Dear Prudence: Isolated Incident?

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Dear Prudence Isolated Incident? Dear Prudence advises a teacher reluctant to report abuse for fear of fracturing a family—during a live chat at Washingtonpost.com. By Emily Yoffe Posted Monday, Dec 19, 2011, at 08:05 PM ET Emily Yoffe, aka Dear Prudence, is on Washingtonpost.com weekly to chat live with readers. An edited transcript of this week's chat is below. (Sign up here to get Dear Prudence delivered to your inbox each week. Read Prudie's Slate columns here. Send questions to Prudence at prudence@slate.com.) Emily Yoffe: Good afternoon, everyone—'tis the Monday before Christmas, so I hope all of you are ready. Q. A Teacher's Problem: I work as a high-school teacher, and I love my job. A couple of weeks ago a student, "James," came to school with bruises on his face. I didn't want to jump to conclusions, so I had a quiet word with him after school. He is one of the students in my class I've established a good rapport with and from time to time he comes for advice about his schoolwork and personal life. He told me his dad has been incredibly stressed with various work and family issues. One night James had a huge argument with his sister, and Dad lost it and hit him. From past discussions I was left with the impression that he has loving parents, and there is no indication of ongoing abuse. Based on several lengthy talks I've concluded that this was a one-off event by a dad under heavy pressure who now feels overwhelming guilt about what he did. Based on school policy, however, I'm meant to report this as child abuse. I can ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate The Single Photo That Explains the Complete Failure of North Korea Ryan's New Medicare Scheme Is Less Radical Than His Last One, and Might Pass if Obama Loses Tom Brady Shows Tim Tebow What a Real Quarterback Looks Like	Advertisement
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