APRIL IS YOUTH PROTECTION MONTH
The children of today are often faced with choices that affect their development and safety. As Scouting leaders, we can do our best to provide education and guidance to prepare our Scouts to make the best decisions. One way we do this is to talk with our Scouts. Some subjects are easy to discuss with them - sports, their grades in school, their friends, and many other aspects of their daily lives. Other things are more difficult for us to discuss, such as child abuse and especially child sexual abuse.
More than three million reports of child abuse are made each year, including a half million reports of child sexual abuse. As a major youth-serving organization, the Boy Scouts of America has a unique opportunity to help protect the youth of our nation.
April is Youth Protection Month. In an effort to protect our Scouts, each unit is encourage, and more importantly morally required to participate in one or more of the following ways:
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Ensure that all adult leaders in your unit have taken Youth Protection training within the past two years. It is available online through this council's website. Additional sessions may be held during Summer Camp or within your District.
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Discuss with youth in a unit meeting the exercises found in How to Protect Your Children from Child Abuse, the pull-out pamphlet in front of each youth and adult handbook.
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Present the age-appropriate, award-wining video-based training with the meeting guide to you youth and their parents. Parents' letters for all program levels are available in the resources section below this article.
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Youth Protection Training for Adult Volunteers and Parents.
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It Happened to Me - Cub Scout (Revised in 2005)
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A Time to Tell - Boy Scout (New in 2007)
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Youth Protection: Personal Safety Awareness - Venturing/Learning for Life
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The Boy Scout and Venturing videos come in segments which allow them to be presented in one meeting or in a series of meetings at the unit leader's discretion.
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In Cub Scout packs, distribute and discuss the new "Power Pack Pals" comic books, which focus on bullying and Internet safety.
Prepare your Scouts and their families; it may be the most important contribution you make in the lives of your Scouts.
Youth Protection Resources
Copies of these videos may be purchased at any one of the Council Service Centers. Please order now so that you can present this material in April.
Each of the Meeting Guides contains a sample letter which can be mailed to parents advising them that the training will be conducted.