Transcript Introductory Presentation Orientation Program February 2017

Teaching Touching Safety
A Safety Education Program for
Students in the Catholic Schools
of the Diocese of Paterson
Today’s Agenda
• Background and lead-up to this program
• Approaching the topic
• Responsibilities of the Trainer/Coordinator
• Program Overview
• Review of lessons and materials
• Program specifics and requirements
• Questions/discussion
The Program Mandate
Dioceses are to maintain “safe environment”
programs which the diocesan bishop deems to be
in accord with Catholic moral principles. They are
to be conducted cooperatively with parents, civil
authorities, educators, and community
organizations to provide education and training for
children, youth, parents, ministers, educators,
volunteers, and others about ways to make and
maintain a safe environment for children and
young people.
- Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. 2005 revision, Article 12
Origins of this Program
• Response and commitment by the Bishops
as expressed in the Charter for the
Protection of Children and Young People
• Diocesan selection of the Virtus program
• Implementation of education program:
– Clergy and Employees
– Volunteers
– Parents and all concerned adults
Program Status
• More than 600 training workshops have
been conducted for adults in our diocese.
• Training workshops are implemented by a
group of trained volunteer facilitators
• More than 19,000 adults in our diocese
have attended training sessions.
The Missing Piece
• Child education:
to provide education and training for
children, youth, parents, ministers,
educators, volunteers, and others
• Our goal is to empower our students so
that they can recognize inappropriate
behavior by others, and practice
appropriate relationship boundaries in their
own lives.
Why Virtus?
• Child protection education programs are
not new.
• There is a need for program consistency.
• Allowance needs to be made for individual
school preferences.
Criteria for Selection
The program selected must:
• Approach the topic from a Catholic viewpoint
• Recognize budget limitations and be cost
effective
• Respect the demands made upon the
curriculum of the school and instructional time
• Be able to be presented by a classroom
teacher in the normal classroom setting
Approaching the Topic
Ms. Peggy Zanello
NJ Certified Domestic Violence Therapist
Diocesan Victim Assistance Coordinator
Consultant to the Diocesan Review Board
The Trainer/Coordinator
• Each school should have two
Trainer/Coordinators
• The Trainer/Coordinators will:
– Provide program orientation for other teachers
– Download and arrange for distribution of
program materials as needed
– Serve as a “point of contact” for teachers
– Report on program implementation status to
the Catholic Schools Office and Office of Youth
Protection
The Trainer/Coordinator
• The Trainer/Coordinator is not:
– The school’s Child Protection expert
– The only point of contact for parent questions
or concerns
– The “Response Officer” for the school
• Implementation of the Virtus Program
DOES NOT change the established
procedures for reporting suspected abuse
Program Overview
Program is offered at four levels:
• Grades K through 2
• Grades 3 through 5
• Grades 6 through 8
• Grades 9 through 12
Program Overview
• Total of 6 unique lessons
• Three year cycle
• Two lessons per year – timing is up to the
school
• The same themes are covered at each
grade level
• Each lesson is approximately 45 minutes
Year 1 Topics
Lesson 1: Touching Safety Rules
Students learn simple rules about what to do and how to
react when someone’s touch is confusing, scary, or
makes the child or young person feel uncomfortable.
Young people start to deal with the real risks they face
when they are out in the world and on their own, and they
begin to learn where to draw boundary lines in
relationships.
Lesson 2: Safe Friends, Safe Adults, and Safe Touches
Children, young people, and their parents establish basic
guidelines for working together to make certain which
friends and other adults in their environment can be
trusted to act safely and in the best interest of each child
or young person.
Year 2 Topics
Lesson 3: Boundaries
Students learn about personal boundaries and how
identifying and honoring those boundaries can give a
child or young person the self-assurance needed to
speak up when someone tries to step over the line.
Lesson 4: Telling Someone You Trust
Children and young people learn who to tell when
something makes them feel uncomfortable or
confused. This lesson also begins to explore the
phenomenon and power of “secrets” in a child’s life
at various ages.
Year 3 Topics
Lesson 5: Grooming
Students learn about the types of behavior that may
indicate that an adult is grooming the child or young
person for something more than friendship. It also
helps students learn to trust their own instincts about
what is “okay” and what is “not okay.”
