Sadly, the truth is that volunteers aren’t stepping up for good reason.The first barrier is red tape, in the form of an exhaustive, compulsory background check, overseen by the Disclosure and Barring Service. This was supposed to be less bureaucratic than the Criminal Records Bureau it replaced in 2012, as it only targets “sensitive” posts with intensive contact with young people.
The article continues…
The second barrier is a more general red flag: the very real fear among many men who want to work with children that they will be branded a potential paedophile.
The article also notes that there are relatively few men who work with young people as primary school teachers.
This story is from the UK. Whether this is true in the United States, how many young men are — or some day will be — unable to be a scout leader, coach a youth sports team, or volunteer at their child’s school, because of a mistake they made when they were young.