Teachers must watch out for signs that their teenage pupils are in abusive relationships, experts have warned.
The NSPCC urged school staff to look out for tell-tale evidence such as bruising, changes in personality, anxiety and a decline in attention.
Fiona Becker, senior consultant at the charity, told the Association of Teachers and Lecturers annual conference: “Abuse can be physical, sexual or emotional. It is distinguished from bullying. A lot of people have experience of it but school policies don’t reflect this.”
She said a recent survey of union members found a quarter of them had been approached by a young person about abusive relationships.
As well as physical violence, abuse can include threats, humiliation, in-sults, put-downs, pressure to have sex, and unreasonable jealousy, added Ms Becker.
Victims might be told they cannot see certain people or go to certain places. Teachers said they feared their heavy workloads meant they might not have time to get to know pupils sufficiently and pick up on problems.
Ms Becker said: “It is everyone’s responsibility to look out for the signs. We like to think the form teacher has more of an understanding [of pupils’ relationships] – but if you are saying that has changed, then it has to be anyone else in the school.”
The conference also heard that young people might not tell anybody they are suffering abuse because they do not think there is anything wrong. One teacher said a pupil at her school saw her mother in a violent relationship, so thought it was normal when she began dating and it happened to her as well.
Research by the NSPCC and Bristol University in 2011 found children as young as 13 had suffered at the hands of violent partners. More than half of girls and a quarter of boys questioned in the study, which focused on disadvantaged children, had been in a violent relationship before the age of 18.
