Child Safety Issues with Online TCK Programs Sheryl O’Bryan, Lyn Shingledecker-Wheeler, Bret Taylor Online youth group is suddenly interrupted by verbal and written profanity; a teaching seminar is “zoom-bombed” with hundreds of nefarious participants spewing x-rated comments in the chat to disrupt the teaching. Welcome to the new digital frontier ushered in by COVID-19. The global pandemic forced most organizations to reconsider and restructure the ways they engage youth and families, debrief individuals and groups, hold TCK youth group meetings, and continue with education. As caregivers, educators, and counselors pivot to provide support in the digital domain, new issues arise regarding best practices in this borderland that joins the real and the virtual. Zoom, SKYPE, WhatsApp, and Google Meet are the new verbs of the pandemic generation. This virtual everything trend is expected to continue
after the world opens again. Kids previously underserved due to remote locations or other barriers to participation now find parity with their peers. Child safeguarding must be expanded from the face-to-face world to the virtual one. Because this new frontier for providing support for TCKs opened, it is important to consider the nuances of this context. Some of the established rules still apply. The regular child safeguarding parameters of your organization should be utilized, such as: Background checks, references, and staff training Appropriate ratio of staff to students Two or more unrelated staff members
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