The kids are escaping! Why Can't I Lock the Door?

"Suzie keeps running out of the room. What do I do?" Occassionally churches will have problems with children running out the door before the class is over. This can cause problems ranging from disrupting service to a child getting lost or hurt. We must do everything we can to protect the children in our ministries and a tempting solution is to lock the door. I have heard this discussed at several churches, so I thought I would address it.

Recently I was having a conversation with two other ladies. They were discussing volunteers wanting to lock the door to keep the kids inside. I had to laugh because we had three very different responses, but all three were very practical reasons to keep the door unlocked.

The first response was, "what if a teacher got hurt? No one could get to the kids." I believe strongly in the "two adult rule," that an adult should NEVER be alone with children in a ministry situation! More on that later. However, if something did happen and both teachers were injured, someone needs to be able to get into the room to help. A locked door prevents people from entering, but child safety door knobs give outside access without letting toddlers leave the room. A question was raised about the kids not being able to open the door in case of an emergency with the teacher. Great question. However, if you've been around enough kids, you know that if something were to happen, the kids would begin to scream and someone from the sanctuary or neighboring classes would hear them. If the door is unlocked someone from the outside can enter.

The second response was, "we don't want anyone to be accused of child abuse!" Once again, this is a valid concern. The two adult rule is so important here! An adult should never be alone with a child, to protect the children and the adult. Folks, it's time to get serious. God forbid you ever have to deal with child abuse in your church, however, you better be combating the issue before it happens. Well meaning volunteers can be put into a situation too easily where they are falsly accused of inappropriate behavior. Please don't give parents any opportunity to question your integrity! Secondly, no matter how much screening a church does, occassionally a person makes it through the screening process who should not be dealing with children. If you keep the doors unlocked (preferably with a window in the door as well) and keep two volunteers in the room, you eliminate opportunity for predators to have easy access to your children.

The third response was, "locking children in the room is against fire code!" The fire department requires that in case of fire all rooms be easily accessible. We do not want an emergency to happen and be slowed down getting out of the building.

When children are in our care, we have a great responsibility to take care of their physical and spiritual needs. Therefore, we need to think before we lock the door. Lets make sure that we avoid all appearances of evil as we seek to protect our kids.