Skerries Rowing Club (SRC) believes that a primary role of the sport is to provide individuals with the ability to develop to their full rowing potential. Essential to this is provision of a safe learning environment, without fear of being bullied.
Bullying can result in psychological damage to those involved. It is an anti-social behaviour, which is unacceptable and will not be tolerated in the Skerries Rowing Club. If bullying does occur, this policy should outline the procedures for dealing with the situation. This policy applies to all within Rowing Ireland, Provincial Branches and Affiliated Clubs.
Aims of this policy are:
‘The repeated use of power by one or more persons intentionally to harm, hurt or adversely affect the rights or needs of another or others’.
The term bullying refers to a range of harmful behaviour, whether physical or psychological, and usually has the following four features:
Types of Bullying:
Emotional – Unfriendly, exclusion, torment (e.g. hiding belongings, threats, rumours)
Physical – Pushing, kicking, hitting, or any violence
Racist – Racial taunts, graffiti, gestures
Sexual – Unwanted physical contact or sexually abusive comments
Verbal – Calling names, sarcasm, rumours
Homophobic – Because of, or focussing on, sexuality
Cyberbullying – All types of internet and email misuse, threats by text, calls by mobile phone and other devices, misuse of technology e.g. camera and video.
Exclusion – less obvious. Person appears to be included but regularly excluded from group activity. Or given wrong information about activity, eg times of activity
Extortion – regularly extracting something from someone without returning the “favour” eg borrowing money, snacks, drinks etc
Gesture – a look, a signal, pulling a face, imitating the way someone walks, stands etc
Behaviour:
We need to learn that one person’s teasing may, to another, be unkind and even cruel. The way behaviour is received is important rather than what was intended.
A person can be bullying and subject to bullying, at the same time. Although some are vulnerable due to physical or social character, anyone can be bullied for any reason or for no reason. Individuals may resort to bullying for a range of reasons, and Skerries Rowing Club will support the bully as well as those who are bullied.
The rowing workforce – whether paid or voluntary – must be aware of how their actions are perceived and take care not to be accused of bullying. Such actions may include – :
People involved:
There may be several people involved in incidents of bullying behaviour, directly or indirectly having seen or heard about what is happening and these may be adults and/or young people.
There are four typical types:
Where bullying behaviour involves an adult:
The person in charge should ask to speak with the adult separately, away from any young people or other adults. The person in charge should describe the type of behaviour witnessed and the effect it is having on others, especially young people, highlighting the codes of conduct and the Anti-Bullying policy as reminders about acceptable behaviour. The adult should be asked to stop with such behaviour; if the behaviour is denied or does not change, the person in charge may need to issue an immediate sanction to protect young people or others.
Where bullying behaviour involves young people only:
The person in charge should talk with all the people involved in bullying behaviour as soon as they become aware of the issue and try to reach an agreement about what happened between those involved, highlighting the codes of conduct and the Anti-Bullying Promise as reminders about acceptable behaviour. An immediate sanction may be necessary to deal with the bullying behaviour.
Signs & Symptoms of someone being bullied:
Initial impacts of bullying often go un-noticed, but may be apparent in mood changes and attitudes. Those bullied often develop insecurity and anxiety. This can cause vulnerability, low self-confidence and self-esteem. Reluctance to discuss problems through fear of consequences, is common, and the workforce should be alert to this.
These may indicate that a person is being bullied:
Impact of bullying behaviour:
Bullying behaviour has an impact on everyone involved. For the person who is the target of bullying behaviour the effects can be felt psychologically and physiologically.
The person who is responsible for the bullying behaviour whilst often a popular person amongst their peers may also show signs of low self-esteem, show a lack of empathy and may have been labelled as a ‘troublemaker’ in the past.
If the person who is behaving in a bullying manner is an adult, other young people may be afraid to speak out because of the consequences, i.e. they may be afraid of not being picked for activities or left out of team selections.
Roles & Responsibilities within Skerries Rowing Club:
Anyone who is a target of bullies should not suffer in silence, but try to speak out, to end suffering by themselves and maybe others.
Everyone involved in rowing should work together to combat and, hopefully to reduce and put an end to bullying Employees will (Committee) – :
Rowers will –
Parents/Carers, Coaches and Assistants will:
Parents and the Club Children’s Officer should be informed of the issue by the person in charge and the way it was dealt with including any action necessary if the behaviour continues. It is better to sort issues immediately and quickly and we expect parents and adults to be supportive of this process. The person in charge should also observe the group/individuals to ensure the bullying behaviour does not continue.
The person in charge may also submit a disciplinary report to the complaints and disciplinary committee of the Club or to the Skerries Rowing Club Designated Childrens Officer.
