Enjoy Your Role Working With Minors

Enjoy the opportunity to serve as a role model, teacher, and guide to minors. At the same time, maintain boundaries and take your responsibilities seriously.

Treat minors with respect at all times.

Avoid singling one minor out from a group to become your special friend.

DO	DON'T
Maintain the highest standards of personal behavior when interacting with minors.	Don’t spend significant time alone with one minor away from the group or interact with minors in private.
Stay vigilant at all times when you are responsible for minors.	Don’t engage in inappropriate touching or have any physical contact with a minor in private locations.
Conduct necessary one-to-one interactions with minors in a public environment where you can be observed.	Don’t use inappropriate language, tell jokes that are sexual in nature, or make sexually suggestive comments around minors, even if minors themselves are doing so.
Follow the “rule of three.” Have two adults present with a single minor.	Don’t give personal gifts to, or do special favors for a minor, or do things that may be seen as favoring one minor over others.
Listen to minors. Provide praise and positive reinforcement. If a minor expresses discomfort, tell your supervisor.	Don’t engage in rough or suggestive games, including horseplay.
Treat all minors in a group consistently and fairly, with respect and dignity.	Don’t strike or hit a minor. Don’t use corporal punishment or other punishment involving physical pain, discomfort, or humiliation.
Maintain discipline. Challenge minors if they engage in inappropriate behavior, including inappropriate touch or language.	Don’t date or become romantically or sexually involved with a minor. UNCSA’s Improper Relations Regulation 616 prohibits amorous relationships between employees and students. Don’t show pornography to minors or involve minors in pornographic activities.
Be friendly with minors within the context of the formal program or activity, while observing appropriate boundaries.	Don’t share information with minors about your private life or have informal or purely social contact with minor program participants outside of program activities.
Know who is authorized to pick up a minor and bar others from doing so.	Don’t provide alcohol, drugs, or tobacco to minors or use them around minors.
Be aware of how your actions and intentions might be perceived or misinterpreted.	Don’t undress or shower around minors or sleep in the same room.
Consult with other adult supervisors or colleagues when you feel uncertain about a situation.	Don’t relate to minors as if they were peers, conduct private correspondence, or take on the role of confidant (outside of a professional counseling relationship).
Have another adult present when you are working with minors in an unsupervised setting.	Avoid driving alone with a single minor. Don’t drive any minors in your private vehicle without written parental permission.
Enjoy the opportunity to serve as a role model, teacher and guide to minors.	Don’t tell a minor “this is just between the two of us,” or otherwise encourage a minor to keep secrets from parents or guardians.

NEXT: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS