Cutting schools budget = emotional neglect
Without attention to the mental and emotional well-being of your children, how can we possibly hold them to high academic standards with the expectation of seeing positive outcomes when we have children with a myriad of obstacles that impede their progres
As an educator, I am a mandated reporter, meaning I have a legal obligation to abide by The Department of Children and Families’ services’ guidelines. DCF defines emotional neglect as the following — and please read carefully:
“Emotional neglect is the denial of proper care and attention, or failure to respond, to a child’s affective needs by the person responsible for the child’s health, welfare or care; by the person given access to the child; or by the person entrusted with the child’s care which has an adverse impact on the child or seriously interferes with a child’s positive emotional development.”
In making cuts to the education system, which is already hemorrhaging with no tourniquet, these proposals absolutely qualify as emotional neglect. Further, cuts are made with inequity, increasing harm to our students whose education is their ticket out — out of poverty, out of oppression, out of situations they were born into, which they did not choose. We are obligated to protect all youth including those who are in neglectful and abusive circumstances. The proposals on the table are exactly that: neglectful and abusive. These recommendations are, even further, theft. Stamford is robbing children of their legal right to a “free and appropriate education” (FAPE). This generation of youth has dreams to make positive contributions to the community, yet educators are continuously forced to make concessions. The decisions being made by those in positions of power go far beyond salary freezes and cutting positions. These proposals are active choices to decrease the value of education, hampering the well-being of your children and the community at large.
Where we are already short-staffed, the city proposes additional cuts, despite Stamford’s platform of “mind,” “body” and “heart.” My position as a social worker addresses all three components and then some, yet the city seeks to remove positions that are vital to student success. Without attention to the mental and emotional well-being of your children, how can we possibly hold them to high academic standards with the expectation of seeing positive outcomes when we have children with a myriad of obstacles that impede their progress?
Moreover, what about our children who are so anxiety-ridden that they can’t enter a school building, seen as the “absent child,” who appears to be apathetic? The children who do not have the coping skills required to address the pain that they harbor, often in silence, becoming “the quiet student” who does not speak up and is therefore unseen? The externalizing student who demonstrates a lack of control over their behavior and is therefore labeled as the “difficult child” and too often punished, rather than supported? These students have one thing in common: They have needs that are not being met. Needs that we are perfectly capable of addressing with appropriate staffing. With fewer social workers allocated, these children will continue suffering.
Schools fundamentally provide children with structure and stability. The proposed measures perpetuate the cycle of abandonment; however with the appropriate amount of staffing, together, we can build their internal strength by teaching them to tolerate frustration, employ effective communication skills, enhance interpersonal relationships, strengthen their self-confidence and foster trust in those responsible for their safety.
I previously submitted a statement to city officials pertaining to the unconscionable decision to make such drastic cuts to the school budget. This was an attempt to appeal to the notion that these are not just our students, but they are our children as well as the future of our nation. Now I submit this statement with a different plea: a plea to the community to appeal to their humanity.
Those who callously turn a blind eye to the ever-growing social-emotional needs of children in a world that is too often unkind, let alone amid a global crisis, are by definition neglectful. While decision-makers continue to make educational cuts to the detriment of your children’s mental health, there is a swelling chorus of community voices that isn’t being heard.
Who can make anyone see that to which they are not willing to open their eyes? Instead I implore you to trust the information provided by those on the front lines, fighting to do more with less, every day. Without access to education that addresses individuals holistically, we are shutting off the light that helps guide this generation’s way. Think for a brief moment where you would be without your education, without the support of a caring adult, without the opportunity to pursue a dream. What a sad state of affairs indeed.