Child Protection Centre Harburg
The therapists at the Harburg Child Protection Centre work with children and young people who stand out from the norm. “Difficult† children, they are often brought here accompanied by the simple demand: fix things somehow so that my child stops making problems, stops wetting the bed, is obedient, stops behaving aggressively. In most cases, violent tendencies are symptoms of social and familial problems, and their origins can often be traced back to interpersonal dynamics. Parents need to be asked: what kind of examples of social behaviour are you setting for your children? Do you offer them praise and recognition? Do you take the time to talk things over with them? At this point, it often becomes clear the degree to which youthful offenders are actually themselves victims. Besides violent youth, the team also works with children who have been severely traumatized, and whose suffering can be traced back to their own families. Girls who have been sexually abused by brothers or fathers, children who have suffered physical abuse or humiliation or been subjected to psychological pressures. Assistance is also offered to individuals whose homes offer little in the way of parental supervision, and who spend time at the centre at after school play groups. Receiving help here is an 11 year old student, a girl who has failed to make attachments. Deprived of friendships, has never really learned how to play. Faced with difficult situations, however, it is often the helpers themselves who need assistance. A staffer at the youth welfare office or an elementary school liaison teacher, for example, may find him or herself confronted for the first time with the sexual abuse of a six-year-old student, and simply not know how to help the victim. In production to mark the 10-year jubilee of this committed facility is a film which documents the vitally important work being performed here. Indispensable for affected individuals, for members of the helping professions, and for those in search of counselling, and essential for the job of helping families — which are, after all, the basic building blocks of community — to correct course. 10 years: reason enough for celebration.
Screenplay/Direction
Nicola Graef
Produced:
2007,
Kinderschutzzentrum Harburg
min.
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