Will Colleges call Child Protection Services or Social Services over my essay?

College Essays
1

I wrote an essay about being disciplined by my father and how that affected me and most importantly, examples of what it TAUGHT ME.

Don’t want to share too much, but here’s an exact quote from my essay:

"If he heard that you as much as spilled a glass of water on the breakfast table, he would make you sorry - physically.

Beyond the aching arms and legs, the frustration of feeling misunderstood, angry, and hated is something like being locked in a tight, hot elevator, and as much as you press the buttons and bang on the walls, you can’t get out."

By chance, I’m now learning more information about child protection services and social services and the law surrounding these issues.

I am terribly afraid an admissions officer will report my essay, and my siblings will be separated from our parents.

I don’t want this to happen. My family is totally fine now. I was emotional about my life as a little kid, but my father hasn’t hit anyone for the past six years. (Guess he got tired, lol). We are not perfect, like any family, but we are safe and our lives are not in any sort of danger.

Do college admissions understand that in many cultures it is common for people to hit their children sometimes? Regardless if it’s good or bad, most of the time it’s not worth having the children put into foster care. Especially if it happened in the past, and it’s over.

But WHAT SHOULD I DO? What is going to happen?

What should I do to stop it from happening?

I am so scared, I’m crying, oh my god!

My family will never forgive me if this happens! There are some seriously bad stories out there about social services destroying families, and I’m just like totally petrified right now.

2

Should I withdraw all my applications? (I’ll just go to the school that I already got into Early Action, to which I sent another essay).

Or should I send the schools a letter emphasizing how we are fine now?

3

Take deep breath. Calm. I’m not condescending to you. I’ve been where you are. It’s okay.

Listen: I had a student describe a gang assault in which he had participated in an essay for a class. I called the UC’s counsel, who informed me that if a student indicates a crime in their work, we have a legal obligation to report it. However, it was made clear to me that this obligation is predicated on the student’s role as a representative of the university as much as it is the university’s interest in the public good.

In your case, you are a private citizen, and presumably over 18. The situation you are describing is in the past, and you, as the ostensible “victim,” are clearly not interested in treating this as a complaint. The university has no standing, even if it were interested, in contacting the authorities. Your family is in no danger.

4

@ProfessorD

I am not over 18, yet…

5

But I also worry that I didn’t make it clear enough that my family is fine now.

Should I send them a e-mail emphasizing this? Or is this a bad idea, because it will draw too much attention?

What do you mean the school has no standing? Do you mean law enforcement can’t treat it seriously, because the admissions officer is a non-observant party?

6

I assume that if social services were contacted, they would realize that there was no problems of current concern at your house. I don’t think that a sad story of your victimization was the best idea for a college essay.

7

All I want to know is should I send the email?

…

8

@CheddarcheeseMN No this is not always the case. Many times they will exaggerate and lie and do everything they can to have your children taken away.

Many non-White families are discriminated against in this manner. :frowning:

9

@Applecracker you are letting your anxieties overrule both logic and the advice of people more familiar with the college application process. @CheddarcheeseMN is correct: you made a questionable choice in your topic. But it’s not grounds for an ad com to involve social services. We have seen worse in essays, believe me. In fact, the only thing that might raise people’s eyebrows would be if you contacted them now trying to retract portions of your statement.

Take a deep breath. Let it go. Move on.

10

@ProfessorD Were/are you an admissions officer? Do you normally receive essays detailing abuse? How does the staff normally react to them? Has Social services EVER been contacted?

I talked to a former officer, and he said he can’t recall a case where the applicant documented abuse and was still living with the parent. They had always said they got out of the home.

I don’t want to retract anything. I was just considering clarifying and making it more plain that everything is all okay.

Alright. Thanks SO much for responding, by the way. :slight_smile: love

11

Just because OP is an adult doesn’t mean social services won’t come calling, if there’s cause. Some areas have Adult Social Service to take care of things like handicapped abuse or elder abuse, and the like.

I don’t think the OP needs to worry about Social Services, but I think next time OP may want to rethink the topic so that he or she is more comfortable.

One metric is that when you say: should I say this? your answer is no. only say the things you have no questions about disclosing

12

OP is under 18. But yes, students detail issues with parents. An adcom will generally look at the whole context in your writing.

And we had some sort of thread about these revelations, some time ago. I think most of us agreed the likelihood of an adcom looking up and calling your local social services is smaller than you think. We don’t know enough about you, OP, to even know what sort of colleges you sent this to, how closely they review, or other things about you that might reassure anyone reading those lines. Or what your actions and rep are in your own hs, how your GC described you.