My pupil came to me for help today......?!
Question: I am a History teacher at a secondary school In Manchester, UK.
There is this 14 year old female pupil and she has been looking really pale and has lost a lot of weight recently, and other members of staff have noticed this. And she seemed really upset today and I told her to come inside my office and I had a chat with her. I asked her was everything OK and she said yeah it's fine. And then she broke down into tears, she admitted to not eating and whatever people would give her she would throw out. I couldn't believe it, she had come and told me what was going on, and many sufferers of eating disorders do not own up to having a problem. So I asked her how long she had been doing this and it started on January 3rd of this year.
She said she faints all the time and she feels lonely and empty inside. Then she begged me not to ring her parents and not to tell anyone else - do you think i can deal with this on my own?
Or should I contact her parents?
Answers: I am a History teacher at a secondary school In Manchester, UK.
There is this 14 year old female pupil and she has been looking really pale and has lost a lot of weight recently, and other members of staff have noticed this. And she seemed really upset today and I told her to come inside my office and I had a chat with her. I asked her was everything OK and she said yeah it's fine. And then she broke down into tears, she admitted to not eating and whatever people would give her she would throw out. I couldn't believe it, she had come and told me what was going on, and many sufferers of eating disorders do not own up to having a problem. So I asked her how long she had been doing this and it started on January 3rd of this year.
She said she faints all the time and she feels lonely and empty inside. Then she begged me not to ring her parents and not to tell anyone else - do you think i can deal with this on my own?
Or should I contact her parents?
I think you need to talk to her again, and let her know that you consider her to have a problem and you are talking to her because you are concerned! Tell her you'd like to see her eating and putting some weight on or you will need to contact her parents, because you care. If she doesn't look better in a week or so, I would definately ring her parents. Good for you to be such a great teacher to care!
That's a tough call. I would say contact the school counselor first and go from there. The right answer will make itself known.
The best thing would be to contact her parents. Even if the child doesnt want you to. If she feels dangered by her parents, then the best thing would be to contact some other relative she feels more comfortable with. If you deal with this on your own there could be more serious consecuenses. You however do not want to loose the childs trust. Ask her who she would feel comfortable talking about this with.
Hope this helps. :)
you could try to deal with it on your own but i doubt youd get anywhere you cant exactly help her..for her own benefit and saftey before she gets any worse i would contact her parents..just tell them she didnt want them to know but thought they needed to know..so they should understand and respect what you have said and not tell her it was you..
I would have her talk with someone there at the school first (couselor), and if that doesn't help the situation maybe have a sit-down with her and her parents.
As a teacher you are a usually a mandated reporter. Which means if you know of something going on that can harm a child, you are mandated by law to report it to someone who can help. This girl seems to suffering from depression for some reason, and if you are not trained to handle this, you could do more harm than good. At least in the US you would have to report this to someone else. You will not need to contact the parents, but at least get her in touch with someone who could actually help her.
As a teacher myself, I think my first step would be to talk to the school counselor and see if they can help and to also see what the school policy is on things like this, because they may have a policy of speaking with the parents. If you have a school nurse, this might be a good outlet too. In any case, you probably need to get help from someone with more knowledge on this type of matter than yourself. Good luck!
Yes, tell her parents. How can you not? She is in need of professional help! To do otherwise would be a serious risk to her health, and possibly, her life.
U may want to get her with the school councelor. She trusted u and that is good. Maybe her parents need to be looked after.. U may want to do a visit to the parent and talk to them about this. Talk to the school nurse and see what she or he suggect. don't wait to long to where she is found dead.
( be carefull being alone with ur pupil cause it can be a trick to get u fired.)