USA Swimming has announced that it will release a free online version of their SafeSport education program to the parents of USA Swimming athletes on June 21st, according to a press release. The education will be available at this link next Wednesday: http://www.usaswimming.org/protect.
“Education truly is a cornerstone of our programming, and we will continue to work to raise awareness and empower our membership with education about safe sport,” said Susan Woessner, Director of Safe Sport for USA Swimming.
The SafeSport education program was developed by Praesidium, a national sexual-abuse prevention organization, and was made mandatory for all non-athlete members of the organization (coaches, officials, etc.). This release is phase two of the program, and while making it mandatory for parents would be overkill, making it available to them is important.
It’s one matter to educate coaches on sexual predators, but giving parents the tools and knowledge to keep their children safe is another, very important level of safety. Parents are often in the best position to recognize the warning signs of potential abuse or a potential abuser. The balance, then, is ensuring that the tools are presented in a way to help parents understand the warning signs without launching witch-hunts or paranoia. This is a delicate balance, but also a balance that Praesidium has dealt with in the past.
USA Swimming will also release a version for athletes in the fall, though with most of the membership being under the age of 18, that education will likely be tweaked to address a younger audience.