Norms of behavior for children’s christian camps

All events organised for children or meant to engage them must be accompanied by qualified adults who can show empathy and provide a safe environment for the child. To guide you in how to do this, we developed the “Norms of Behaviour at Christian Camps” document for organisers, volunteers, and animators.

The norms cover the following topics:

Why is child safety important?
What are security policies for?
How can rules shape values?
How to recognise an abused child
How to act when a child shares their traumatic experience with you
Response algorithm at the camp
Peron(s) responsible for security at the camp
Preventive rules at camps
Guiding principles on matters of compliance with discipline
Guidelines for personnel
Authority of spiritual persons
Regulations
13 beliefs for the safety of children

We recommend sharing these Norms with all members of the mentors/teachers team and camp participants as part of preparations for the camp. The Child Dignity Center also offers training sessions on this topic (see details on the Opportunities page).

All participants of the camp program should feel safe.

Download

Related resources

Children’s Safety at School. Posters for the Classroom

The Child Dignity Center at UCU created posters for children that remind them how to protect their boundaries, whom to turn to at school in case of danger, and what to do if a child feels unwell or unsafe.

Algorithm for responding to violence in the church environment

The scheme provides guidance on how to respond if the abuser is an employee/volunteer in the church, as well as a person from other fields

“The reasons why victims of sexual violence don’t talk about what happened to them” (WEBINAR)

About the barriers that survivors of abuse - adults and children - face in telling someone about the fact of violence