Talking to young people and their parents or carers about safety

Hold a safety briefing and demonstrate what to do

Explain the activity, demonstrate what to do and identify possible risks and what you can do to avoid the risk. You can make it fun and make it part of the activity.

Discuss with your young people what the activity involves, then ask them what dangers there might be from doing it. Who could be hurt or how? 

For example: an active game with Cubs might get them thinking about running, tripping, falling over; Scouts might be cycling and will think about the terrain or about how to brake safely.  This promotes a culture of reasoned understanding and buy-in to the controls needed to stay safe.

Have a section code of conduct

You'll talk about safety without realising it, your section code of conduct will outline certain behaviours which are important to keep everyone safe.

Make sure that these are developed in discussion with young people and that they understand why they are being asked to behave in this way. Be sure to review these regularly and explain them to new members.

Reflect at the end of the activity

Reviewing how an activity went helps us know how we might run it next time.

Taking time to reflect on the activity with the young people and adults together is an ideal opportunity for all to appreciate what they have achieved and learnt through the activity. 

These reflection sessions will also provide the opportunity to introduce thoughts about ‘how safe were people?’, ‘did anything get damaged?’, developing the young peoples understanding of safety. 

This promotes the conversation about what they can improve for the next time (reviewing the controls).

Keep them informed

Explain the activities or camp. Identify potential risks and reassure parents. Things like having contact telephone numbers, planned activities – who will be leading – sharing risk assessments. 

Explaining how we keep young people safe to a parent and carer will start early on in the journey of a new member joining. It’s important to be open with parents and carers about the kind of activities on offer and how these are managed. 

Make sure to explain key information, such as how the arrival and departure at your meetings is kept safe, how you have guidelines for behaviour to keep everyone safe, your InTouch process, and what happens if an incident does occur. 

Some parents and carers may be more inquisitive than others, so don't be concerned if they ask for information on the training those leading activities undertake or if you've had incidents occur. 

Let them watch

You could have parents and carers stay and observe the meeting, so they can see how you put this into practice. A short observation can be really reassuring to a parent or carer in the early stages of a young person's involvement with us.

Share your programme

Sharing your programmes with parents and carers will keep them informed of what you are up to. You can also use it to share relevant information, such as what footwear is needed on a certain night or how an activity is being managed if it's a bit more unusual. 

Plan for Nights Away, day trips and larger events 

If you have larger events, a day trip or a Nights Away event, you’re likely to be providing a bit more information than the usual section meeting. A parents and carers meetings or briefing session can be a great way to share more information. Remember to talk through the activities, the menu, free time, what to pack, insurance and how you’ll be managing safety while on the trip too.