Children and church safety is an important aspect to consider when setting up a security plan since children form an important part of the church community especially for its long term sustainability. Children are also a vulnerable lot exposed to many dangers due to their age, innocence and curios nature. Emphasis on child security should be addressed from the time of hiring of volunteers, to the ministries the children are involved in and their general safety when in the church ground. A child would include anyone below the age of 18 years old.
Hiring
To observe good conduct of children and church safety, hiring of any person who comes into contact with children should be done under very stringent screening process without exceptions. From the youth pastor, to the teenage Sunday school volunteer, screening should be standard. Screening would include, a thorough interview, confirmation of information given by applicants or volunteers, and background checks on criminal history on applicants. A policy on handling of children and teenagers should be developed so that appropriate behavior does not remain ambiguous. All applicants should be made aware of the policy and if possible they should go through the same before applying for positions that deal with the children and the youth.
Supervision
After hiring, the person who deals with children should undergo training on the policy of handling minors and appropriate behavior on the same. Apart from those handling of children, every member of the congregation should be aware of the policy and the procedure for reporting inappropriate behavior by care givers. At no time should an adult be allowed to be with the children alone in under any circumstance without a second adult present even when supervising only one child, a second adult should be present in the room or any enclosed area. Inappropriate behaviors like sitting a child over 6 years of age on the lap, kissing, hugging, touching chest, genital area, upper legs, buttocks, waist, stomach of the minor should be prohibited.
When going to the bathroom, the care giver should be accompanied by another adult and stand outside as the child goes into the bathroom. In case the child needs assistance, the care giver should encourage the child to do as much as (s) he can by themselves assisting then only where necessary. If the parent is within reach, then the parent should be called to assist the child.
The care givers should not administer corporal punishment of any kind to the child. There should be separate bathroom facilities for children and adults, and children of different gender should have separate bathroom facilities.
Correction for unwanted behavior should be gentle and counseling would be appropriate as opposed to yelling to the child or corporal punishment.
Reporting inappropriate behavior
Training of care givers for children and church safety should include training on how to identify inappropriate behavior of adults towards children and the procedure for reporting the same. Other adults in the church should also be educated on the same to ensure that inappropriate behavior does not go unreported.
Children and church safety should be the responsibility of all members.