LOW SOCIOECONOMIC-STATUS CHILDREN ARE DISADVANTAGED IN THE PROVISION OF SCHOOL-BASED CHILD PROTECTION PROGRAMS

Although child sexual abuse affects all social classes, there is evide nce to shaw that the risk of abuse is higher in lower socio-economic s tatus (SES) groups. Data from a research project to evaluate the schoo l-based child protection programme taught in New Zealand show that, pr ior to exposure to the programme, children from the lower SES group we re potentially at greater risk of sexual abuse due to their lower know ledge and skill base. After the programme, the low SES children were f ound to have gained less than their middle class peers and these diffe rences persisted when children were retested 12 months later. The obse rved SES differences in benefits obtained from the child protection pr ogramme can be at least partially attributed to differences in the deg ree of parental involvement across social class. Children from low inc ome families were the ones least likely to have parent representatives at meetings relating to the programme. Their parents were the least l ikely to reinforce safety concepts at home and low SES children were t he ones least likely to trust their parents to provide protection. The low level of parental involvement was associated with lower levels of teacher commitment to child protection in low SES areas. The effectiv eness of child protection programmes is likely to be enhanced if paren ts can be enticed to attend information sessions where the benefits of their involvement can be emphasized. The particular challenges remain ing are how to interest the lower SES parents in education for child p rotection, ensure their cooperation with school-based teachings and ra ise the interest and commitment levels of child protection educators i n low SES environments.