American Red Cross teaches class for youths on how to babysit

Avon Lake Public Library, 32649 Electric Blvd., hosted a class Aug. 14 for youth on how to babysit.

The class, taught by the American Red Cross, was a seven-hour course teaching all the essentials of babysitting.

“The goal of the class is to equip youth, ages 11 to 13, with the skills necessary for a babysitting business,” said Amy Fisher, instructor and trainer for the American Red Cross.

Fisher said the youngsters were to learn how to administer CPR to changing diapers.

Babysitting requires a lot more preparation than most think, she said.

“There are so many scenarios that can take shape, so it pays to be prepared,” Fisher said. “Taking the class also puts you one step ahead of peers that may also want to babysit.

“The girls graduate the course with a red cross certificate and it really looks great on a resume. Parents are more likely to choose someone who is trained in CPR and has the knowledge of what to do for a multitude of different problems.”

Fisher said the class is popular.

“You get a lot of youth that may be too young to work other jobs but are the right age to babysit,” she said. “They may want money to help their family out, or to buy something of their own.

“Kids are just really drawn to it, whether it be a history of babysitting siblings, or just a love of children.”

Fisher said the class covers a multitude of scenarios.

“The class is seven hours, so we cover a lot,” she said. “The kids are taught what to do if a child is choking, for instance, or what to do when it’s unclear what’s wrong.

“We also show them how to change a diaper, bottle feed and all of the preliminary knowledge they will need to babysit.”

Fisher said the class teaches youngsters to be thorough when babysitting.

“The child doesn’t always communicate what’s wrong, so it’s important to run through the list of possible problems,” she said. “Those who attend the class will learn how to check the child, head to toe, for physical injury.

“We then teach them to look for different allergic reactions and to look back at the foods the child recently ate to determine the problem.

“The class is very thorough and teaches a lot. So, I encourage anyone who has a kid that is interested to go to our website(https:// www.redcross.org/takea-class/babysitting-childcare) to sign up.”