Safe Sitter® Babysitting Course offered at SWGTC

Southwest Georgia Technical College (SWGTC) is offering a special course by Safe Sitter®, which is a medically accurate, competency-based, highly structured babysitting preparation course designed for 10-16 year olds. The curriculum, written by a physician, is presented in modules and taught in a basic and then advanced format.

“Safe Sitter® prepares young adolescents for the profound responsibilities of nurturing and protecting children,” said instructor James Souders. “The program was founded by an Indianapolis pediatrician, Dr. Patricia A. Keener, after a colleague's 18-month old choked to death while under an adult sitter's care.”

“This is a tragedy that could have been avoided, had the babysitter in this situation have been trained on how to respond to such an emergency,” Souders added.

The Safe Sitter® basic course, which is a 6 ½ hour class, includes instruction in Babysitting as a Business, Success on the Job, Child Care Essentials, Safety for the Sitter, Injury Management, Care of Choking Infant/Child, Preventing Injuries, and other topics.  The basic course is offered Saturday, March 26^th from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Safe Sitter® advanced course is designed for comprehensive coverage. It includes all of the topics in the basic course, plus infant and child CPR, and expanded information on preventing injuries and behavior management, as well as more in-class practice time on CPR and emergency response methods.

Cost for the course is $50. To obtain more information on the Safe Sitter® courses or to register, call Ruby Barron at 227-2579.