Child Protection at English Adventure

A safe camp environment requires rigorous policies and practices to keep every child safe from abuse or exploitation of any kind. Just as with any other kind of risk prevention, we must build a safety net with many layers of protection. Something might slip through one layer of a net. But with layers upon layers of safeguards, it becomes incredibly difficult for any threat to escape the net. English Adventure implements industry-leading policies and practices so we can avoid, identify, and stop problems before they can begin.

All staff undergo a thorough screening process that includes background checks, interviews, and reference verification. We look closely at character, judgment, and a genuine commitment to working responsibly with children. Thanks to our strong professional culture and reputation, we attract staff who genuinely care about the welfare of our campers. They actively embrace their responsibility to uphold our child protection policies, and to be the eyes and ears always looking out for the campers in their care.

We give staff thorough training to understand the rules and procedures we expect them to follow at all times. They learn what behavior, speech, and boundaries they must uphold as caretakers and role models. They are taught to recognize concerning behavior, and understand their responsibility to immediately report any concerns so that we can swiftly investigate and act.

Our commitment to rigorous screening and training for every one of our staff is one reason that we do not utilize any short-term volunteers or single session part-timers, unlike some other camp operators in Japan.

Effective protection requires eliminating situations where inappropriate actions could occur, and ensuring that children are never placed in vulnerable or isolated circumstances. For example, we have sufficient staff numbers so that we can avoid extended one-on-one situations. When campers are dressing or bathing, staff remain outside the changing and bathing areas, and would only enter if there were a health or safety issue that required it.

Every team member knows the non-negotiable rules that are in place regarding child protection. Those rules not only protect the children in our care, they also help catch out any potential offender well before they can actually cause any harm. To give an example, we have a complete ban on requesting or sharing personal contact information or social media profiles. Likewise, no staff are ever allowed to photograph campers for any reason unless they are one of our professional photography team. Even if a staff member has no bad intentions, the rules are clear and no violations are tolerated or excused for any reason.

This zero-tolerance approach lets us spot and remove any possible bad actors before they have a chance to actually cause harm. Every team member knows that a violation of our child protection policies is cause for immediate termination and removal from our campsite, regardless of their actual intentions.

Has this happened? In full transparency, yes. Cases have been exceedingly rare – approximately 0.1% of the thousands of staff throughout the years. We don’t hesitate to share this because it means that our systems worked to protect children. In those few cases, other vigilant team members knew how to identify the flags, and immediately reported their concerns. The offenders were immediately separated from all campers while we investigated. After confirming the facts we immediately terminated and removed the individuals from our campsite. Our early warning systems allowed us to act long before the offenders might actually cause harm. Perhaps there was no intention to cause harm – but the failure of judgement or failure to uphold our policies was sufficient cause for immediate separation. What’s at stake is too important for any other approach.

While we have confidence in our strict and multi-layered approach to child protection, if we ever discover harmful actions have occurred, our protocols include immediate involvement of law enforcement and fully transparent communication with the families of any campers who may have been affected. We have no concern for protecting ourselves or any individual on our team, or keeping any incident from public knowledge. Our only commitment is to protecting the children in our care.

Industry-leading policies, thorough training, and constant vigilance combine to make English Adventure camps an environment where children are safe, respected, and free to benefit from the camp experience. All the fun and growth of camp are possible because we work as a unified team to protect every aspect of your child’s physical and emotional wellbeing.