Originally posted October 23, 2011, at Skating in the Garden in High Heels Under My Alb. Republished with permission of the author.
For the past few years I would get the same email from the synod. Apparently some years ago a resolution passed at the Synod Assembly that all rostered folk had to attend a “Safeguarding God’s Children” training on how to protect youth against sexual abuse in the church.
It was always on a Sunday afternoon and it was always an hour or so away. I never want to do anything on a Sunday afternoon, so I pretty much ignored the emails.
The last message said they would not recommend my name to a congregation until I took the training. So today, after three services, I got in the car and drove an hour to fulfill my obligation, rolling my eyes and complaining about it to my visiting sister right up to the end.
It was excellent. I should have done this years ago. I should have brought the education committee from all the congregations with me.
Congregations targeted
What was really telling was the information that pedophile networks (you know there are such things, where they advise each other how to find and groom victims) are advising one another to go to church. Not to find Jesus. To find little boys and girls.
Because for years now the other youth organizations, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Boys and Girls Clubs, etc., have been on top of this and have pretty much made themselves inaccessible to predators. As usual, the church is woefully behind on this issue, sticking our head in the sand, claiming we don’t have to worry about such terrible things taking place in our congregation.
I think of some of things we used to do. I once took a group of kids in my van, with only me, to a confirmation retreat in a hotel. They were farm kids who didn’t get out much and a hotel with a pool was a big deal. We had a Bible study by the pool.
And all the youth gatherings with six girls and two beds and me in a hotel room. I remember how I used to take the chest measurements myself of all the confirmands for the robes because it was easier than waiting for the parents to get them to me. No more of that.
“Oh what a shame we can’t do that anymore because we have to worry about THAT” is the standard response. No — what a shame we did not worry about THAT in the past. What a shame we exposed young people to abuse in the past.
I don’t have a problem with never ever letting children or youth be alone with an adult (even me) again. Actually I’m kind of relieved to be able to say “Sorry but if I don’t get some adults to go with me, we just are not going to be able to go on this trip.”
It isn’t that the problem is worse now. It’s that we are aware of the problem and are doing what we can to prevent it. That is not a shame. That’s a good thing.
And good for my synod, the Northeastern Iowa Synod, the coolest synod in the ELCA for nagging us rostered types to give up a Sunday afternoon for this.
If your synod is nagging you to go to one, stop procrastinating and get yourself to one. And if they are not, nag them to make that training available.
Of course now comes the part that is even more difficult than giving up my Sunday afternoon nap — convincing the congregation that we need to put these safeguards in place.
Find a link to Joelle Colville-Hanson’s entry on the blog Skating in the Garden in High Heels Under My Alb at Lutheran Blogs.
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I was just reading a HuffPost article about someone who was jailed for molesting Scouts. Sounds like BSA was more interested in protecting its reputation in that case instead of stopping the guy. Whenever adults have access to other peoples' kids, the kids are potentially at risk.
I'd link to the article, but that seems to be discouraged here.
Good for your synod for making sure their leaders are aware of this excellent resource! Two suggestion for how to begin implementing policy changes: make all new volunteers "apply" and check references, even if you know them. Word gets around (and sometimes you find out about additional skills they may have!) Then, show the video for parents to people who have a child about to start Kindergarten. They will do the rest for you - because they are already about to surrender their child to a system they can't control, they are looking for ways to protect their children. The videos are powerful, yet inspire you to believe that you can protect children. Thanks for highlighting this wonderful resource.
I'm not opposed to what Pr. Joelle mentioned and I'm all for more members of the congregation receiving training, and more adults being present on trips and such, but to respond to the comment above, I completely disagree with "applying" to volunteer. Sure, if it's a stranger or some one without kids it may be fair to check them out. But as a parent I'm getting tired of being background checked (9 times to date!) and applying to volunteer with my child's class, especially since I have no intention of being alone with the kids anyway. When I worked as a youth director, of course, background check me. But doing this will all volunteers only discourages volunteering. And adults are so "busy" nowadays, it can be hard to get enough volunteers. I have heard the grumblings from parents. Personally, I feel like this criminalizes all of us and then we have to prove we are clean. I want to protect my child, but I also am against overreach and waste of money (all those background checks have to be paid for you know). I want to encourage parent involvement, especially when some one backs out last minute, now the list is even shorter because you can't call anyone who wasn't background checked. What I'm saying is that the intention is spot on, but the way it's been rolled out is impractical and boarders on ridiculous.
I makes more sense to me to check out the authority figures in the church (and schools), and then train the children too! Teach them what is appropriate and not appropriate and then what to do when they feel like something is wrong. It's hard for a child to tell on an adult, so if we talked to them about when it's appropriate to do so and make those people they should report to accessible, that would be effective as well, I believe.