Youth Protection

If you have not yet heard of our youth protection guidelines, you are either new to the organization or you haven’t been paying attention. Each advisor for our service leadership programs must have a background check through Kiwanis International. Even if they work for the school system, or another entity which requires a background check, Kiwanis International requires utilization of their background check program to ensure consistency with the reports.

In addition, Kiwanis International asks each club to review the Youth Protection Guidelines annually to review basic “do’s and don’ts” for Kiwanians when working with young children. This helps to protect the children we work with as well as ourselves as an organization.

The Praesidium program takes this a step further. These educational modules, which are taken online, are interactive and provide another layer of consideration when interacting with sometimes difficult or awkward situations involving youth. These modules are a requirement for Kiwanis and Faculty advisors as well as any adult who will be in an overnight chaperoning situation (think conventions and conferences).

Admittedly, I was not thrilled to have more training when the Key Club and Circle K conventions were approaching, but I chose to go through all the course work for reference information. Each module was well thought out, and I could see where they would be helpful for advisors who may not have access to continuing education classes for youth engagement. Each session took about 15-20 minutes and had a short quiz to reinforce the information.

This is a program which is free of cost for our members, I strongly recommend each member to review it. Like background checks, this program will need to be reviewed every two years.

1. Go to praesidiumacademy.com/learn

2. Click on Forgot your password? (to create a new or reset password)

3. Enter the email address Kiwanis International has on file for you.

4. Click the blue Reset Password button.

5. Check your email.

6. Click the link inside of your email to set a new password for your Academy account.

7. There will be a three question survey to fill out.

8. Access courses in learning path.

If you have problems logging in, contact [email protected].