Body safety in community / sports orgs

Tara Broughan Author

This is a template for asking your local club or organisation about the child safety policy and culture.

Dear School/ Sports / group/ kindergarten, child care,

Thank you for having a Child name in the Name of organisation. We enrolled with you because of XYZ (this is the bread of your sh*t sandwich. Be authentic, why are they great, why did you pick them/ trust them).

Whenever we enrol somewhere new we ask questions around child protection for our own child's safety and to be an advocate for the safety of all children.

OR

I have recently been learning about   the startling prevalence of childhood sexual abuse. It also empowered our family with tools to create more safety for Child name and all children in our community. It is with this in mind that I am curious to know:

• What is your child protection policy, may I have a copy?
• What guidelines or rules do staff follow with child protection in mind?
• Are adults ever 1:1 with a child?
• Are bathrooms/ change rooms for staff and children separate?
• Who trains your staff on the child protection policy and how to respond if they are concerned about a child?
• Who and how often are your staff trained in how to be a safe adult with children?
• What would staff do if a child disclosed abuse or concerning information?
• Are children advised of the child safety rules in this organisation? By who and how often?
• Who can children talk to if they feel uncomfortable with one of the team? What will that person do with the information? How are invitations made for children to share this discomfort?
• Does this organisation/school practice a culture of body autonomy and consent? That is that children are able to say yes or no to who touches their body and what they do with their body.
• If a child refuses to participate or meet expectations, how do the teachers/ coaches respond? Who do they talk to if they are feel unfairly or unsafely treated?
• Do children have a role in decision making in the organisation?

We love all the ways you educate / coach our child/ren thank you for supporting us as we learn more about child safety and the work we can all do to reduce the numbers of children experiencing abuse and increase the numbers of children seeking support in all the safe organisations they attend.

With thanks,

Parent/ Carer

Categories: : Child protection