NO BLAME APPROACH

STEP 1: MEET WITH THE JUNIOR WHO IS THE TARGET OF THE BULLYING BEHAVIOUR

If you find that there has been an incident of bullying behaviour, first talk to the young person who is the target of the behaviour. At this stage find out who was involved and what the young person is now feeling. Try asking the following questions:

What was the behaviour that has caused upset?
Are you emotionally/physically hurt and/or how are you feeling?
Who was involved in the behaviour, i.e. was it in your own peer group?
When and where did it happen?
Make sure you actively listen and advise the young person of the next steps that will be taken

STEP 2: MEET WITH ALL INVOLVED

Arrange to meet with all those involved; this should include those who initiated the bullying behaviour, some of the backup and if necessary you might want to ask the audience.

The meeting should be informal, and it is better to try to meet the individuals before meeting as a group. If you meet with a group keep

the number controllable and you should only deal with the topic. Make sure everyone knows you are there to get their point of view and find their solutions.

STEP 3: EXPLAIN THE PROBLEM

Talk about the hurt caused in general terms without apportioning blame, e.g. you might suggest the target of the bullying behaviour doesn’t seem to be happy in the club, and you have heard they have been called names/left out/picked on etc. It might be helpful to ask questions like:

What do you think they are feeling?
How would you feel if it was you?
What would you do if it happened to you?
What could we do to see it does not happen again?

You should not use specific details of the incident or allocate blame, however explain the feelings of loneliness, feeling left out, being rejected, laughed at and how that the person may be feeling.

Listen and watch out for reactions and pick up on comments without accusing or if in a group without isolating anyone; this is an opportunity to find out how others in the group feel about bullying behaviour.

STEP 4: ASK THE GROUP/INDIVIDUAL FOR THEIR IDEAS

At this stage the group or individual is encouraged to suggest ways that would make a target of the bullying behaviour feel happier. Use

phrases like: “if it were you what would help you….”, to encourage a response.

Listen to all suggestions and note them, especially positive responses as these will help create an environment for young people

involved to work together.

STEP 5: LEAVE IT TO THE GROUP OR INDIVIDUAL

Now the problem has been identified and solutions suggest it is now handed over to the group/individual to act on. Arrange what actions they will take and to meet again a certain time frame. You have now passed the responsibility over to the group or the individual to take the suggested action within that time.

STEP 6: MEET THEM AGAIN

Meet everyone, including the person who had been responsible for the bullying behaviour and the target of the behaviour; discuss how

things are going and check if there have been other incidents.

This allows for continual monitoring and keeps everyone involved in the process. The parents of the young people involved should be informed of the actions taken.

STEP 7: SHARE THE RESPONSIBILITY

Meet with the wider group or team to discuss what should be in place to help prevent further incidents and what impact bullying behaviour may have on everyone, e.g. less free time or social activities, or other actions might need to be imposed as a preventative measure.

Any action should be used in the spirit of prevention, not as a punishment.

Useful Contacts

Childline ROI Tel: 1800 66 66 66 or Text Talk to 50101 www.childline.ie

Photographic Image Guidelines

Using photographs and videos of children and young people in Rush Golf Club for publication, promotion, press, or for coaching purposes.

This guidance is for anyone with responsibility for developing policies and procedures about the use and publication of official photography (including videos) of children involved in sports activities or events.

Golf clubs benefit from using images of young participants to promote and celebrate activities, events and competitions. Parents and children generally welcome opportunities to celebrate or publicise their achievements. Some sports coaches may want to use photographs or videos as a tool to support a young athlete’s skill development.

However, the use of photos and videos on websites and social media, and in posters, the press or other publications, can pose direct and indirect risks to children and young people if not managed correctly.

Organisations wishing to use or permit the use of images of children involved in their activities must therefore have a policy in place to safeguard them.

What are the risks?

Children may be identified, located, groomed2 or contacted

Including the child's personal identity (full name, address) can make them identifiable and therefore vulnerable to individuals looking to locate, contact and 'groom' children for abuse.

