By clicking the submit button, I agree to the following Good News Club guidelines:
1. You should never be one-on-one with a child except when counselling or pulling a child aside to discuss behavior. When one-on-one, do so in a public area where you can be seen by others.
2. Children should never be unsupervised while in our care.
3. Do not allow children to return to their classroom after the school’s dismissal process which is usually when students are on the buses.
4. Escort children to restrooms but do not go in. Stay visible outside the restroom in view of a security camera, if possible. If there is an emergency in the restroom such as a sick child, take another volunteer with you. If another volunteer is not available, take a child.
5. While physical contact with children can be appropriate it can also be misinterpreted. The following will help you avoid any compromise or concerns so that you are beyond reproach.
a) Children sitting on a volunteer’s lap is inappropriate.
b) In general, a man will need to limit physical contact more than a woman in the same situation, especially when working with older children.
c) Use care and discernment when hugging a child. Brief side-hugs when greeting or comforting a child are generally appropriate. Prolonged, frequent, or frontal hugs are not appropriate. In older classes, workers should not initiate hugs, particularly toward children of the opposite sex. If an older child initiates a hug, redirect them to more appropriate contact such as a side hug or gentle high-five or fist bump.
d) Only touch children on “safe” areas and for a brief time. “Safe” areas generally include hands, arms, shoulders, upper back, or gentle pats on the top of the head. Never touch a child on or near any region that is private or personal.
e) Never touch a child out of frustration or anger. Physical discipline is not an appropriate means of correcting someone else’s child.
f) Inappropriate touch can involve coercion or other forms of physical contact which exploits the child’s lack of knowledge, satisfies adult physical needs at the expense of the child, violates laws against sexual or physical contact between adult and child, and any attempt to modify child behavior with physical force.
g) Volunteers should refrain from rough-housing, wrestling, shoulder or piggy-back rides, rubbing, massaging, kissing, or any physical activity that might make a child feel unsafe or uncomfortable.