We don’t know who.
But, we do know that it can happen.
In September, I wrote about a report that caused a chill for those of us who work to prevent abuse of children in churches and schools.
It was the story of the arrest of a 53-year-old employee of a discount store in Tennessee who was a trusted volunteer youth pastor at a Baptist church.
It turned out that he had fled another state where he had been on probation after his conviction for molesting children. The church that had let him become a volunteer had no idea who he really was.
This is why we set up systems and follow them, systems not only for screening of new volunteers and employees, but for supervision and education of existing personnel and the education of our children and youth so that they can play a part in their own safety.
Screening includes careful review of the background of any person entrusted to work with minors or entrusted with the care of vulnerable adults.
Supervision and education of employees and volunteers includes regular review of the Code of Contact, our diocesan Guidelines for the Prevention of and Response to Sexual Misconduct and the ministry-specific guidelines in each parish and school that we have come to call Standing Operating Procedures (SOPs).
As critical as all that is, the education of our children and youth in personal safety is equally important.
This education is another level of protection from a past sex offender who somehow gets through all the other safeguards.
When the education of children in personal safety was first introduced in our Diocese, the concern from some parents was obvious.
I listened to their worries that children would be traumatized or be led to file false reports. There also were misunderstandings about the nature of personal safety education that confused personal safety education with “sex education.”
Because these same concerns were being raised in other dioceses as well, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops commissioned a study that examined the scientific and religious evidence about personal safety education.
The study found that education in personal safety does not traumatize children or lead them to file false reports.
Personal safety education does, the study showed, develop in children and youth greater trust in the great majority of adults who act in appropriate ways and are clearly there on behalf of the children’s welfare. That trust leads them to speak with adults about what troubles them rather than to keep secrets.
While that study is solid evidence of the value of personal safety education, it does not speak to us as eloquently as our personal experience.
Not long ago, I had a conversation with a mother that made the study come alive.
She told me that her daughter, since she was very young, had lived with a fear of being abducted and harmed by a stranger. How this fear came to be, the mother didn’t know.
She told me that in the last year her daughter’s fear had lessened greatly because she had received personal safety education in her parish and at home.
In fact, when the mother shared with her daughter what she learned in our new educational video, that a convicted sex offender said he backed away from children who had received personal safety education, the daughter’s reaction was: “I am so excited!” – excited because she realized that she does know what is inappropriate behavior by an adult and what she is to do if she feels uncomfortable or unsafe.
She felt confident that she would not be a victim because she understands that she can speak up, say “No!” and tell someone.
Her mother was so happy to see this confidence in her child, and I was very happy to hear of it.
I would like to hear from you about your experience with personal safety education of children. You are welcome to contact me at 520-838-2513 or pauld@diocesetucson.org.
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