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Calling All Babysitters!

In Search of a Super Sitter

By Teri Cooper Brown

It is no secret that most occasional babysitters are teenagers. While recommendations, interviews and observations can identify kind, responsible sitters, most teens are inexperienced and unprepared for many childcare emergencies. To ensure the best care for your children, insist that babysitters complete a course such as the "Babysitter Training Course" from the American Red Cross or "Safe Sitter," a program developed by Indianapolis pediatrician Patricia A. Keener. Dr. Keener created the 13-hour class for 11- to 13-year-olds in 1980, after a colleague's child accidentally choked to death in the care of a babysitter.

"Safe Sitter," which began with just 18 students, is offered today in all 50 United States, England and Israel. According to its mission statement, "Safe Sitter strives to improve the welfare of young children by increasing the availability of safe and nurturing adolescent caregivers by providing them with competencies in rescue skills, basic first aid and safe, nurturing child care."