http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,184947,00.html?
Girl acting as victim ignored, even accidentally kicked
Poor response to social service group's abuse awareness experiment
By Andre Yeo
November 28, 2008
DOING GOOD: A volunteer (left) trying to get a passer-by to sign a pledge against family violence. He had stopped to ask the child, who was pretending to be an abuse victim, what happened to him.
THE child sat at the edge of the busy walkway, apparently troubled, shoulders shaking.
Clearly visible on the child's body were what looked like bruises.
Thousands of people walked past, and hardly any stopped to offer help or at least ask a question.
Could the kid have been abused? Very few cared to find out.
In this case there was no abuse, they would have been relieved to know.
The child was an actor, and this was an experiment conducted by a social service group.
For eight hours, three children took turns pretending to look like abused kids, to see how many people would ask what had happened to them.
Over that time, fewer than 20 people showed concern and offered to help.
The purpose of the experiment was to see how people would react to seeing an abused child, if they could identify tell-tale signs of abuse, and if they would help.
But many people who passed by apparently didn't even notice the kids. Some of them were too focused on video games at a shop.
Whether it was distraction or apathy, it was obvious that in a busy public place, most of us won't help someone in need.
Hence, the message of a new education programme: 'Please. Don't just stand there. Reach out'.
It is being run from now till the end of next month to create awareness of kids who are abused, or who witness violence at home.
The Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) is supporting the drive organised by two family violence specialist centres - Centre for Promoting Alternatives to Violence (Pave) and SAFE@TRANS.
The street experiment was conducted at Boon Lay MRT station from noon to 8pm last Saturday, by the Jurong Regional Family Violence Working Group.
It involved three child actors taking turns to sit at an open walkway linking the MRT station to Jurong Point Shopping Centre.
They were an 8-year-old boy, and two girls aged 6 and 8, hired from modelling agencies.
Paint was used to simulate bruises on their bodies. Social workers did the make-up.
The children did not appear together and took turns to sit there for 45 minutes, before taking a break.
The Group, which consists of six family service centres (FSCs)and six neighbourhood police centres from Jurong Division, is chaired by Ms Sharminee N Ramachandra, 36.
She is a senior social worker from the Moral FSC (Bukit Panjang) and was present at the location.
She told The New Paper that social workers, the children's parents and volunteers from Singapore Polytechnic were always nearby to ensure that the kids were never left alone at any time.
Ms Sharminee said they wanted the public to be aware that there are abused children in our midst, and all it would take was less than a minute for someone to check on the kids.
The kids sat there looking sad, head down, pretending to sob as they jerked their shoulders.
Given the high-traffic flow there, the social workers had estimated that up to 200 people would offer their help.
But the result was a tenth of that.
'I think they may not have realised there was abuse involved. They might have thought they might be intruding into the child's space,' she said.
'But we need to curb apathy towards abused children and be more aware of signs of abuse.'
Are people attentive enough to notice troubled kids on the street?
Said Ms Sharminee: 'They were walking quite fast and, with the child being quite small in size, it was possible they just did not see them.'
The boy actor, Makin Danish Yee, 8, had brownish and reddish paint applied on the left side of his face to simulate a bruise.
He told The New Paper he had expected all the passers-by to help him. But his mother, Mrs Sarina Yee, 29, said only three to five people did when he was there from 2pm to 5pm.
Said Makin: 'I feel sad not many people came forward.'
Mrs Yee said she was watching her son throughout and was disappointed at the lack of a response.
She said: 'It was quite pitiful because what if this was really an abused child? It's a good to have this campaign so Singaporeans can open their hearts (to such kids).'
Hannah Bradshaw, 8, one of the actors, is from the UK.
She said she didn't think people here were kind, as some seemed more interested in watching video games.
She said: 'I was sitting next to a games shop, but they were looking at the screen instead of at me. One man leaned over and accidentally kicked me.'
But the few who stopped were really concerned.