Even if these details are kept confidential, any other details accompanying the images (such as the organisation, school or club they belong to, or their favourite sports person or team) can also be used to groom the child.

This also increases the risk of identification of, and contact with, a child by someone in circumstances where there are legal restrictions or this could otherwise be potentially harmful. For example if the child is in statutory care or placed in an adoptive family; or where it is potentially dangerous to reveal the child’s whereabouts to an estranged parent due to previous concerns about domestic violence.

Taking or producing inappropriate or illegal images of children

Photo or video content may themselves be inappropriate (for example images of children changing); or images may be used inappropriately, or out of context. Images can easily be copied and adapted, perhaps to create child abuse images, which can then find their way into the public domain on websites or social media.

Potential impact on children affected

The effects on children and young people of grooming or sexually abusive experiences can be devastating and life changing. Young people who have experienced online grooming or whose images have been misused and/or shared through social media often find this as traumatic and damaging as other, more direct, forms of sexual abuse.

There have been instances where identification of children through images and information appearing in public media have resulted in the breakdown of children’s foster or adoptive family placements due to the intervention of adults who have subsequently traced them. Some children have also been put at risk when identified and traced by adults (known to them or not) with bad intent.

2 The term “grooming” refers to the process of a potential abuser using their knowledge of and/or relationship with a child to manipulate the child (and often adults around them) in order to create opportunities for sexually abusive behaviour.

How can the risks be minimised?

Think carefully before using any images showing children and young people on your website, social media, or in your publications.
Establish the type of images that present the activity in a positive light, and promote the best aspects of the sport and organisation.
Avoid supplying the full name(s) of the child or children along with the image(s), unless this is considered necessary, is in the child’s best interests, and the child and parent have consented.
Only use images of children in suitable dress/kit.
Where possible images of these activities should:
- focus on the activity rather than a particular child
- avoid images and camera angles that may be more prone to misinterpretation or misuse than others.
Consider using models or illustrations if you are promoting an activity, rather than the children who are actually involved in it.
Link to guidance on talented young athletes and open, public sites (below)
Provide coaches who wish to use images of young athletes for development purposes with clear guidelines they are required to comply with. Cover: consents, retention, safe storage, confidentiality, and use.

What to do when using official/professional photographers

Ensure that children and parents are aware that a photographer will be active at the event, and consent has been obtained.

Check the photographer’s identity, the validity of their role, and the purpose/use of the images to be taken.

Issue the photographer with identification, which must be worn at all times.

Provide the photographer with a clear brief about what is considered appropriate in terms of image content and their behaviour (as above)*.

Clarify areas where all photography is prohibited (toilets, changing areas, and so on)

Inform the photographer about how to identify and avoid taking images of children without the required parental photography consent (this will depend on the process in place at each event) *.

Do not allow unsupervised access to children or one-to-one photo sessions at events*. Do not allow photo sessions away from the event, for instance at a young person's home*.

Clarify issues about ownership of and access to all images, and for how long they will be retained and/or used

*(establish/clarify during commissioning/contracting process).

Do I need parental permission?

Close up images

Organisers should seek parents’ consent to take and use images of individual or smaller groups of participants in which their child

would easily be recognisable.

Parents should understand how, where and in what context an image may be used (for example on a public website, through social media, or in a printed resource).

They should be aware of and support your policy on using children's images, and of the way these represent the organisation or activity.

This can be recorded on a parental consent form for use of images of children, possibly as part of the process for registering and

consenting the child’s participation in the activity/event.

You should also ask for the child's permission to use their image. This ensures that they are aware of the way the image is to be used to represent the activity. A children's permission form is one way of recording their consent.

Examples of consent forms are available on the Child Protection in Sport Unit website.

When using a photographer (even if this is undertaken by someone already involved in the club or activity) inform parents and children that a photographer will be in attendance and ensure they consent to both the taking and publication of films or photos.

