What Would You Do? – Chaotic Sunday school Summer 2025

Monday, July 14th, 2025

It’s chaotic in the Sunday school one morning and a man shows up to pick up a child. The child runs over to him, and it’s clear to you that he is a familiar face to the child. You look at one of your co-volunteers and she says, “Oh, that’s her uncle Steve.” Before you release the girl, you check the list of people authorized to pick up the child and “Uncle Steve” is not on that list. However, a lot of parents are waiting to pick up their kids and get out the door, other children are crying, and someone is tugging on your sleeve for attention. You decide that because the child knows the man and your co-volunteer knows him by name, it’s probably safe to let her leave with him. Was this the right course of action in this scenario?

The answer is No. Fortunately in this case, this was actually Uncle Steve and he was given permission to pick up the child even though this was not communicated to you. However, this could have presented a dangerous situation. Even though the man is familiar to the child and your co-volunteer knew him by name, he is not authorized as someone with permission to pick up the child. These policies are in place for a reason—always erring on the side of safety for the child. You do not know what’s been going on in that family, even if it’s a familiar relative.

It’s a good time to remind the family that they need to update their pickup form. No matter how hectic or inconvenient it is to follow the rules, child safety is the top priority.