ANTI BULLYING POLICY

Welwyn United are committed to providing a caring, friendly and safe environment for all of our members so they can participate in football in a relaxed and secure atmosphere. Bullying of any kind is unacceptable at our club. If bullying does occur, all club members or parents should be able to tell and know that incidents will be dealt with promptly and anyone who knows that bullying is happening is expected. This club is committed to playing its part to teach players to treat each other with respect.

1. Definition of Bullying

Bullying is the use of aggression with the intention of hurting another person. Bullying results in pain and distress to the victim.

Bullying can be:

• Emotional;

• Physical;

• Sexual;

• Discrimination; and

• Verbal.

Further acts of bullying include:

Cyberbullying – This is where a person uses technology or the internet to deliberately upset someone.

Trolling – This is the name given to posting deliberately offensive comments on social media aimed at causing upset and distress.

2. Our Commitment

Welwyn United commits to ensuring our social networking pages are being used appropriately and any online bullying will be dealt with swiftly and appropriately in line with procedures detailed in this policy.

All issues of bullying are to be reported to the Club Welfare Officer and they will be dealt with in accordance with the action in section 6 of this policy.

Why is it important to respond to bullying?

As a club we know that bullying is hurtful and affects people in different ways. No one deserves to be a victim of bullying. Everybody has the right to be treated with respect and dignity. Those who are the bullies need to learn how to act and behave in different ways and learn to treat their peers with respect. The club has a responsibility to respond promptly and effectively to issues of bullying.

3. Objectives of this Policy

(a) For all club members, coaches, officials, parents and players to have an understanding of what bullying is;

(b) All club members, official and coaching staff should know what the club policy is on bullying, and follow it when bullying is reported;

(d) As a club we take bullying seriously. Players and parents should be assured that they would be supported when bullying is reported; and

(e) Bullying will not be tolerated within our club.

4. Signs and Indicators

A child may indicate by signs or behaviour that they are being bullied. If any club member, coach, parent, player or other member of the club notices any concerning signs or indicators of bullying, they should contact the Club Welfare Officer who will assist in investigating the matter further.

5. Bullying as a result of any form of discrimination

Bullying because of discrimination occurs when bullying is motivated by a prejudice against certain people or groups of people. This may be because of their gender, age, race, nationality, ethnic origin, religion or belief, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, disability or ability.

Generally, these forms of bullying look like other sorts of bullying, but in particular it can include:

Verbal abuse;
Physical abuse; and
Cyberbullying.

Discriminatory language will not be tolerated in our club.

6. Action

The Club Welfare Officer or Club Official will arrange to speak with the parents/carers regarding the incident. This will include providing support for all parties involved.

Where possible, the Club will try and reconcile the issue firstly and liaise with coaches, parents and players to resolve and rectify the issues that have been raised.

If this is not possible or appropriate, the committee will make a decision. The committee will then issue any warnings or sanctions that are appropriate in the circumstances.

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