Code of Conduct to Protect Children
Guidelines for Appropriate Conduct between Adults and Children
Policy for Reporting Child Abuse or Misconduct
Supporting Participant’s Physical and Emotional Safety
Guidelines for Adults Interacting with Children in Sport
Adapted from commit2kids – C2K_CoachingAssocCanada_Interacting_en.pdf (commit2kids.ca)
Coaches are generally in a position of power and trust in a coach-athlete relationship, and it is expected that they model appropriate behavior that upholds public confidence. The responsibility is with the adult to establish and maintain appropriate boundaries with children.
Examples of Appropriate Behavior:
- Interactions with athletes are goal-oriented
- Interactions with athletes are outcome focused
- Supportive language, tone, and attitude toward others
- Model professional physical and emotional boundaries (know the line)
- Responsive to athlete’s needs and not engaging with the athlete to meet the adult’s needs
- Engaging with athletes in a manner that would be seen by a reasonable observer as maintaining reasonable boundaries
- Keeping practices open to observation by parents (transparent interactions)
- Communication with children (including electronic) is transparent and accountable and tied to the job description and professional qualifications
Examples of Inappropriate Behavior:
- Sexualized attention
- Humiliating or intimidating children
- Inappropriate touching of children (e.g., massaging, stroking, caressing, roughhousing, tickling)
- Confiding or sharing overly personal information with a child (e.g., sharing financial or relationship problems)
- Asking children to keep secrets
- Treating a child as an “adult” under the guise of maturity
- Creating an emotional dependency and isolating the athlete from other teammates/ staff/parents (e.g., pitting athlete against other teammates and/or against other athletic team staff)
- Electronic communication with athletes that is personal and not directly tied to coaching duties
- Communication that is excessive, not tied to work duties or athlete goals
- Pictures taken with personal devices or in change rooms
- Giving athletes inappropriate gifts
Communicating with Children
All interactions and activities with children should be (including electronic communication):
- Transparent – Accountable
- Tied to coaching/volunteer duties – In response to meeting the child’s needs
- Reflect a duty of care and protection
Policy for Reporting Child Abuse or Misconduct
It must be reported if a child discloses abuse or abuse is discovered; this includes disclosure of abuse outside the organization, a peer disclosing on behalf of another child, and an adult suspecting a child is abused.
If a coach/volunteer or parent receives a report of abuse or suspects abuse either experienced or observed, they must:
– Notify the coach, soccer director, or Whyte Ridge Community Center President
– Report abuse to a child welfare agency and/or a law enforcement agency
– Consult with child welfare about notifying parents.
Reporting suspected child abuse is mandatory under Manitoba’s Child and Family Services Act and failure to report may constitute an offense. This obligation to report applies even if the information is told in confidence.
Resources:
C2K_StepsForReportingChildAbuse_CAC_en.pdf (commit2kids.ca)
Province of Manitoba | fs – Reporting of child Protection and Child Abuse (gov.mb.ca)
Supporting Participant’s Physical and Emotional Safety
At the Whyte Ridge Community Center, we are focused on providing programming where all participants feel safe both physically and emotionally. We are committed to providing a respectful environment free from discrimination and harassment that respects diversity and inclusion. We aim to empower all participants to prevent abuse, bullying, and harassment.
Response requirements
If an incident occurs that jeopardizes a participant’s physical or emotional safety, it is essential to respond immediately in a calm respectful way. The incident can be handled by:
- Intervening immediately,
- Separating the individuals/groups involved
- Ensuring the mental and physical health needs of the individuals involved are met.
- Report the incident to a supervisor/director, to ensure that the participant feels supported and the issue has been appropriately addressed.
We are committed to providing a safe space where inappropriate behavior will not be tolerated. Supporting the well-being of the children and youth involved in the activities and programs delivered by the WRCC is our priority.
Rule of Two Policy
At Whyte Ridge Community Center we are committed to providing quality programming where the health and safety of our participants is the priority. The intention of the rule of two policy is to ensure all interactions between a coach and athlete are open, observable, and justifiable. This policy states that one-on-one situations between coach and athlete without another individual present must be avoided in all circumstances except medical emergencies.
WRCC is committed to ensuring our participants are in the safest possible environment with the highest standards and we are working towards having two screened and certified NCCP-trained or certified coaches always present with an athlete. If two NCCP coaches are not available, then one NCCP-trained coach and a second screened adult will be present. If this is not possible one NCCP-Trained coach and at least 2 athletes will be present. For the purpose of this policy, a person of authority is defined as an NCCP-trained or certified coach, a screened volunteer, or another adult.
The following standards have been developed to ensure we are adhering to the rule of 2 policy.
- A person of authority is never alone or out of sight with a participant.
- The training environment will be open to observation.
- Eliminate all one-to-one electronic messaging. Ensure all messages are sent to the group or include the parents/guardians.
- Interactions between a person of authority should not occur in any room where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy, such as a locker room, meeting room, washroom, or changing area. A second person of authority must be present if such interactions are necessary.
- A person of authority should never be alone with an athlete prior to the start or prior to a game or practice. A parent/guardian should be asked to stay until another athlete arrives prior to a game or practice. A person of authority should ask another person of authority, or another parent/guardian or athlete to stay if it is after a game/practice.
