CHILD NEGLECT
Inadequate supervision
- abandonment
- left alone for inappropriate period of time for their age and development level
- left alone in care of older siblings for inappropriate period of time for their ages
- child incurs frequent injuries due to inadequate supervision
- caregiver often not present when injuries incurred
- leaving child with inappropriate carers such as virtual strangers, local teenagers, suspected sexual abusers , people likely to engage in criminal behaviour or substance abuse in presence of the child etc.
- child may be anxious about drop off or being abandoned
Below is a list of all the States and laws relating to inadequate supervision or leaving a child unattended.
Inadequate supervision can include cases where children are abandoned or left alone for inappropriate periods of time considering their ages, or where the level of supervision isn’t appropriate for the child’s age or development level. Leaving a baby in a bath for any time unsupervised would be inadequate, but a 5 or 6 year old may be able to be left in the bath for a while with frequent checks and within earshot. Children who can’t yet walk are easier to keep a track of than children who are walking, and similarly some children master stairs and climbing earlier than others which means the level of supervision can be adjusted.
Leaving children alone in a car – particularly a hot car – is almost never adequate supervision. You may even see this in the course of your work, where younger siblings are left in the car while parents collect children. Many centres even have to put up signs in the carpark and notices in newsletters to advise parents not to leave children in cars. These signs are available at various websites. We found these below signs at pdf education supplies.
Physical injuries in children that you may think indicate physical abuse, may actually indicate neglect. A child may have honestly incurred all those bruises and injuries every day by accident – but it may be because his mother thinks it’s okay to leave a 2 year old unsupervised on the fort in the park down the road.
Some studies in the United States have shown that supervision was inadequate in as many as 45% of child injury deaths – and caregivers were absent in 40% of those cases. These cases usually involve drowning, pedestrian incidents, and fire deaths.[1]
Inadequate supervision also includes leaving a child with inappropriate carers taking into account their age. So for example leaving a 2 year old with a 10 year old is not appropriate – but leaving a 2 year old with a known 15 year old for short periods of time is appropriate.
It isn’t appropriate to leave particularly younger children in the care of virtual strangers, or suspected sexual abusers, or people who are likely to engage in criminal behaviour or substance abuse.
[1] Landen, M. G., Bauer, U. & Kohn, M. (2003), “Inadequate supervision as a cause of injury deaths among young children in Alaska and Louisiana”, Pediatrics, vol. 111, pp. 328-331.