Tohru Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 If you are visiting a church for the first time, would you drop your child off at Sunday School if you didn't know any one? Would you just take them to the appropriate room and leave them there? How old would your child be before you are comfortable doing that, especially if you've never left your child alone before? TIA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrganicAnn Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 I just won't do it. No way. Not at a church I was unfamiliar with. I don't care what age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kokotg Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 We usually go just to the service for a few weeks first....no reason to have kids get used to a brand new Sunday School if we're not going to be coming back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanvan Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 I just won't do it. No way. Not at a church I was unfamiliar with. I don't care what age. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Particularly not if I didn't normally leave him. I would go with him to Sunday School or keep him for a while in church with me until I decided the church was a good match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happi duck Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 We usually go just to the service for a few weeks first....no reason to have kids get used to a brand new Sunday School if we're not going to be coming back. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellesmere Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 I just won't do it. No way. Not at a church I was unfamiliar with. I don't care what age. Another :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 8 and up. My kids haven't had a problem with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parker Martin Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 If appropriate security measures are in place, I would leave them at about two and up. Appropriate security measures include: (1) Multiple adults, children are never alone with one adult, not even to go to the restroom. (2) There is a security check to pick the kids up. (This might be photo ID or a child-specific pass issued that morning.) (3) Adults who are not picking up, dropping off, or working with the children are not allowed in the area of the building where the children's programming takes place. (4) Rooms the children use are all visible from the hall. (No closed doors.) (5) An adequate number of adults for the number of children. (6) Caregivers seem attentive, friendly, and responsible. (7) There is a procedure in place to get the parents if they are needed. (8) The children's area looks clean and safe. I would slip out of the service at some point to go peek at the kids. I would also pay attention to the other kids. If I walked in and there was an extremely aggressive child (or something similar), I would not leave my child there. I don't know about the factor of never having left the child before. That would depend on the child and how I thought he'd do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lara in Colo Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 I leave mine. Yep, I ship them off into the unknown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeacefulChaos Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 If appropriate security measures are in place, I would leave them at about two and up. Appropriate security measures include: (1) Multiple adults, children are never alone with one adult, not even to go to the restroom. (2) There is a security check to pick the kids up. (This might be photo ID or a child-specific pass issued that morning.) (3) Adults who are not picking up, dropping off, or working with the children are not allowed in the area of the building where the children's programming takes place. (4) Rooms the children use are all visible from the hall. (No closed doors.) (5) An adequate number of adults for the number of children. (6) Caregivers seem attentive, friendly, and responsible. (7) There is a procedure in place to get the parents if they are needed. (8) The children's area looks clean and safe. I would slip out of the service at some point to go peek at the kids. I would also pay attention to the other kids. If I walked in and there was an extremely aggressive child (or something similar), I would not leave my child there. I don't know about the factor of never having left the child before. That would depend on the child and how I thought he'd do. This. Articulated so much better than I could. :) Also it depends on the kid. If we're somewhere for a week (visiting or something) and they didn't want to stay in children's church, I wouldn't make them. Probably the same if we were trying out a new church, if they didn't want to go I wouldn't make them. I've never actually been in that situation (trying a new church) as we've been at ours since before they were born, and have put them in the nursery since they were wee little ones! (3 mos, 6 mos, 4 mos) So it's always been a part of their lives...at our church. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Yell Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 If we didn't know anyone at the church, and in particular, that Sunday School class, I wouldn't leave them alone before middle-school age. But we'd probably go to about a month of regular services before we even tried out the Sunday School/Youth Groups anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
higginszoo Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Not as a rule. But our denomination has very strict rules for people working with kids (from background checks to training to ratios of adults to children), so when my ds jumped up and ran off to children's church the first time we visited dh's parents' church (they were new to the church as well), I wasn't concerned ... though it WAS very out of character for ds ... more expected of dd, who wasn't old enough yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kolamum Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 An adult has always accompanied the child, which gave us the ability to see what they'd be learning, methods used, etc. No one has ever complained. All though, this one church we tried out, this lady sat across from me scowling & being ugly through the whole service {which was crazy insane.. they paused for a dramatic reading of a story book, no joke, instead of just telling a quick recap you know how.. but I digress} then she comes up to me all smiles & wants to know if I wanted to join them for tea afterwards. I was like, uh no thanks. Needless to say when they offered to give out slips so you could give an offering with your credit card & then asked us all to APPLAUD the preacher when he was done, I skeedaddled as quick as I could. That was the one place we were glad someone went with the kids to Sunday School. The children were basically permitted to run amuck & given a snack. When dh, who went with them, asked if this is what the children always do, the teacher said yes, but sometimes they have a Bible story. Then she rounded the kids up, talked about Moses & gave them a colouring sheet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizzie in Ma Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Nope. Just wouldn't, not the first time we visit. I would be very uncomfortable doing so and I wouldn't be able to pay attention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftyerin Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 When we moved here a year ago and started visiting churches, we asked that my kids be able to go in together. There is only a year between them anyway, so it usually wasn't a problem. That made them more comfortable, to have their siblings there. They would be HORRID in the church service, since we've never been in a church where kids are in there. I'm much happier letting them try Sunday School. A few weeks ago when we visited my dad and step mom and went to church with them, we did the same thing. We sent them into class together (they were happy to bump my 4yos up and send them all to the kinder room). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
athena1277 Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 I let my kids go to class when we visit other churches. I have stayed in class with a toddler/preschooler if they started to get upset. My kids love Bible class, no matter where we are and would be upset to miss it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 I would only leave my child if they were old enough to ask to go, and wanted to. Otherwise they would stay with me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 (edited) For us the only way we would be visiting a new parish would be if we were traveling. At the age dd is now (12) if she wanted to go to SS I'd have no problem with it. When she was younger (5-11) I doubt very much that she would have stayed. But more because of her personality than any fears I would have had. So in all actuality, yes. I would have let her go to a visiting SS class without me if she would go. I'd probably be grateful that she was willing to go since she has always been painfully shy. ETA: For us SS is a separate time from actual church services. I don't know if it matters, but if I were to leave dd at SS, she would more than likely be on the premises without dh or I. We'd go get coffee or something for that 45-60 minutes since we don't normally have adult SS available. Edited June 28, 2012 by Parrothead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicagoshannon Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 I drop my kids off at nursery and children's church if we're visiting a new church. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chepyl Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 We tried 4 churches for a few weeks each before we found the one we liked. We left the kids in Sunday school everytime. They were 2-5 years old at the time. All of the churches had check in / check out procedures that I was comffortable with, open rooms and plenty of security screened volunteers. My kids love their Sunday school classes. I would not have been able to chose a church without having the kids go to Sunday school first, what the childrens program was like was very important to me. I was able to tell a lot by talking to my son after church. Did he remember anything they did? Did he learn anything? What materials did he bring home for continuing his lesson through the week? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In the Rain Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 I did not drop off my young children in unknown church programs. Now that my kids are older, 8 & 10, I am comfortable dropping them off if they want to see the Sunday School. The last time we changed churches, my 10 yo was looking for a certain type of feel, so she was very interested in seeing the program. My 8yo sat in the sanctuary long enough to get a feel for where we were and then asked to visit the Sunday School. These were churches that met Parker Martin's criteria. I would not leave a nonverbal child with unknown adults in an unknown environment unless it was a relative or good friend's church and it met the requirements listed above. My toddlers wouldn't have been willing to go with a stranger anyway, so I guess I never needed to think about it. :lol::tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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