As you already know as a rural educator, there are many advantages to teaching in a rural school. Small class sizes allow teacher to really get to know students. Teachers who have been in education for a number of years may be extremely familiar with the families, sometimes teaching two generations of children. Students often have the advantage of extended family members attending the same school. Yet it may be helpful to remind ourselves of some of the unique challenges:

• Many small rural communities have large extended families, thus making it difficult for a battered woman to seek assistance. This is especially true when family members are in law enforcement or part of the criminal justice system.
  
  
• Confidentiality in small rural communities becomes a challenge and often times an obstacle. For children who witness domestic violence, they often don’t feel they can tell anyone since they believe the extended family must know and believe it is "okay."
  
  
• Lack of privacy and anonymity may exist for children who are identified as abused or as witness of domestic violence. This may stop a child from confiding in other adults.

A Child's Own Safety Plan
Go here for a page where children can enter important personal information that they can print out and refer to in a crisis.