Safety Alert - Phones Are Pretty Much Everywhere

One thing we have to keep in mind in our Children's Ministry; even at the top of our list of things we must do, is the safety of the children in our ministry. This means we are resolute about running safety checks, background checks and following up with references for each and every person working/serving in the Children's Ministry as well as for each and every person who volunteers to serve.

It also means we keep an appropriate child/adult ratio in our classes, we do not let married couples serve together without another unrelated adult present and we have child safety polices we train all our volunteers on each year.

However; there is another very important thing we must do to keep the children safe . . . something you may not have considered. Pretty much every adult and teen - and even some children - in your church have phones. This means pretty much every adult, teen - and even some children - in your church have cameras which they carry with them everywhere they go.

Why does this matter? Because it means they have these phones - and cameras - when they are in the restrooms and other places where the children in your ministry may be as well. How does this impact your Children's Ministry and being certain it is a safe place for children? Consider the following . . . 

• If your church has bathrooms in your children's area which are for the children - keep a volunteer posted outside them at all times when children are in the building to be sure no adults go in. Period. This does mean they will have unhappy parents to deal with, but if no adults are in there, ever, then the children are safe in the bathroom. 
• Be sure to have your Senior Pastor and/or head Deacon/Elder address this issue with the adults to let them know you have a policy which says no adults - parents included - are allowed in the bathrooms for the children during any times which children are participating in the Children's Ministry.
• Be sure to have an alternative bathroom for those parents who insist on accompanying their children.
• If your church does not have a bathroom which is exclusively for children to use, be sure to send a volunteer with a child when they use the bathrooms, so they are able to check the bathrooms for any adults before the child uses them and then stand outside the bathroom to ask adults to wait for the child to finish. Again, you would need to have leaders in your church explain this policy.

It is one of the saddest parts of Children's Ministry that we have to even think about bathrooms, camera phones and children, but we do. If you do not have a camera phone/adult/bathroom policy, get one. It is necessary for your Children's Ministry to be a safe place for children.