This month's blog considers online safety; what it means to keep yourself and others safe?
For sports organisations and activity providers, the role of safeguarding should continue into the digital world.
Using websites and social media platforms to promote your sport or organisation can have many benefits, such as encouraging a team ethos, sharing information or news to participants, listening to the voices of children and young people, and attracting new club members.
But there are online safeguarding risks that you need to be aware of:
Exposure to inappropriate content: This includes pornography, violent content, and material promoting the use of harmful substances like illegal drugs, alcohol, cigarettes or vapes, self-harm or eating disorders
Online predators: Children may be targeted by individuals seeking to exploit them. This could include being encouraged to create or share inappropriate or harmful material of themselves or others, including sexting (sexual messages, images or videos). It could also include inappropriate relationships between adults in positions of trust or influence
Cyberbullying: The anonymity of the internet can lead to bullying, harassment, and intimidation, trolling or berating by peers and people considered as ‘friends’
Privacy risks: Sharing personal information online, such as on social media, can lead to identity theft or unwanted contact
Radicalisation: Exposure to extremist content can influence young minds
Financial Risks: Children might be enticed into gambling or making in-app purchases that can lead to significant expenses
So, what can you do as a club to help create a safer online environment within your setting?
Social media: Create a clear and consistent tone for the content you post on your club social media accounts. It needs to feel welcoming and accepting of all and have clear guidelines regarding acceptable use for staff, volunteers, parents, children, and young people
Code of Conduct: Ensure your code references online behaviour
Communication via social media: There should be no one-to-one communication between an adult and a junior on social media (including WhatsApp and any other messaging platforms). Contact between adults/juniors should take place within groups or via parents and/or carers, guardians
Using a sports team management app like Spond: Conduct a risk assessment specific to the application you are using. Ensure that only authorised staff have access to communication features and that no direct one-to-one communication takes place. You can often involve parents/carers within chat functions on sport management apps. You should promote the safety and security features in any application that you use (such as hiding the details and disabling any location services of children U18) and advise users of how to report a concern
Messaging apps: Clubs need to think about how they use these apps alongside public pages and profiles and how the use differs from those on public platforms
Remember
Messages should never be sent privately.
Any groups must have very clear rules, boundaries and guidelines regarding what is acceptable to be shared
Any group should be monitored by at least two club representatives. It is best practice that your Club Welfare Officer is involved in chats to help spot any inappropriate content
Clubs must be aware of the risk to young people by using apps such as WhatsApp due to privacy and encryption.These private messages could be used to bully or intimidate young people, expose them to inappropriate content, reveal personal data or groom them for abuse
What should you do if you have a concern about how a Basketball England member has behaved online?
Online safeguarding concerns should be dealt with in the same way as any other safeguarding concern, please report this to your Club Welfare Officer or the Basketball England safeguarding team.
