Bullying is behaviour, usually repeated over time, that intentionally hurts another individual or group; physically or emotionally. The damage inflicted by bullying can frequently be underestimated. It can cause considerable distress to children and young people, to the extent that it affects their health and development or, at the extreme, causes them significant harm (including self- harm).
Bullying can occur between: –
- An adult (coach or official) and child (gymnast)
- Two or more children
- A parent and child
- An adult (eg coach to coach, parent to coach, coach to parent)
We have a zero-tolerance policy towards bullying, a duty to respond quickly to allegations, and to deal with all incidents effectively. No strategy will be effective unless the children, the club and parents are prepared to talk about bullying openly and seriously and work together to eliminate all occurrences of anti-social behaviour. It is central to our club ethos that all staff and volunteers should treat the members, parents and guardians of members, each other and the facility with respect and that all club members and their parents and guardians do the same. Bullying is not acceptable in any form.
There are different sorts of bullying, but the main types are: –
- Physical: hitting, kicking, taking or hiding belongings including money
- Verbal: name calling, teasing, insulting, swearing, writing unkind notes
- Emotional: being unfriendly, excluding, tormenting, spreading rumours, unkind or intimidating looks or conversation.
- Sexual: unwanted physical contact or sexually offensive comment/s, or because of their sexual orientation, or perceived, or actual gender identity.
- Racist and religious based bullying.
- Disablist: may focus on, or exploit, a particular aspect of the individual’s disability.
- Cyber: email, social media and internet chat room misuse, mobile phone threats by text messaging and calls or misuse of technology (ie photographs/ video footage).
Please note, as a club we DO NOT get involved in social media arguments between gymnasts that relate to friendships/personality clashes. This is deemed to be ‘outside the gym’. Social media messaging brought to our attention that brings discord into the club by way of negative discussions about relative skills, ability, groups choices or spreading discord within a group may result in sanctions. This would include ‘passing on’ a message that had been sent about a gymnast’s skills/ability to another gymnast, where that message would cause hurt and upset. Social media posts negatively naming or aimed at bringing a coach or gymnast, or the club or an official, into disrepute by a current member would fall into our bullying criteria and would be dealt with accordingly.
In the event of an allegation of bullying, the club will take any or all of the following steps and/or any other step deemed suitable: –
- Informal discussion and/or warning with the gymnast and/or their parent.
- Formal warnings including suspension where necessary in order to investigate allegations in a timely and non-threatening manner.
- Sanctions and disciplinary actions, including moving the bully to another group, suspension or exclusion.
The safeguarding of our gymnasts and our reputation as a safe and well-run club is a priority and we therefore reserve the right to withdraw membership of Meridian Gymnastics Club from anyone who does not uphold our club ethos and values. Specifically, if a member indulges in repeated bullying behaviour, they will no longer be allowed to attend their class or squad and we will not be obliged to find alternative provision within the club for them.