At the Y, the safety of the children and families in our care is always our top priority, whether at summer camp, at preschool, in before and after school programs, or at either of our branches.
Throughout the course of a year, we employ nearly 1,000 qualified and talented full and part-time staff. Each person is carefully screened and a thorough background check is completed. All Y staff are trained in the identification and prevention of child abuse.
Additionally, the Hamilton Area YMCA integrates a commitment to child safety in its program offerings to the Y community. This includes child abuse prevention and water safety — all designed to help each and every child fulfill their potential.
Through Redwoods Group's Redwoods Institute, each member of our staff has completed, or completes as part of on-boarding, an online child sexual abuse prevention training. The training is designed to educate adults on how to recognize, prevent, and react responsibly to the reality of child sexual abuse, emphasizing child safety is every adult’s responsibility. For more information on how we create a child safe environment, please click here.
Parents and Guardians often worry about their children’s safety on the internet. There is worry that children will share identifying information that will become available to strangers, they will get scammed or ripped off, that they will fall victim to cyberbullying, that they will be put in physical danger through contact with strangers, or that they will reveal private information that will become an embarrassment to them in the present or future.
Teens are at risk for these possibilities due to their impulsivity and difficulty anticipating long-term outcomes. They also may have a limited sense of their own vulnerability and so may not think something bad can happen to them.The internet and social media do not have to be a scary place. Click here for information on how you can keep your teen social media safe.
Swim Lessons The Y encourage a lifelong enjoyment of swimming - teaching more than one million kids per year swimming and water safety skills. The latest evolution of Y Swim Lessons accommodates varying abilities to help foster a sense of achievement as swimmers’ progress between levels. Through this approach, advanced swimmers flow more easily to higher levels while swimmers who need more instruction can learn at their own pace. This results in more confident swimmers who stick with lessons and develop a love for swimming that can last a lifetime. Safety Around Water Program Learning to be safe around water is a life skill. Today, fewer than half of all Americans say they know how to swim. The Safety Around Water program is designed to help change this reality. Learning to be safe around water builds a sense of achievement. Overcoming a fear of water and mastering skills in the pool build confidence and competence. Safety Around Water, like all Y programs, helps individuals reach their full potential. Safety Around Water is an independent program designed to reach children at risk of drowning and teach them basic water safety skills, but the skills it develops overlap with those taught in the Swim Basics stage of YMCA Swim Lessons. Students who complete Safety Around Water are prepared to transition directly into swim lessons to continue the learning. For more information about swim lessons or Safety Around Water at the Hamilton Area YMCA, please click here.
