Youth can learn to become safe and responsible babysitters through a course offered at the YMCA of Selma-Dallas County.

The YMCA and Vaughan Community Health Services will offer a safe sitter course for children ages 11-14 on June 9. Instructors from both organizations will advise participants on CPR exercises, first aid, stranger safety practices and much more.

They’ll also receive a safe sitters certification card, verifying they have taken the course. Attendees will receive a hands-on education, said Karen Morris, a community health educator at Vaughan Community Health Services.

“It’s a lot of hands-on experiences,” she said.

“They’ll learn how to change diapers. We even purchased a couple of strollers for the class to show them how to lock out the stroller and how to put a child in a stroller to buckle them up.”

A thorough background in babysitting is great, but the course might help reinforce babysitting skills learned in the past too, she said. Morris said a mother of three enrolled her daughter in an earlier course, although they had been babysitting for a while.

“We’ve heard in the past, ‘well my child has been babysitting for a long time,’ Morris said.

“I think it’s good they’ll know what to do in emergency situations.”

An interest in babysitting is not required, she said. Morris believes those who might have entered the course with low interest might actually exit the class with a new passion.

Plus, it’s a great way for children to make money, she said.

To capture the attention of the young minds who will attend the course, instructors will be fully engaged in all of the course’s activities.

The safe sitter course will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Selma YMCA’s community room.

The cost to attend the course is $45, which includes snacks and lunch, a safe sitter book and starter kit.

The deadline to register for the course is June 8.

For more information,call the YMCA at 874-9622.