Ethics Sarah Kills-A-Hundred When I was student teaching in the 4-5 preschool class at SDSU, I noticed that a father

of one of my students had some questionable interactions with his children. I knew this familys background well and knew that they came from a culture where the male was typically in an authoritarian position in the family over his wife and children. Knowing this, I often excused these interactions. In the beginning I only noticed that the father was a little stricter than most and sometimes demanding. I took these as red flags to monitor the interactions, but did not think much of them knowing the families culture. This kept up until one day in the middle of the semester when I was talking with the father. I asked him if he or his wife would be interested in coming into our classroom and talking with our class about their culture as we were having many parents do. The conversation went well until his daughter came up to us. We were talking about his native language and he wanted his daughter to tell me a few words in that language. His daughter became shy and did not want to tell me. I told him it was fine and that maybe she would want to later. He became angry and kept pushing the issue. I felt very uncomfortable and I could tell his daughter did as well. He ended up pushing her back kind of hard as if to get her to do it. She still would not talk to me in her native language so he took aside and grabbed both of her arms and talked to her very sternly and then quickly left her classroom. No one else in the class seemed to notice the interaction and I was not sure what to make of it.

A few days later this little girl did something and I sat her down and talked to her about it. She said that when her brother gets into trouble her dad slaps him and he has slapped her before too. I knew that I needed to address this issue with my mentor teacher. We talked about the issues. It was a very hard one, because we knew that what this family was doing was culturally acceptable to them, but we needed to make sure that it was legally acceptable for these children and their wellbeing. We knew that both of these parents were very loving and at times the father was even affectionate. They provided for their children and were very invested in their education. We discussed it and decided we would keep our eyes and ears open in to make sure that even though this father was authoritative, that he was not harming the children. A few more issues came out and we continued to monitor it. My mentor teacher said that we did not have enough to go on in terms of bringing the issue any further. I have to say I agreed with her. Principles p-1.8-We shall be familiar with the risk factors for and symptoms of child abuse and neglect, including physical, sexual, verbal, and emotional abuse and physical, educational, verbal, emotional, and medical neglect. We shall know and follow state laws and community procedures that protect children against abuse and neglect. p-1.9-When we have reasonable cause to suspect child abuse or neglect, we shall report if to the appropriate community agency and follow up to ensure that appropriate action has been taken. When appropriate, parents or guardians will be informed that the referral will be or has been made.

Ideas I-2.5 To respect the dignity and preferences of each family and to make an effort to learn about its structure, culture, language, customs, and beliefs. I-2.6- To acknowledge families childrearing values and their right to make decisions for their children. Principles P-4.6- We shall be familiar with laws and regulations that serve to protect the children in our programs and be vigilant in ensuring that these laws and regulations are followed. P-4.7-When we become aware of a practice or situation that endangers that health, safety, or wellbeing of children, we have and ethical responsibility to protect children or inform parents and/or others who can. Based on the evidence and background we had I believe we made that right decision. During the semester my mentor teacher and I kept a close eye on this family to make sure we did not see anything that we would need to report. My mentor teacher and I also watched to see if it was to the point of bringing it to her supervisor and things never got serious. This case was a very hard one to determine where to go and what to do with the information we were given. We would see positive interactions with the family, but the ones that were not positive really stuck out to us. They were never to the point of abuse but always just on the edge. In most cases I would say that there is never a just on the edge of abuse. I always thought it would be black and white and I would know what to do. Although I knew I would see families with different backgrounds, I did not really think about how hard it would be when my

values went so strongly against their as they did in this case. I was forced to really sit down and evaluate what this father was doing. Was he abusing his children, or was he raising them to different values and standards than I had? Overall I think the decisions we made were right, but if I could go back I think I would have pushed my mentor teacher to talk to her supervising teacher. That way we could get an outside perspective and make sure we were making the right decisions. In cases like this it is important to keep things confidential, but I think another pair of eyes would have helped and my mentor teachers supervisor would have been appropriate for that task. In the future, the Code of Ethics will serve as a reference. It really seems to lay things out in a manner that helps me to decide if the way I am handling situations is the right way. It will be a nice guide for me. In many ethical cases I know what I should do, but sometimes that decision can be hard. The Code of Ethics makes that decision making process more clear cut so you know what calls to make.