A year ago, I was sitting at this same ceremony, as a guest. My wife, who is an educator in a Church school in Gozo had just completed this same Safeguarding course that my colleagues and I have just completed. After each of her sessions, she would tell me that this course is a must for us Scout leaders. These same words were uttered by our Group Scout leader who had also just followed the course.

I, however, tend to be a doubting Thomas. I did not expect that this course would be able to detach itself from the Catholic narrative and be able to tackle such a subject from an objective point of view. All this doubt was swept aside by the first lecture.  I soon realised that this course, should be offered and taught not only to individuals who, like myself, are involved in associations that involve minors but indeed to all adults.

Fr. Joseph, as an expert on the matter, was very able to discuss the subject without superimposing his vocation as a priest.  This was very important to me as I was able to understand better the vastness of this area of knowledge.  Through the excellent use of examples from the Scouting and Guiding world, Fr Joseph made it more relatable to our reality.  This was crucial in helping us to gain a deeper understanding of such a sensitive subject.

The course is not an easy one. Apart from the extensive material covered, the psychological impact of the said material is quite heavy. After each session, I would go home and consider deeply what I had just heard. The course which makes you reflect. I have been a scout for nearly 30 years, since I was 8 years old. Scouting was the first club that I was in where I was not in the presence of my parents apart from school. Several situations and examples that Fr. Joseph talked about showed me how lucky I had been to have never fallen victim. Most of this so called ‘luck’ however, was the result of having had responsible leaders and other significant adults in charge of the Group. Back then, we also had several English leaders who, at times through their approach to certain situations made us think that they were creating a mountain out of a mole hill. However, as Fr. Joseph elucidated, awareness about safeguarding started in America over 30 years ago, passing then through the UK and Northern Europe and finally also arriving at the shores of the Mediterranean. I believe that one of the reasons for this lengthy path in the cultural history of Mediterranean countries, is the concept of Omerta.  

Today, there is more awareness, more information, and more access to courses such as this. As a scout leader for twenty years, as a coach in a local football nursery and as a father of two boys, I could fully appreciate how such a course could be of value in today’s society. Before this course, as a parent, I had already, maybe unconsciously, taken decisions together with my wife, about our children. When deciding were to send our children to Catechism, to football, to mass or to any other extracurricular activity where we would not be present, our experience or the experience of others always factored in our decision making. Today with the tools I learned from this course I realise that certain situations would immediately point to red flags or that certain situations would been nipped in the bud.

This, in fact was our main focus when working on the assignment that was due at the end of the course. We wanted to use what we had just learned and apply it in practice so that we could improve our service as scout leaders. In the scout law we say, “I promise to do my best, to do my duty”. I, and all my fellow leaders live by these words in all that we do, not just in scouting, however this course has further emphasised that our duty doesn’t just mean to develop the good character in our participants but also to ensure that those under our care are protected from any type of abuse. Moreover, our duty also pushes us to ensure that we pass on these values to our participants, so that they can become adults who embrace these values. We put an emphasis on the Scout camp, which is the event which encompasses a year’s work, where the Scouts can put into practice all that they have learned during the year.

Camp however presents certain risks, which during this course, Fr. Joseph made us more aware of. Thus, we delved deep in analysing every aspect of camp and we formulated a risk assessment that could help us come up with control measures to eliminate, minimize or mitigate risk. Between the four of us, and over 100 years of experience in total as scout leaders, we were able to analyse this from various angles. This led to a final document, which, although slightly longer than the required word count limit imposed on us by Fr. Joseph, by a few thousand words, could be presented to the group so that we could build a setup where we would be better able to fulfil our Scout Law, “Do your best, Do your duty”.

To close off, I wish to make two small points, maybe three. Firstly, this type of course should be advertised a lot more in clubs and associations that involve children. There are a lot of good people out there who would benefit from such a course. Secondly, as Fr. Joseph mentioned, a lot of the abuse occurs within the confines of the home. For this reason, this course should be available to parents and prospective parents. Not only during pre-natal classes but also during various stages of a child’s development.  During various conversations with parents of twelve/fourteen-year-olds, one becomes aware of how at times, something which is happening under one’s nose easily goes unnoticed.

Finally, such a course should also be made available to the children themselves. Although at school kids have PSCD and similar subjects such a course can only be of benefit. Even though it is not a simple subject to breach with children, I believe that if they are more aware of these situations our children will benefit.  Not only for today, but also for the future so that when they become adults themselves, they may be better citizens in tomorrow’s society.