The Narrow Path Ministries

Hi TK,

As you know I drive kids to and from school in my Toyota Hiace bus. Lots of opportunity for close contact if I were susceptible to that temptation. All of them are handicapped in some way, and some unable to defend themselves.

The one category in your list is unavoidable in my case, number 2. I cannot help but be alone with 1,2 or 3 children sometimes, though usually it`s 7 or 8. No official vetting was done by the taxi company when I was first employed except that my immediate boss already knew my wife very well (they grew up together) and he must have made a judgement call that Adriana would be cautious in the type of man she married. But it was, and always is, still a risk.

There are rules in our case too. Sometimes they`re irritating, but it`s the behaviour of the few who spoil it for the well-behaved majority. It`s impossible not to touch a child when you have to buckle it up and/or help it in or out of the bus.I think that is understood.
There are greyer areas however. Example: when I arrive back at young Eric`s house he immediately jumps into the driver`s seat and toots the horn for as long as he can before I stop him. I feign to beat him up for doing it, but make sure I do it in front of his mother who looks on amused. A strict obedience to the rules would involve stopping him from doing it at all. But I`ve got some sense of fun too. So it`s a difficult one.

Hi Ian-

Obviously people who work with kids, if they are any good at all, are going to like kids and have fun with them.

This sounds like what you are doing. Like you said, I am not sure how in your situation you could get around being alone with the kids at some point.

The general idea, however, is to have rules in place so that if an employee is caught breaking a rule, it raises a red flag. This does not equate to accusing them of child abuse. But generally an abuser needs seclusion and opportunity. If those things can be removed it goes a long way to preventing it from happening.