General (e.g. wide angle) images of events

At many events organisers will quite reasonably wish to take wide angle, more general, images of the event, site/s, opening and closing ceremonies, and so on. It is usually not reasonable, practical or proportionate to secure consents for every participating child in order to take such images, or to preclude such photography on the basis of the concerns of a small number of parents.

In these circumstances organisers should (before and during the event) make clear to all participants and parents that these kinds of images will be taken, and for what purposes.

Talented young athletes

As young athletes progress up the competitive ladder within their sport, elite level events are increasingly likely to take place in a public

arena. Event organisers and golfing organisation will quite reasonably seek publicity to positively promote their activity, and elite young athletes receiving endorsements or sponsorship may well welcome positive media coverage on a local, regional or national level.

In this case some aspects of the guidance around the use of images detailed above (for example avoiding the inclusion of names and some other personal details alongside photographs) are neither practical nor desirable. Organisers retain their duty of care to these athletes and a responsibility to safeguard them, and must ensure that parents and young athletes understand and consent to images being taken and information used in these circumstances.

It is important that other practice guidance (for example about the nature, content and use of images; and about ensuring that photography sessions are supervised) are still considered and applied. It is important for the athletes, their parents and media representatives to be clear about appropriate arrangements and ground rules for interviews, filming and photo sessions.

Young elite athletes and their parents will be supported by the golfing organisations and prepared to manage these and a range of other issues (including safeguarding concerns) that may arise as a result of their sporting success and increased public profile.

Parents of high performance young people should contact their golfing union for, guidance and support to help athletes manage the media, for example in planning for media interviews.

When parental consent is not given

Organisers have a responsibility to put in place arrangements to ensure that any official/professional photographers can identify or be informed about which children should not be subject to close-up photography.

This could involve providing some type of recognisable badge, sticker or wrist band (perhaps a different colour to ‘consented’ young people – ideally something easily recognisable but not stigmatising for the child), and/or a system for photographers to check with the activity organiser and/or team manager to clarify which groups or individuals should not feature in images. It must be emphasised to any photographer that the use of images with these ‘unconsented’ children included will not be permitted.

How should I respond to concerns?

All staff, volunteers, children and parents should be informed that if they have any concerns regarding inappropriate or intrusive photography (in terms of the way, by whom, or where photography is being undertaken), these should be reported to the event organiser or another official.

There must be an appropriate safeguarding policy and procedure in place to ensure that any reported concerns are dealt with in the same way as any other child protection issue, ensuring that your club/event or lead child protection or safeguarding officer is informed. If there are concerns or suspicions about potentially criminal behaviour this should include referral to the police.

Concerns about professional photographers should also be reported to their employers

Useful Contacts

Rush Golf Club Children’s Officer - Paul Murphy +353 85 711 7292

Rush Golf Club DLP – Marie-Louise Brennan +353 87 269 0292

CGI National Children’s Officer & DLP Fiona Power fiona@cgigolf.org +353(0)1 505 2070

GUI National Children’s Officer & DLP Barbara Creggy barbara@gui.ie +353(0)1 505 4000

ILGU National Children’s Officer & DLP Audrey Quinn audrey@ilgu.ie +353(0)1 293 4833

PGA Lead Compliance and Safeguarding Officer Andy Wright andy.wright@pga.org.uk +44(0)1675 477 897

ISPCC/Childine www.childline.ie 1800 66 66 66

An Garda Síochána www.garda.ie 999 or 112

Contact details for Social Workers

Dublin North East Eilidh MacNab

Child and Family Agency, 180-189 Lakeshore Drive, Airside Business Park, Swords, Co Dublin.

Tel: 01-8708000 eilidh.macnab@tusla.ie

Dublin North City Joy McGlynn

Child and Family Agency, Ballymun Healthcare Facility, Ballymun Civic Centre, Dublin 9.

Tel 01-8467129 joy.mcglynn@tusla.ie