The International School of Myanmar (ISM) acknowledges its responsibility to safeguard and protect all the students under its care from all forms of abuse, harm and maltreatment. Safeguarding is the action taken to promote the welfare of children and protect them from harm. This entails:

• Protecting children from maltreatment;

• Preventing harm to children’s mental and physical health or development;

• Ensuring children grow up in a safe environment;

• Taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes

Child protection refers to preventing and responding to violence, exploitation and abuse against children, and forms part of safeguarding and promoting welfare.

ISM has a Child Protection Policy which establishes boundaries, guidelines, and best practices for acceptable behavior at the school in order to prevent abuse and protect the wellbeing of all the students. The guidelines established in the ISM Child Protection Policy apply to all members of the school community and those affiliated with the school, including:

• Leadership team and administration;

• Board of Directors;

• All staff employed by ISM, including but not limited to foreign faculty, local teachers, administrative staff, security staff, drivers, maintenance staff, and cleaning staff;

• Any outside company employed to work at ISM, including but not limited to outside contractors, cafeteria food groups, and special event presenters;

• Any outside group volunteering at ISM;

• The Parent Teacher Association;

• Parents; guardians, family members; drivers, and helpers of students attending ISM.

• Any visitors that will have any contact with the students or spend time on the school grounds.

All staff are expected to know the signs of child abuse. The four types of abuse are physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect. We at ISM endeavor to protect all the children under our care from all these forms of abuse.

Physical Abuse

Physical abuse is an intentional act that causes injury to the person’s body or physical trauma to the person. This may include hitting, shaking, throwing, burning or scalding, poisoning, drowning, suffocating, or otherwise causing physical harm to the child. Physical harm may also be caused when an adult fabricates the symptoms or deliberately induces illness to the child.

Emotional Abuse

Emotional abuse is the persistent emotional maltreatment of a person. This type of abuse is more emotional and verbal than physical in nature. The person may express feelings toward the victim that they are worthless, unloved, inadequate or only valued if the person’s needs are met. It may include not giving the victim the opportunity to express their point of view, forcing them to be silent or made fun of, so that they are scared to speak out. It may also involve bullying in person or cyberbullying, causing the victim to feel scared or in danger.

Sexual Abuse

Sexual abuse is the forcing of a sexual act from one person to the other. The term also covers any behavior by an adult or adolescent towards a child to stimulate any of the involved sexually. The activities may involve physical contact, including assault by penetration or non-penetration acts such as masturbation, kissing, rubbing, and touching. It may also involve non-contact activities, such as involving children in looking at images. The sexual abuser can be male or female.

Neglect

Neglect is the frequent failure to meet a child’s physical, medical, educational, or psychological needs. This would likely result in the child’s health and health decreasing. Neglect can start as early in pregnancy.If the child is not provided with adequate food, clothing, shelter, and protection from physical or emotional harm, this neglect.

All ISM community members are expected to uphold the following child protection best practices to ensure every student feels safe and respected:

• If you find yourself alone with a student, make sure both you and the student are always visible to others. This could be through your door’s window or with the door entirely opened, or maybe you move to a more public area.

• Call students by their names rather than any nicknames or pet names, even if the student says they are okay with it. This shows respect, and no matter how professional a nickname might feel it is not appropriate for the workplace. Examples of nicknames or pet names that are commonly used: sweetie, honey, champ, pal, etc.

• Keep your conversations and language with students professional. For example, telling a student you love them can be just as harmful as telling a student you hate them. Teachers should not be conversing with students as if they’re friends, and conversation topics should follow suit.

• Be mindful of physical contact. Generally it should be initiated by the student and should never exceed three seconds, sticking to the shoulders, upper back, and arms. If you need to initiate contact with a student, permission should always be asked. For example, if a student is injured and you need to assist them as they walk to the nurse, ask first. “Is it okay if I support your leg as we’re walking?” In some kind of emergency, it is acceptable to touch the student in order to administer first-aid with the intention of helping the student’s health and safety in the presence of other adults and students

All ISM staff undergo child protection training to enable them to recognize the possible signs of maltreatment and to be able to follow the protocol to safeguard all students. Every staff member is required to complete a yearly online training in addition to reading the Child Protection Policy. After both of these have been completed, the staff member may sign the Staff Commitment to Uphold the Child Protection Policy form.

ISM ensures that all new employees provide evidence of safe practice by providing background checks from every country they have worked in. Also, they should provide contact information of sufficient and relevant references with permission for the school to contact them.

All applicants at all levels will:

• Provide evidence of identity and qualifications

• Provide references from previous jobs

• Be interviewed, either in person or via video call.

• Provide police background/ criminal history checks