Ask Dr. Helen: Should Men Be Kicked Out of the Church Nursery?
Hey, just wanted to say that I’ve been crusading for awareness of abuse against men for years. I run the base Chapel at Naval Station Newport, and I just instituted a program of police background checks for our Children’s Church and Youth teachers… often, they’re completely alone with the children. True, that won’t catch someone who’s never been caught, but it will provide some protection. Also, whomever’s on duty will, once or twice, go into the classroom. The reason I’m commenting is because I ran into the same wall… “They’re female teachers! They’re safe!”… that you were describing, and only after I was able to point out a Navy regulation covering the background checks for all personnel working with children, was I able to go ahead. Do I suspect the teachers? Of course not. I didn’t suspect the woman who molested my friend in High School, either.
