Anti-Bullying Policy

It is important to recognise that bullying can and does affect all age groups from young children to the elderly. Likewise the bullies can and do come from all of the ages. Bullies come from all walks of life; they bully for a variety of reasons and may even have been abused themselves. Typically bullies can have low self-esteem, be aggressive, jealous and excitable. Crucially, they believe that they have learnt how to gain power over others.

Bullying can be defined as deliberate hurtful behaviour that can take its form both physically and verbally against another person, usually repeated over a period of time.

The damage inflicted by bullying can often be underestimated. It can cause considerable distress to those on the receiving end, in some cases affecting their health and development. In extreme circumstances it can lead to self-harm and in extreme cases even suicide.

At Shin Gi Tai Martial Arts Academy, we believe that any form of bullying is a form of physical / emotional abuse. We are not be afraid to call certain behaviour as just that – abuse. It is abhorrent and not something that we tolerate within the club. Members, parents /  carers, coaches and staff are all encouraged to reject bullying and be mindful of the bullies so that we can all work together to ensure a safe and positive environment to train and learn together.

Shin Gi Tai Martial Arts Academy

• recognises its duty of care and responsibility to safeguard all participants from harm
• promotes and implements this anti-bullying policy in addition to our safeguarding policy and procedures
• seeks to ensure that bullying behaviour is not accepted or condoned
• requires all members of the club/organisation to be given information about, and sign up to, this policy
• will take action to investigate and respond to any alleged incidents of bullying
• will encourage and facilitate children and young people to play an active part in developing and adopting a code of conduct to address bullying
• will ensure that coaches and staff are given access to information, guidance and/or training on bullying.

Each participant, coach, staff member, volunteer or official will:

• respect every child’s and adult’s need for, and rights to, an environment where safety, security, praise, recognition and opportunity for taking responsibility are available
• respect the feelings and views of others
• recognise that everyone is important and that our differences make each of us special and should be valued
• show appreciation of others by acknowledging individual qualities, contributions and progress
• be committed to the early identification of bullying, and prompt and collective action to deal with it
• ensure safety by having rules and practices carefully explained and displayed for all to see
• report all incidents of bullying they see – by doing nothing you are condoning bullying.

Bullying

• all forms of bullying will be addressed. Many forms of bullying relating to age, gender, ability, race, cultural background, religious beliefs or sexual identity have specific laws relating to them
• everybody in the club/organisation has a responsibility to work together to stop bullying
• bullying can include online as well as offline behaviour
• There are many types of bullying including: –

1. Physical: pushing, hitting, kicking or other types of violence and theft.
2. Verbal: name-calling, constant teasing, sarcasm, racist or homophobic taunts, threats and gestures.
3. Emotional: tormenting, mobile text messaging, ridiculing, humiliating or ostracising, through social media or other electronic means.
4. Sexual: unwanted physical contact or sexually abusive comments, use of camera phones to record images of players in changing rooms.
5. Racist: racial taunts, graffiti, gestures
6. Homophobic: because of, or focussing on the issue of sexuality
7. In a Martial Arts scenario bullying may occur when:
8. a parent/coach who pushes too hard.
9. parents/players who are emotionally bully about other participants both to them directly or ‘behind their back’
10. a parent/coach who adopts a win-at-all-costs philosophy.
11. a player who intimidates others.
12. an official who places unfair pressure on a person.
13. Coaches hold a position of power in the relationship with their athlete and must not abuse this position to bully those in their care.

Support to the child/adult

• members should know who will listen to and support them
• systems should be established to open the door to members wishing to talk about bullying or any other issue that affects them
• potential barriers to talking (including those associated with a child’s disability or impairment) need to be identified and addressed at the outset to enable children to approach adults for help
• members should have access to Helpline numbers (e.g. Childline 0800 1111 or NSPCC 0808 800 5000)
• anyone who reports an incident of bullying will be listened to carefully and be supported
• any reported incident of bullying will be investigated objectively and will involve listening carefully to all those involved
• members being bullied will be supported and assistance given to uphold their right to train, play and live in a safe environment which allows their healthy development
• those who bully will be supported and encouraged to stop bullying. If necessary we will take appropriate action to remove those bullying from the Club.

Support to the parents/guardians

• members, parents/guardians will be advised of the club/organisation’s bullying policy and practice
• any incident of bullying will be discussed with the child’s parent(s)/guardians
• parents will be consulted on action to be taken (for both victim and bully) and agreements made as to what action should be taken
• information and advice on coping with bullying will be made available
• support should be offered to the parent(s) including information on other agencies or support lines.

Traditional Martial Arts do not traditionally have a culture of bullying. In other words by trying to improve one’s self, one gains better understanding of one’s self and one becomes a better person with an understanding of others. True Martial Arts don’t bully, ever – it’s a not in our nature – we plan to keep it that way! 

Shin Gi Tai Martial Arts Academy can’t stress strongly enough how important it is that our members, staff, coaches, parents and volunteers abide by and promote our codes of conduct and mutual respect to ensure courtesy and respect are at the core of our traditional martial arts

19th October 2016