46 tips for security during VBS
- Have parents pick up children in their rooms with “claim tickets”.
- Set up stations outside by age groups with leaders for pick-up. No one comes into the building to get kids. They wait for dismissal in an organized manner.
- A group from out older men’s group continually circles the campus with radios.
- Use hall monitors that know the schedule and can direct strays to appropriate places or find director quickly in emergencies.
- Use color-coded nametags with security information in a 3”x4” plastic sleeve for children, youth and adults. Use stick on nametags for preschool.
- All directors and teachers are outside during pick-up. All kids have to stay seated until their name is called over sound system by director.
- Always have someone outside with kids and while they are in class (at least two adults).
- Deacons rotate nightly to assist with security and to recruit other men of the church.
- End each daily session with a mission rally so children are in a contained space. Parent do drive by and pick-up.
- Consider background checks and personal interviews with all workers involved in VBS.
- Rope off sections and label them clearly for parents to find. Teachers stay with their class until all kids are picked up.
- Have a Safety Team handle the traffic control as well as meet and greet parents.
- Use parking lot monitors to escort kids to cars. As they take kids to the cars they talk to the parents and invite them to church.
- All 1st-3rd graders must be picked up from their classrooms. If the parents do not tell us before VBS that someone else is picking up their child we DO NOT let them go.
- We use matching color magnetic stickers on buses (i.e.- children with blue wrist bands ride the blue polka dot bus).
- Use security cards and block off front of church.
- For a small town – get mayor of town to furnish volunteers to block off streets and direct traffic during VBS.
- We have a plastic “credit card” with our church’s name and information on it that are given to parents at drop off and brought back at pick up time at their Bible Study rooms. Committee members have to be contacted if they do not have a card before they are allowed to pick up their child.
- Enlist a VBS nurse that has a small office location equipped with first aid kits and a cot, etc.
- Use security bracelets. They can be purchased from Lifeway or have Kinko’s make them.
- Enlist retired police officers to patrol the areas to make sure everyone is where they need to be.
- Have a husband and wife team meet cars in the parking lot as they drop off children to meet and greet parents and children and to make sure the children get through the parking lot safely.
- Use law enforcement officers of our congregation to provide safety and security measures.
- Use sign-in and sign-out sheets provided by Lifeway’s VBS Tools Online database.
- Enlist “Safety Cops” to help with flow of traffic and children and any problems that come up.
- Dismiss all ages from our sanctuary instead of parents looking for classes. We meet back for an ending Worship Rally daily.
- Use crossing guards to help children cross the street.
- Place an adult at every door in the church building during entry and exit times.
- Ask a local deputy to be present during drop off time with the cruiser’s lights on. It gets people driving by to slow down.
- Do not allow any “unassigned” adults to roam the building.
- Check the playground each day for safety of equipment and cleanliness.
- Provide runners with radios to pick up children from classes as parents come to pick them up.
- Do not let parents walk the campus to find their children.
- Use same style name tag for all adults working during VBS so they are recognizable.
- Require all VBS volunteers complete the church policy training conference. We need to all be on the same page as to how we handle the children and different situations.
- All adult volunteers wear t-shirts everyday.
- Place safety and database information on the back of the registration form. Copy the allergy/medical information for quick reference if questions or an emergency arises.
- Use colored numbered wristbands for preschoolers.
- Have additional pick-up people listed on the bottom of the registration form. Each child’s form that is in your class is in a folder for the teacher.
- Lock outside doors 30 minutes after VBS starts.
- Assign an animal to each age group them separate each group into four colors to match the security bracelets. Identify the belonging of each child be looking at their tag where they where supposed to be.
- If a pick-up person does not have a receipt to pick-up a child, the individual must show a driver’s license and wait until the parent is called for permission to release the child.
- Do not offer any type of food item containing peanuts due to allergies.
- Offer alternative snacks for children with allergies and medical issues.
- Enlist adults for security team, rotating them each night. Make t-shirts that say SECURITY for the team.
- Make large posters to post at entrance concerning parent pick-up procedures.
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