Prevent bullying from taking place:
Skerries Rowing Club will –
Rowing crew/squad –
Dealing with incidents of bullying behaviour:
Skerries Rowing Club’s aim in the process below is to support the person suffering the bullying behaviour, and to focus on changing the behaviour of those displaying bullying behaviour.
Where bullying behaviour involves an adult:
The behaviour of an adult may be dealt with through an informal complaints process. However, where a young person is involved the Club Children’s Officer should talk with the young person and parent to find out what happened. The Club Children’s Officer role is to support the young person in ensuring the matter is dealt with appropriately. An informal process is preferable to the formal process, where a resolution can be reached to the benefit of any young person involved. The processes are detailed in the Rowing Ireland Complaints and Disciplinary Procedures.
Where bullying behaviour involves young people only:
If an issue has not been resolved or continues after an attempt to resolve the behaviour at the time, or a report is received after an event the information should be passed to the CCO.
Often it will require a coach or other person in charge, e.g. a team manager and the CCO to work together to resolve an issue.
The CCO will need to know who is involved i.e. the person or group who have allegedly behaved in a bullying manner, the target of the behaviour and any others who may have been present at the time, i.e. the bystanders. The bullying behaviour should be assessed based on:
How an alleged bullying incident should be handled.
Three steps to deal with incidents of bullying are:
When a bullying incident is reported, remember:
Step 1 – Interviewing the individuals involved:
The person alleged to have been bullied:
The person who allegedly displayed the bullying behaviour j. Interview the person along with any bystanders
Step 2. Provide support for the individuals involved:
The person alleged to have been bullied:
The person who allegedly displayed the bullying behaviour:
For the workforce member
Step 3 – Conduct a review meeting. (After suitable period e.g. 3-6 weeks.):
Summary for immediate response:
The person in charge of the group should always try to stop bullying behaviour as quickly as possible
Use of sanctions:
If bullying behaviour cannot be resolved through the No Blame ( See below) approach the issue should be sent forward as a disciplinary matter through the correct process to the Complaints and Disciplinary Committee. The Complaints and Disciplinary Committee will deal with the matter through the Rowing Ireland Complaints and Disciplinary procedures and may issue sanctions depending on their findings
Restorative approach with young people:
The preferred method to deal with reports of bullying behaviour is the No Blame approach to resolve the behaviour. This can help to restore or repair a previously positive relationship and allows the young people involved to consider their feelings, their behaviour and the effects of bullying behaviour on everyone.
The No Blame approach
The NO BLAME approach seeks a resolution for young people involved in bullying behaviour whilst maintaining their relationship within their peer group. Young people involved often want certain behaviours to stop, without a need for punishments to be imposed. This approach is often difficult for adults to reconcile, often wanting punishments to be handed out. The guidance should be taken from young people involved.
The NO BLAME approach encourages young people to recognise the impact of their behaviour and to take responsibility for changing it. Using this approach, a previous relationship between individuals or within a team may be re-established and this is often the preferred option for the young people involved.
The ethos behind the NO BLAME approach is to:
The NO BLAME approach does not attempt to get ‘confessions’, it seeks to get an acknowledgment of behaviour and provides an opportunity for young people to change hurtful behaviour.
There may be issues that are not resolved through the NO BLAME approach, where behaviour continues.
Bullying behaviour is a breach of a code of conduct and may have to be dealt with through a disciplinary process. However, the outcome for young people is far better when issues can be resolved through such a restorative practice.
Applying the NO BLAME Approach:
Step 1: Meet with young person who is the target of the bullying behaviour
If there has been an incident of bullying behaviour talk to the young person who is the target of the behaviour. Find out who is involved and what the young person is now feeling.
Try asking the following questions:
Step 2: Meet with all involved – including those who appear responsible for the bullying behaviour, some of the backup and audience participants. This does necessarily need to be a whole squad. Meet the individuals informally or if meeting with the group, it will be necessary to get everyone’s points of view and their suggested solutions.
Step 3: Explain the problem at the meeting ie it appears there is something going on in general terms without apportioning blame, e.g. you might suggest the target of the bullying behaviour doesn’t seem to be happy, and you have heard they have been called names/left out/picked on etc.
Ask questions like:
Do not use specific details of the incident or allocate blame; however, explain how that person might be feeling e.g. loneliness, feeling left out, being rejected, laughed at. Listen and watch out for reactions and pick up on comments without accusing or isolating anyone. This is an opportunity to find out how others feel about bullying behaviour.
Step 4: Ask the group/individual for their ideas. The final outcome of the meeting is to seek suggestions that would make a target of the bullying behaviour feel happier.
Step 5: Leave it to the group or individual. Hand the issue to the group to take the suggested actions forward and arrange to meet again a certain time frame. The responsibility is now with the group of individuals to put the suggested actions in place 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 Anti-Bullying Policy should be reinforced regularly. This encourages a team or squad to look after each other and that bullying behaviour will not be tolerated. 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.