Dale Long Reviews Rotary District 5340 Youth Protection Policuy

Posted by Susan Marsh on Nov 12, 2016
 
Dale Long, a member of the RB Sunrise Rotary Club, spoke at the November 8, 2016 breakfast meeting regarding District 5340’s Youth Protection Program (“the Program”).
 
The main focus of the Program is to protect the interests of everyone involved in all Rotary Youth Programs, i.e., Interact, RYLA, mentoring programs, and local club projects.  The Program helps create and maintain a safe and respectful environment for all participants involved in Rotary activities.  Fulfilling this duty safeguards the interests of Rotary Clubs and Rotarians by minimizing their risk of liability, including legal liability, should any participant in a Rotary activity become a victim of abuse.
 
Each Rotary club involved in any youth program must complete minimum requirements for Club Certification and also have a Youth Protection Officer.
 
Dale elaborated on District 5340’s guidelines, including the following:
 
  1. Preparation, training and knowledge of policies,
  2. Planning of events to prevent questionable situations,
  3. Avoiding one-on-one contact, adult to youth, other than group events,
  4. Having a two-deep leadership,
  5. Understanding and communication of activities, to Rotarians, parents, and students,
  6. Respecting privacy,
  7. Wearing appropriate attire,
  8. Having appropriate personal communication and responses,
  9. Immediately reporting of any suspected incident, and
  10. Taking the moral highroad and using common sense.
 
Dale said that the Program does not have to only relate to Rotary but to any other youth-oriented organizations.