Said Ms Sharminee: 'One grandmother scolded us for making the children do this because she said we should not be treating children like this. And this was after we had explained to her what we were trying to do.'
Pave's senior social worker, Ms Soh Siew Fong, said that if this was the result when there were children with visible bruises, those suffering a different kind of abuse were even less likely to be noticed.
She said the publicity drive was aimed at making people aware of children who were psychologically and emotionally abused. It also sought to help people spot the tell-tale signs of different kinds of abuse. (See report on facing page.)
Useless
She recalled one 9-year-old boy, eight years ago, whose mother kept telling him he was useless, and how she wished he had never been born and would get knocked down by a car on the road.
She said: 'Some Asian parents think you can't show love because they are afraid the kids will climb over them. She thought by using those words and by being firm, they (her two kids) would be disciplined.'
Ms Soh said the mother came for repeated counselling and her relationship with her children improved.
She said another vulnerable group people should be aware of were the silent witnesses - those who were not abused themselves but who witnessed violence at home.
She said: 'Psychological abuse can be worse because physical wounds can be healed.
'Parents think their kids can't remember.
'But we have 5-year-old children who, years later, could recall the broken dishes, the types of food on the floor, the smell of alcohol and cigarettes in the air during those moments of violence.'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Signs of abuse
PHYSICAL:
Cuts and bruises
Burns and scalds
Poor skin health and hygiene
Tired/listless
Fractures
Genital injuries
BEHAVIOURAL:
Anxiety
Aggression
Sadness
Fear
Suicidal thoughts
Inappropriate dressing
DEVELOPMENTAL:
Delayed development in speech, language, emotions, vision
Stunted growth
VICTIMS BY ABUSE TYPE
49
PHYSICAL ABUSE
47
SEXUAL ABUSE
2
EMOTIONAL ABUSE
VICTIMS BY AGE
20
AGE 0 TO 6 YEARS
46
AGE 7 TO 12 YEARS
32
AGE 13 TO 15 YEARS
Girl acting as victim ignored, even accidentally kicked
Poor response to social service group's abuse awareness experiment
By Andre Yeo
November 28, 2008
DOING GOOD: A volunteer (left) trying to get a passer-by to sign a pledge against family violence. He had stopped to ask the child, who was pretending to be an abuse victim, what happened to him.
THE child sat at the edge of the busy walkway, apparently troubled, shoulders shaking.
Clearly visible on the child's body were what looked like bruises.
Thousands of people walked past, and hardly any stopped to offer help or at least ask a question.
Could the kid have been abused? Very few cared to find out.
In this case there was no abuse, they would have been relieved to know.
The child was an actor, and this was an experiment conducted by a social service group.
For eight hours, three children took turns pretending to look like abused kids, to see how many people would ask what had happened to them.
Over that time, fewer than 20 people showed concern and offered to help.
The purpose of the experiment was to see how people would react to seeing an abused child, if they could identify tell-tale signs of abuse, and if they would help.
But many people who passed by apparently didn't even notice the kids. Some of them were too focused on video games at a shop.
Whether it was distraction or apathy, it was obvious that in a busy public place, most of us won't help someone in need.
Hence, the message of a new education programme: 'Please. Don't just stand there. Reach out'.
It is being run from now till the end of next month to create awareness of kids who are abused, or who witness violence at home.
The Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) is supporting the drive organised by two family violence specialist centres - Centre for Promoting Alternatives to Violence (Pave) and SAFE@TRANS.
The street experiment was conducted at Boon Lay MRT station from noon to 8pm last Saturday, by the Jurong Regional Family Violence Working Group.
It involved three child actors taking turns to sit at an open walkway linking the MRT station to Jurong Point Shopping Centre.
They were an 8-year-old boy, and two girls aged 6 and 8, hired from modelling agencies.
Paint was used to simulate bruises on their bodies. Social workers did the make-up.
The children did not appear together and took turns to sit there for 45 minutes, before taking a break.
