Every child has the right to experience sport and activities in a safe environment, free from bullying and abuse. As in many contexts, bullying can and does occur in sport. All sport and activity providers have an important role to play in creating a positive culture that opposes bullying.
Understanding bullying behaviour
TheAnti-Bullying Alliance defines bullying as:
"The repetitive and intentional harassment of one person or group by another person or group, where the relationship involves an imbalance of power. Bullying can be physical, verbal or psychological. It can occur face-to-face or virtually."
Bullying can affect people of any age, and can occur anywhere: at home, at school, in a sports club or activity, or when using online platforms, games or technologies (cyberbullying).
Examples of bullying include looking at someone the wrong way or teasing them constantly, saying nasty things about someone behind their back, harassing someone because of their race, sex, religion, gender or disability, hurting someone physically repeatedly or excluding someone from a group.
What club committees can do
Sports clubs must adopt a zero-tolerance approach to bullying. Committees have a responsibility to take action to prevent bullying in sport and deal with it if it does occur.
Club committees can follow a few key steps to create safe and fair clubs. These are essential foundations for preventing harassment and other problems:
- Have a good understanding of what moral harassment is.
- Know your sport's existing policies in this area and promote them frequently to members, e.g. member protection policy and/or codes of conduct.
- Ask committee members, volunteers and club members to take training on discrimination and harassment.
- Lead by example - create a bullying-free culture by dealing with problems promptly and continually educating members on appropriate behavior.
- Demonstrate your positive approach by obtaining certification - Anti-Bullying Management System according to UNI/PDR 42:2018.
What is UNI/PDR 42:2018 certification?
Certification in line with UNI/PdR 42:2018 is the result of a standard published in August 2018 and drafted in collaboration between UNI, ACCREDIA and the main Italian associations that refer to the school system. The aim of this certification is to provide a tool that guarantees stakeholders, first and foremost families, that the school or organization has taken concrete measures capable of minimizing the risks to which minors are exposed in terms of bullying and cyberbullying.
This reference practice aims to implement appropriate measures to ensure respect for the best interests of the child, as clearly stated at international level by the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This objective can only be achieved if the main educational players - the family, the school and any other organization dealing with minors - carry out their educational mission in a way that takes into account the socio-existential reality of those for whom their activities are intended.
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