Code of Conduct Policy GUides for Schools and YSOs
Strengthen your school or youth organization’s policies and practices to prevent child sexual abuse with a comprehensive Code of Conduct.
Improve safety for the children you serve and reduce the civil and criminal liabilities that can result when sexual abuse incidents occur.
“Code of Conduct: A Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Policy Guide”
These 24-page Policy Guides support schools and youth-serving organizations (YSOs) in improving their child safety practices by adopting a comprehensive set of policies that staff and volunteers should be required to follow. It details appropriate adult/child interactions, as well as a listing of 30 inappropriate or boundary-violating behaviors that, if not interrupted, could be precursors to illegal and reportable sexual offenses. Among the various areas addressed include: the “Three is NOT a Crowd” safety rule; Restrooms, Locker Rooms, Changing Areas; Outings/Overnight Trips; Social Media and Electronic Communications.
The Codes define sexual abuse, sexual misconduct and sexual harassment and provide guidance to administrators about policies to address whistleblower protections, monitoring and reporting, and the dissemination of the Code to parents and the community. An Acknowledgement Statement is included for staff to sign to indicate they will abide by the Code and will notify designated supervisors when boundary violations are observed.
“Code of Conduct for Middle School and High School Students: A Policy Guide”
This 10-page Policy Guide is intended to support schools and youth organizations seeking to strengthen or adopt policies to prevent inappropriate conduct between and among youth, and, importantly, between adults and the children they are responsible for protecting. It instructs youth about the 5 pillars of consent that must be the basis for all safe interactions. Sexual harassment, sexual assault/abuse and hazing are defined, including what constitutes the illegal production, promotion, possession or sharing of online “child sexual abuse material” or CSAM. Policies around outings, overnight trips and “the rule of three” are also addressed.
Students are made aware of over twenty specific boundary-crossing physical and verbal behaviors of adults they should be aware of that can undermine their safety and lead to sexual misconduct or abuse. An Acknowledgement Form is included for students to sign indicating they have read the Code and are aware of how they and the adults that serve them should interact to keep their school or youth organization safe.
These resources are included in “Safety S.T.A.R.S”, an Enough Abuse program that supports schools and YSOs seeking to strengthen their policies and practices to prevent child sexual abuse through:
- high-quality in-person and online trainings;
- cutting-edge assessment and prevention tools; and
- expert technical assistance around comprehensive prevention policies
Earn Your Safety S.T.A.R.S. by…
S
Screening prospective employees to keep out unsafe individuals;
T
Training staff and volunteers about how to prevent child sexual abuse;
A
Assessing organizational strengths and gaps in addressing child sexual abuse;
R
Responding to boundary violations through a detailed staff Code of Conduct;
S
Securing physical spaces to reduce opportunities for abuse to occur.
For a full description of Safety S.T.A.R.S. resources your school or youth organization can access, visit our Safety S.T.A.R.S. page.
Fill out this contact form to download these free resources as PDFs. If after viewing, you would like to incorporate these policies into your organization’s practices, please email us at info@enoughabuse.org and let us know how we can assist.
Access Code of Conduct Policy Guides
Enter your contact information below to access the landing page where you can download our Code of Conduct Policy Guides to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse for Schools and Youth Organizations.
Enough! Online Training Courses
Our one-hour online Enough! Preventing Child Sexual Abuse courses are available to schools and youth-serving organizations nationwide. They are the most comprehensive training courses available in the U.S. developed exclusively to meet the specific needs of schools and youth-serving organizations to prevent child sexual abuse.
Prevention Guides for Parents
For the parents of your students, access the free booklet, “Straight Talk About Child Sexual Abuse: A Prevention Guide for Parents.” Available in English, Spanish, or Portuguese!
Every parent is concerned about keeping their children safe from those who might sexually abuse or exploit them. This “Straight Talk” Guide will give parents the information and skills they need to strengthen safety within their family and community and reduce the risks of sexual abuse. Parents often put off talking to their kids because they feel they don’t know enough, don’t know what to say, or how to approach the subject. By arming them with this booklet, you can help the parents of your students confidently address this major safety issue. There is also a version for parents of children with disabilities.
Hard copies can also be purchased in bulk. Contact info@enoughabuse.org for details.