Lesson 6: “No secrets”
Reinforcing and building on the lessons from Year 2,
this lesson deals with peer groups and other influences
(including grooming by an abuser) that prevent children
and young people from reporting inappropriate
behavior. It also helps children and young people
develop their own decision-making process to use in
these situations.
Introductory Videos
• The introductory video is 6 to 8 minutes
long
• Three separate videos are on the DVD:
– Grade K – 5
– Grade 6 – 8
– Grade 9 – 12
• Videos are designed to be “conversation
starters”
Review the Year 1 Lessons
• Your packet contains both lessons for Year
1 at all grade levels
• Please spend some time reviewing and
discussing the lessons
• Please group yourselves by level
Time for activity: 15 minutes
Program Procedures
•
•
•
•
•
Download and distribute lesson plans
Present an information session for parents
Offer parents the chance to “opt-out”
Log and report details of the training
Consider offering the Protecting God’s
Children for Parents and Guardians
program in your school
Download Materials
All lesson plans and supporting materials are
available at:
http://www.virtusonline.org
Important Note
All Trainer/Coordinators must be registered at the
Virtus Online website. You will need your user
name and password in order to continue.
• If you are not registered, please see me for
directions at the end of the workshop.
• If you are registered, but have forgotten
your user name and/or password, please
contact Kathy Walsh.
Download Materials
Enter your User ID and
Password, and click Login
Click on the Educators tab
On this page, you can
download a copy of the
Overview.
Further down the page, you
can download a copy of
the Teaching Touching
Safety guide for parents.
Also on this page, you can
download the “opt-out”
form for parents. (More
about this later.)
To get to the Lesson Plans,
click on the Continue
button at the bottom of this
page.
Select a grade level from
the drop-down list, then
click Continue.
Select the Lesson Plan
from the drop-down list,
then click Continue.
On the Lesson Plan page,
click the green arrow
towards the bottom of the
page to download the
lesson plan.
The Lesson Plan will download
to your computer. You can
print the lesson plan or save a
copy of it to your computer.
The “Opt - Out” Process
• Before the program is presented to students,
send home a copy of the “Opt-out” form, along
with a copy of the Program Overview guide for
parents.
• Do NOT distribute the actual lesson plans to
parents.
• You may want to schedule a Parent Information
Meeting to offer parents a chance to see the
program and ask questions.
• In accord with Diocesan policy, parents/
guardians have the right to remove their children
from participation in programs to which they have
serious objection.
The “Opt - Out” Process
• If a student is “opted-out”, this parental decision
remains in effect for the current school year.
• Parents must be offered the opportunity to “optout” before the program is conducted each year.
• Students who are “opted-out” are NOT to be
penalized in any way.
• The school retains a copy of the signed form,
and another copy is sent to the diocesan Office
of Youth Protection.
Reporting on the Program
• Opt-out forms are to be sent to the Office of
Youth Protection, and a copy kept on file at the
school.
• After each lesson is completed, the
Trainer/Coordinator is to complete the Training
Record, either on-line or on paper.
• The Trainer/Coordinator should report any
concerns or issues encountered to the school
Principal, the Catholic Schools Office, and the
Office of Youth Protection.
Training Record Form
Training Record Form
Online Training Record
• The Training Record can also be
completed online at the Virtus website.
• To complete the information online, go to:
http://www.virtusonline.org
• Log in, and then click on the Educator’s tab
On the Educators page,
click on Record Training in
the menu on the left side of
the page.
Click on
Add a new training record
Fill in ALL the
information requested
on the form.
Click the Record training
button when you are
done.
Review the information
on the confirmation
screen carefully.
If all the information is
correct, click the Record
Training button.
To make corrections,
click the Go back button.
You will see the
information you entered
listed on the screen.
Training Record
Please don’t put off recording the training.
Record it as soon as you can
after the lesson is presented.
It is important that our database
is kept up to date.
Parent Education
• Reinforces and expands
on information in
Teaching Touching
Safety
• Program length: 2 to 2½
hours
• Program is led by trained
facilitators
Thank You!
Our students will be safer
because of your efforts
in helping to implement
this program.