The Group, which consists of six family service centres (FSCs)and six neighbourhood police centres from Jurong Division, is chaired by Ms Sharminee N Ramachandra, 36.
She is a senior social worker from the Moral FSC (Bukit Panjang) and was present at the location.
She told The New Paper that social workers, the children's parents and volunteers from Singapore Polytechnic were always nearby to ensure that the kids were never left alone at any time.
Ms Sharminee said they wanted the public to be aware that there are abused children in our midst, and all it would take was less than a minute for someone to check on the kids.
The kids sat there looking sad, head down, pretending to sob as they jerked their shoulders.
Given the high-traffic flow there, the social workers had estimated that up to 200 people would offer their help.
But the result was a tenth of that.
'I think they may not have realised there was abuse involved. They might have thought they might be intruding into the child's space,' she said.
'But we need to curb apathy towards abused children and be more aware of signs of abuse.'
Are people attentive enough to notice troubled kids on the street?
Said Ms Sharminee: 'They were walking quite fast and, with the child being quite small in size, it was possible they just did not see them.'
The boy actor, Makin Danish Yee, 8, had brownish and reddish paint applied on the left side of his face to simulate a bruise.
He told The New Paper he had expected all the passers-by to help him. But his mother, Mrs Sarina Yee, 29, said only three to five people did when he was there from 2pm to 5pm.
Said Makin: 'I feel sad not many people came forward.'
Mrs Yee said she was watching her son throughout and was disappointed at the lack of a response.
She said: 'It was quite pitiful because what if this was really an abused child? It's a good to have this campaign so Singaporeans can open their hearts (to such kids).'
Hannah Bradshaw, 8, one of the actors, is from the UK.
She said she didn't think people here were kind, as some seemed more interested in watching video games.
She said: 'I was sitting next to a games shop, but they were looking at the screen instead of at me. One man leaned over and accidentally kicked me.'
But the few who stopped were really concerned.
Said Ms Sharminee: 'One grandmother scolded us for making the children do this because she said we should not be treating children like this. And this was after we had explained to her what we were trying to do.'
Pave's senior social worker, Ms Soh Siew Fong, said that if this was the result when there were children with visible bruises, those suffering a different kind of abuse were even less likely to be noticed.
She said the publicity drive was aimed at making people aware of children who were psychologically and emotionally abused. It also sought to help people spot the tell-tale signs of different kinds of abuse. (See report on facing page.)
Useless
She recalled one 9-year-old boy, eight years ago, whose mother kept telling him he was useless, and how she wished he had never been born and would get knocked down by a car on the road.
She said: 'Some Asian parents think you can't show love because they are afraid the kids will climb over them. She thought by using those words and by being firm, they (her two kids) would be disciplined.'
Ms Soh said the mother came for repeated counselling and her relationship with her children improved.
She said another vulnerable group people should be aware of were the silent witnesses - those who were not abused themselves but who witnessed violence at home.
She said: 'Psychological abuse can be worse because physical wounds can be healed.
'Parents think their kids can't remember.
'But we have 5-year-old children who, years later, could recall the broken dishes, the types of food on the floor, the smell of alcohol and cigarettes in the air during those moments of violence.'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Signs of abuse
PHYSICAL:
Cuts and bruises
Burns and scalds
Poor skin health and hygiene
Tired/listless
Fractures
Genital injuries
BEHAVIOURAL:
Anxiety
Aggression
Sadness
Fear
Suicidal thoughts
Inappropriate dressing
DEVELOPMENTAL:
Delayed development in speech, language, emotions, vision
Stunted growth
VICTIMS BY ABUSE TYPE
49
PHYSICAL ABUSE
47
SEXUAL ABUSE
2
EMOTIONAL ABUSE
VICTIMS BY AGE
20
AGE 0 TO 6 YEARS
46
AGE 7 TO 12 YEARS
32
AGE 13 TO 15 YEARS
