Every special-needs child is a parent’s precious darling. However, whose responsibility is it when these children don’t receive the protection they deserve?
On Sept. 22, a national special-needs school in southern Taiwan reported a shocking number of sexual harassment and sexual assault cases. The incident exemplifies an underlying anxiety about sex education for special-needs students in Taiwan, especially concerning the Ministry of Education’s administrative capabilities, its system for reporting cases and its serious lack of responsibility.
A total of 128 cases of alleged sexual assault and harassment were reported at the school within just seven years, and even though the ministry says that there were actually only 71 cases, that number is still enough to leave one speechless, no matter how one looks at it.
The situation can no longer be explained by merely blaming the school principal or those high up in the administration. It calls into question the ministry’s role in all of this for the past seven years. After so many cases of abuse were filed, why were they still unable to put a stop to these atrocities?
We can look at this problem from two perspectives.
First, let us look at the 24 special-needs schools operating across the country. With about 1,800 teachers for more than 6,700 special-needs students in Taiwan, the teacher-to-student ratio is approximately one to four. From an educational and counseling perspective, there are more than enough teachers for the number of students. However, if that’s true, how could so many sexual abuse cases still occur? What went wrong?
What sort of conspiracy or conflicts of interest are allowing for an entire school to conceal these reports of abuse instead of reporting them? Bus chaperones who turned a blind eye, indifferent teachers and overly tolerant principals — it is unfathomable. Could it really be that the entire special education system is flawed? Or is it just this school?
Second, as sex education has rapidly developed in Taiwan for regular students over the past decade, were special-needs students left behind? How to help and counsel children suffering abuse is still something that has not been taken seriously, which has left such problems unresolved.
Education, interaction, counseling and exploration must be used to nurture proper attitudes toward sex-related issues, combining diverse educational approaches that allow each individual to develop in stable and healthy ways, both physically and mentally. As schools teach sex education, they must work with students at different stages in their development, providing appropriate education and counseling, which minimizes anxieties and feelings of inferiority that students experience as they develop.
Furthermore, students must learn proper values and how to better understand themselves so they develop positive attitudes when learning about their own development and gender differences, particularly to avoid the pain that occurs simply because of different viewpoints and concepts of sexuality and gender.
Special-needs students live in a simple and innocent world. Thus, it is imperative that they are educated about sex at an appropriate time and warned about what sort of behaviors are dangerous or wrong, and what behaviors are right and worthy of encouragement. They need to be educated about what correct values are in a way that will stick with them for the rest of their lives.
Students need to be taught sex education earlier because once they have a proper attitude toward sex, it will help affirm their own identity, -mitigating feelings of inferiority and psychological pressure. Special-needs students should learn to love themselves and understand how to protect themselves while respecting others at the same time. Moreover, such an education must be extended to the students’ homes and families.
If we want to find those responsible for these crimes, then it is necessary to point the finger at the ministry and the school’s administration.
It is almost impossible that the school was completely unaware of the situation. They had to know what was happening, so why did they purposefully cover it up? Was the entire school in the grips of an evil force? If so, government agencies need to investigate and fix the problem.
Since the ministry allowed these crimes to continue at the school for such a long time, simply apologizing for their negligence in front of TV cameras does not suffice. The victims and their families will not get the respect they deserve until someone pays for these crimes and responsibility is taken.
Liu Ming-te is an assistant professor in the Institute of Public Affairs Management at National Sun Yat-sen University.
Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat
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