The Children and Young People Safe Practices exist to identify and prevent behaviour that may be harmful to children and young people participating in sport. The Practices are defined in our Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy, so compliance with them is compulsory (as well as being a vital step in protecting children in sailing).

In this series of articles, we'll look at some of the Practices and give some practical tips on implementing the Practices around your club. All of these tips come from the Children and Young People Safe Practices Do's & Don'ts booklet published by Sport Integrity Australia.

This article focuses on changing rooms, a common area of concern in sailing clubs. Children and young people are particularly vulnerable in changing rooms due in part to various stages of dress/undress and because they are isolated areas. There is also a risk of peer on peer child or young person problems, such as bullying if the changing room is left unsupervised.

Do

• Encourage participants to arrive dressed and ready for sailing, especially if no private changing rooms are available.
• Provide safe and private changing room facilities where possible.
• Maintain appropriate supervision whilst also ensuring the child and young person’s right to privacy.
• Knock or announce yourself and wait for approval before entering changing rooms.
• Have at least one other authorised adult with you in a changing room whenever children and young people are present.
• Implement a buddy system in the absence of adult supervision to accompany a child or young person to the bathroom (for example, children or young people can nominate 2 or more ‘buddies’ of a similar age and gender who can go with them).
• Get changed in an individual closed cubicle.
• Make every effort to recognise when a child or young person goes to the changing room during practice and competition and, if they do not return in a timely fashion, check on their whereabouts.

Don't

• Undress, get changed or shower at the same time as supervising groups of children or young people.
• Be alone and unsupervised with a child or young person in a changing room area.
• Enter a changing room of the wrong gender.
• Use a camera or recording device in a changing room.
• Use bathroom facilities at the same time as a child or young person.
• Unnecessarily allow parents/carers into changing room unless a child or young person requires physical help getting changed (for example, younger children or children/young people with disabilities).
• Place pressure on a child or young person to change and/or shower in public if they feel uncomfortable to do so.

The Child and Young Person Safe Practices are a helpful set of practical guidelines to help keep everyone safe.

To read the Children and Young People Safe Practices Do's & Don'ts booklet, click here.
If you need to report a breach of the Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy, click here.
If you have any questions about Safeguarding, contact your local Club Support team.

By Michael Arnold, National Officiating and Integrity Lead.