Safeguarding Specialist Alison Neumann shares about the three basic principles of safeguarding - visibility, accountability, and power balance - and how those translate into the online setting.

• Click here for the article by Alison Neumann
• Episode 22: Third Culture KIds
• “Safeguarding is a term to denote measures to protect the health, wellbeing, and human rights of individuals, especially children and vulnerable adults, to live free from abuse. It’s about people and organizations working together to prevent and reduce the risks, occurrences, and impact of harm.”
• “The three principles that we recommend in terms of interacting with children or vulnerable adults are VAP: Visibility, accountability, and power balance.”
• “Ask yourself: Is it possible for others to see me? Do others know where I am and what I’m  doing? Am I building a culture of transparency and accountability? Do children feel safe in my presence? Does my demeanor or posture put them at ease?”
• “Just because [a safeguarding incident] happen[s] online and not in person doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t address those things.”
• “If you hear someone saying, ‘That looked a little weird,’ or ‘Are you sure that was okay?’ or something like that, [be] open to those kinds of conversations and not immediately being defensive, even if it was unintentional.”
• “There’s a lot of wisdom in communicating with others and getting advice from others and learning from people who have been working with children for a longer time than you have.”
• “We want to be promoting wisdom and not fear.”
• “Listen well. I know that seems really simple, but especially if it is a weighty concern, that can be really hard to do.”
• “Reacting poorly to a raised concern can actually cause more trauma to the child than the harm itself because they will feel belittled and not listened to.”
• “It’s important to be able to take care of yourself [...] Bringing that to God and lamenting over it, but then letting Him carry that burden, is hugely important, otherwise you’ll be weighed down by it consistently.”
• Reach the TeachBeyond Safeguarding Team at [email protected]
• Episode 44: Culture and the Gospel

Join us on Thursday, November 18, for TeachBeyond’s Day of Giving!

What’s changing our lives:

• Keane: Long road trips
• Heather: BibleProject Podcast, specially the episode called “The Gospel Is More Than You Think”
• Alison: Cayenne in mac and cheese, moving into her first home, and resting in God’s provision

Weekly Spotlight: Kigali International Community School

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