Child Safe Scouting at Home
Nothing is more important than the safety of the young people in our care.
Child safety in an online meeting is similar to regular meeting in the hall.
We follow the same protocols.
Parents are always welcome. Nothing is a secret in Scouting.
Parents will be curious to sit in on early online meetings. This is good!
One-on-one communications between Leaders and youth members are not OK.
Use a shared Section Leaders’ email to send out activity sheets and reminders to your Section, and for them to send in any inquiries or examples of their badge work or activity challenges,
Communications – like emails about the next online meeting, or phone calls to parents – should be in normal Scout hours, not late at night or too early.
Our Code of Conduct and guidelines on unacceptable behaviour govern how we act as Leaders, whether in the hall, on camp, or running an online meeting.
You might remind your youth members:
To keep language and behaviour nice – it may not be apparent who is watching, like parents or younger siblings. The Scout Law and Promise still work in a virtual world.
To share their emails, photos and videos of their work with their parents before sending them to the Leaders.
Normal rules apply to behaviour between Scouts. No-one should make another youth member feel unsafe or excluded.
A youth member who feels unsafe, or unsure of what to do, should talk with a trusted adult as soon as possible.
Idea
Get a temporary email address to support online meetings.
For example, 1stwindyvalleycubs@gmail. com
All Section Leaders need the login and password to add this account to their emails.
When a Cub writes to a Leader, s/he is writing to the whole team.
When a Leader replies, they Reply All, so all Leaders see the response.
[Most Cubs will write from their parents’ account, but this is still good practice.]
Supporting our youth
Staying home may limit our youth members from the usual support they get from teachers, sport coaches, etc.
It is possible that a young person may ask you for help over a concern.
Just like regular Scouting at the hall, please for assistance by reporting this to our Child Safety Team who are available 24/7 on 1800 870 772 or childsafe@scoutsvictoria.com.au
Source: Scouting at Home - Manual
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