Anti-bullying Policy
Child Protection Policy Statement
What is Bullying?
Why is it Important to Respond to Bullying?
Objectives of this Policy
Signs and Indicators
Procedures
Recommended Club Action
Where the bully is a child
Where the bully is an adult
Child Protection Policy Statement
- 1. The welfare of children is the responsibility of everyone involved with the Club, particularly when it comes to protecting children from abuse. The Club will place the needs of the child first and winning the competition second.
- 2. The underlying principles with respect to child protection are that:
- · The child’s welfare is the first consideration
- · All children, regardless of age, disability, gender, racial origin, religious belief and sexual identity have a right to be protected from abuse
- · Children and young people must be treated with integrity and respect
- · Children and young peoples programmes and competitions will be relevant to their ages and stages of development
- 3. The Club is committed to following the current Scottish Amateur Swimming Association child protection guidelines. All our adult helpers are members of Scottish Swimming.
- 4. The Club:
- · Aims to create an enjoyable environment, where young people have the right to be safe, secure and free from threat;
- · Acknowledges that young people have the right to be treated with respect and for their concerns to be listened to and acted upon;
- · Will aim to ensure that junior members have specific programmes designated for the, with adequate supervision;
- · Is committed to ensuring that all helpers, whatever their role, complete a Club registration form and complete a self declaration form in relation to child protection
- · Provides clear, comprehensive, easily understood procedures for dealing with
- allegations of abuse
- requests for help and support on a confidential basis - · Is committed to an equitable recruitment selection policy for coaches#
- · Will always emphasis fair play
What is Bullying?
Bullying is the use of aggression with the intention of hurting another person resulting in pain and distress to the victim:
- Emotional – being unfriendly, exclusion, hurtful text messages, tormenting
- Physical – pushing, kicking, hitting, punching or use of violence
- Racist – taunts, graffiti, gestures
- Sexual – unwanted contact, abusive comments
- Homophobic – because of, or focussing on the issue of sexuality
- Verbal – name calling, sarcasm, spreading rumours, teasing
Why is it Important to Respond to Bullying
Bullying hurts. No one deserves to be a victim of bullying and everyone has the right to be treated with respect. Individuals who are bullying need to learn different ways of behaving.
The Club has a responsibility to respond promptly and effectively to issues of bullying.
Objectives of this Policy
- All members, coaches, officials, lifeguards and parent volunteers:
- have an understanding of what bullying is
- know what the Club policy is on bullying and follow it when it is reported - All swimmers and parents should be aware of the Club policy on bullying and what to do if bullying is observed
- To assure swimmers and parents that bullying is taken seriously and that the Club will offer support when bullying is reported
Signs and Indicators
All members, coaches, officials, lifeguards and parent volunteers should be aware of the signs and behaviour of children indicating that they may be being bullied:
- Unwilling to attend or complaining of illness before Club sessions or galas
- Becomes anxious, withdrawn, or lacking in confidence
- Returning home with lost or damaged clothing or equipment
- Asking for or stealing money
- Unexplained cuts or bruises
- Frightened to say what’s wrong
- Providing improbable excuses for any of the above
In more extreme cases:
- Starts stammering
- Cries themselves to sleep at night or has nightmares
- Becomes aggressive, disruptive or unreasonable
- Starts to become a bully
- Stops eating
- Attempts or threatens suicide or runs away
Procedure
- Report the bullying incident to the Club child protection officer, coach or any member of the Club committee
- In cases of serious bullying the incidents will be referred to the Scottish Amateur Swimming Association (SASA) for advice and possible referral to Social Services or the Police in the most serious of cases
- Parents should be informed and will be asked to come to a meeting to discuss the problem
- The bullying behaviour or threats of bullying will be investigated and the bullying stopped quickly
- An attempt will be made to help the bully to change their behaviour
- If mediation fails and the bullying is seen to continue the Club will initiate disciplinary action under the Club procedures.
Recommended Club Action
Where the bully is a child.
If the Club decides it is appropriate to deal with the situation “in-house” the following procedure should be followed:
- Reconciliation by getting the parties together. A genuine apology may be all that is required.
- If reconciliation fails or is not appropriate a small panel consisting of child protection officer, president and head coach should meet with the parent and child alleging bullying to get details of the allegation. Minutes of the meeting should be taken and agreed by all.
- The panel should then meet with the alleged bully and parent to put the incident to them for their view of the allegation. Again minutes of the meeting should be taken and agreed by all.
- If the panel takes the view that bullying has taken place then the bully should be warned and put on notice of further action of the bullying continues. At this stage consideration should be given as to whether a reconciliation between the parties is appropriate.
- Consideration should be given to asking the parents of the bully and / or victim to attend Club sessions.
- The Club committee should monitor the situation for a given period to ensure the bullying is not repeated.
Where the bully is an adult
If the Club decides it is appropriate to deal with the situation “in-house” the following procedure should be followed:
- Reconciliation by getting the parties together. A genuine apology may be all that is required.
- If reconciliation fails or is not appropriate a small panel consisting of child protection officer, president and head coach should meet with the parent and child alleging bullying to get details of the allegation. Minutes of the meeting should be taken and agreed by all.
- The panel should then meet with the alleged bully to put the incident to them for their view of the allegation. Again minutes of the meeting should be taken and agreed by all.
- If the panel takes the view that bullying has taken place then the bully should be warned and put on notice of further action of the bullying continues.
At this stage consideration should be given to:
- Further training on child protection issues for the bully
- a reconciliation between the parties - Consideration should be given to asking the parents of the victim to attend Club sessions.
- The Club committee should monitor the situation for a given period to ensure the bullying is not repeated.
Prevention
- All members shall abide by the Club’s written codes of conduct which includes what is acceptable and proper behaviour for all members of which the anti bullying is one part.
- Training on child protection issues shall be made available to all adult members, coaches, officials, lifeguards and parent volunteers through the Scottish Amateur Swimming Association.
This policy is based on guidance provided by:
- · the Scottish Amateur Swimming Association;
- · KIDSCAPE which is a voluntary organisation committed to help child bullying.
KIDSCAPE can be contacted on 0207 730 3300 or access to their website on www.kidscape.org.uk
You may also wish to access www.bullying.co.uk which is another website designed to give advice and guidance to parents and children who are faced with dealing with bullying.
