encouragement
Acknowledging effort and accomplishments
Asking for permission to touch for necessary purposes
Handshakes and high fives
Public social media alerts to groups and parents
Inappropriate and Prohibited Interactions should be described as well:
Isolated one-on-one interactions
Risqué jokes
Favouritism
Exchanging personal email or phone numbers
Private social media interactions
These specific descriptions help set the tone in the organization and provide a helpful tool for recognizing when children are being exposed to unacceptable behaviour. These descriptions equip adults to intervene and protect children from inappropriate and prohibited interactions.
A Code of Conduct that is designed to protect children, based on the FACTS, is a best practice that helps keep kids safe from sexual abuse.
We hope that those who are tasked with reviewing the Provincial School Code of Conduct will take time to consider the PURPOSE of the Code of Conduct, and the role it can have in protecting children.
And while we know that a good Code of Conduct is essential, we also know that it will be most effective when it is written by adults who have been trained to prevent, recognize and respond appropriately to child sexual abuse.
This is why when organizations come to us for policy support, we ALWAYS begin with training.
Trained adults are more likely to create policies and documents that reflect globally promoted best practices, are based on facts, and take responsibility for protecting children from sexual abuse.
We’ve been assessing policies and practices since 2011. Policies and practices are always a work in progress. We love to help organizations experience the rewarding benefits of strengthening child-protective practices.
Organizations that serve children are invited to register for a free policy review with us at www.prioritykids.ca/walkthetalk.
It takes many people working together to build a prevention-oriented community.
Register today to find out what simple steps you can take to strengthen child-safety practices in your organization.
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If the content of this article causes you distress or discomfort,
please seek support.
Where to Get Help in Nova Scotia
Call 211
Kids Help Phone Call 1-800-668-6868
