When I agreed to be a chaperone for the 2019 Presbyterian Youth Triennium, I was not fully aware of the scope of the training that would be involved. “As required through approval by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), all adults who participate at the Triennium must complete the Protection Policy Training.”
I got an online link to participate in the training and take various quizzes. There are a handful of videos and several bullet pages to review before the six question test, which I aced, thank you very much.
It is, I imagine, developed as a function of the culture where people, including in faith communities, have failed youth and children. As the training document put it, “It is the call of the Church to be a life-giving entity of Christ’s healing and hope for community and individuals, not an entity that brings harm and hurt.”
As someone who doesn’t spend a great deal of time with young people save for my own child, it was brutally enlightening to see what regulations were necessarily put in place to protect children, youth (persons between the ages of 12–17), and vulnerable adults (persons “eighteen-years-old or older without the developmental or cognitive capacity to consent.”)
To that end “the sponsoring council or entity of the General Assembly shall ensure that the following measures be in place and actions are taken for each event or activity involving children and youth,” with exceptions only for true emergency situation. This goes on for 11 pages; these are only highlights.
RULES
- Two-adult rule: Two non-related adults must always be present in groups of children and youth.
- Ratios: The adult to child ratio for all child-related events/activities is 2:10. The adult to youth ratio for all youth-related events/activities is 2:17. There shall also be one adult of each gender when there are one or more minors of each gender in a group.
- View Windows and Open Doors: When minors and adult workers or volunteers are in a room, if
the door is closed, the door must have a view window installed. If no view window is installed in the door, the door must remain open at all times. - Adult workers/caregivers should respect the privacy of the children to whom they provide care. Responsible use of digital devices and cell phones is required in all situations.
- Age appropriate training to children and youth should be provided regarding behavior that
should be reported to caregiver or leader of the event… - All volunteers and employees at any General Assembly entity sponsored events must also abide by a code of conduct… Some of these prohibited behaviors include but are not restricted to:
a. Display of sexual affection toward a child.
b. Use of profanity or off-color jokes.
c. Discussion of sexual encounters with or around children or in any way involving children in personal problems or issues.
d. Dating or becoming “romantically” involved with children (under the age of eighteen).
e. Using or being under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs in the presence of children.
f. Possessing sexually oriented materials—including printed or online pornography—on church
property or property being utilized for a church event.
g. Having secrets with youth/children.
h. Staring at or commenting on children’s bodies.
i. Engaging in inappropriate or unapproved electronic communication with children.
j. Working one-on-one with children in a private setting.
k. Abusing youth/children in any way, including (but not limited to) the following:
• Physical abuse: hit, spank, shake, slap, unnecessarily restraint.
• Verbal abuse: degrade, threaten, or curse.
• Sexual abuse: inappropriately touch, expose oneself, or engage in sexually oriented
conversations.
• Mental abuse: shame, humiliate, act cruelly.
• Neglect: withhold food, water, shelter.
• Permit children or youth to engage in the following: hazing, bullying, derogatory name-calling, ridicule, humiliation, or sexual activity.
“The staff of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the Cumberland Presbyterian Churches desire to serve God among young people in all endeavors, but especially at the Presbyterian Youth Triennium with excellence, vigilance, and faithfulness. We appreciate all you do to make this happen.”
I should note that my congregation has a similar, though less detailed, policy in dealing with minors. I’m torn between feeling sad that such policies are necessary and being pleased that the powers that be are wise and sensitive enough to enact them.
Appreciate your sharing this Roger and for serving in this way as a chaperone.
I’ve worked in human services for 45 years, and we have similar rules of conduct regarding our conduct with/toward developmentally disabled adults including mandatory reporting procedures referred to as “Rights, Abuse, and Incident Reporting.” The definitions of physical and mental abuse, neglect, mistreatment, sexual impropriety are all part of our training as well.
I am actually glad to see this policy…….. I have been in many churches in my life (I’m 63) who first did not investigate or believe abuse reports that were real……….then they finally required background checks instituted for only as long as it up an upfront issue in newspapers and community concern……..then it went down to, ” Well, we’ll actually call the references of who we want to hire long after we hire them”(rarely happened)……….then it commonly became “We will try to get a copy of the background check of some other place they worked in the past”………but each check is supposed to be timely and a new check…….then it became, “Well if the background check is derogatory we’ll lock it up so no one sees it again and no one can talk about it ever, but we’ll still hire the person if we like them as they present themselves to church peers right now……but we’ll be okay because we (illegally) got an old report and we respected the hire-e’s privacy by telling no one what was on it…..then only one person was given the responsibility to keep track of those bad reports who was not allowed to share what was on them with any one…then if THAT person left the church/denomination no one ever got those background checks back from them before they disappeared…then it became “I’m sure they were cleared by the previous kid agencies where they worked or they would not have been hired there at all”…….now for many churches they proudly cite the above as proof of long term serious concern about the issue……the last I heard from those past church’s people it is that possibly hired or volunteer leadership can’t possibly be abusers if they went to seminary (those same schools need that returning adult tuition so badly there are no background checks before the candidate starts or graduates) …and they are almost back to their original neglect……I’d prefer what you posted over years of pretend concern…this pattern stretches across my experience with many denominations…and all the while there was never a discussion about how a person abused in a church setting has their relationship with the god of their choice blasted forever….I think God has been crying about this for a long time and still does…