Safe Environment

By Stacy LaMorte

If you are blessed to get to volunteer at your child’s school in any capacity, did you know that you must go through Safe Environment training through the Archdiocese of New Orleans? It’s a requirement for all adult volunteers, with a renewal every three years.

This may seem to be a huge inconvenience and unnecessary to some, but I think it is an excellent reminder that no one thinks child sexual abuse would ever happen to their child.  “How could these parents not know?” “Who would allow their child be in this situation?” It is so easy to judge and think, “I would know if that were happening to my child.”

I just finished the Virtus training online to be able to volunteer at my daughter’s high school. It was such a good reminder of the damage that can be done to our children by trusted adults and the importance of fostering open discussions with children from an early age.

Age-appropriate discussions open the door to them knowing that they can come to you when something doesn’t feel right. They will not see questionable actions of adults as a “taboo” topic to discuss if you have normalized talking about those sorts of things. Talk about it while focusing on something else like taking a walk, shooting hoops or gardening. This lessons the pressure of things being uncomfortable.

Help your child to tune into his or her God-given intuition. Make it easy for them to talk to you when things don’t feel right. It could make all the difference in their physical and mental health.

Can use Virtus logo found at :

https://www.virtusonline.org/virtus/protecting_children.cfm.