England Netball and Bullying
Bullying can be an issue in all walks of life and netball is no different.
The England Netball Youth Advisory Group defines bullying as behaviour by an individual or group that makes another individual or group feel victimised. This can be physical, emotional, verbal or via electronic communication. Anyone within netball can be a bully or be bullied (players, coaches, parents, spectators, umpires and volunteers).
- Bullying within a netball context could be:
- Unwanted physical contact
- Slander or spreading rumours about someone
- Doing something to someone that you wouldn’t want done to yourself
- Making a player feel isolated or uncomfortable
- Ridiculing or making fun of someone
- Putting players under undue pressure
- Leaking confidential or personal information
- Inter club rivalries that lead to unhealthy competition
More recently cyber bullying has become an issue where young people can be bullied over the internet either by inappropriate comments, uncomfortable pictures being distributed or lies and gossip being spread.
To view the England Netball policy on anti-bullying and how to implement it in your club please click here
We have though been trawling the internet and looking for some good resources to get us and you, the young player thinking about bullying, possible consequences, and more importantly where you can go for more help.
Make an Anti Bullying poster for your Club or School
Make an Anti Bullying poster
Bullying UK website (formerly bullying online)
You can create your own anti-bullying poster for your club or school. Firstly, you find the background (there isnt a specific netball one but there is one in a playground which looks suspiciously like a netball court to us!) Then you add characters, give them features, even an ipod and glasses and then add appropriate speech bubbles. The great thing is then you print it for free, check you have colour in your ink cartridges first, but we had loads of fun with this!
While you are on the website, have a read of the tips there too. There is lots of information neatly grouped together for parents, schools and young people. Please click here for the young people section.
Why not watch some anti-bullying video clips?
We have found these clips pretty interesting. They are from the Child Protection in Sport Unit and cover not just bullying but also the pushy parent and other potential issues that may arise.
Watch these videos and see if any of these ring any bells with you in your situation?
We found these ones particularly interesting for netball:
Anti-Bullying
Pushy Parents
Set your privacy settings on your social network page;
Staying Safe Online
For specific advice about being safe online please look at this link above but it goes without saying:
-
do not accept people as friends on your page if you do not know them (even if they are a friend of a friend, just ignore the request)
- do not make comments online you would not normally make to someones face
- think about the personal information you put online and that includes photos!
A good place to look for more information is the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, (CEOP) website: thinkuknow.co.uk
On the home page you visit the area according to your age:
5 -7 yrs
8-10 yrs
11-16 yrs
Read some top tips, play some games and get some advice on having fun on the internet while staying safe.
Play some internet awareness games online,
click here to link to the games on CEOP.
Report anything of concern.
Remember if anything is troubling you then please talk to someone: Your Club Safeguarding Officer, your parents or another adult you can trust
EN Lead Child Protection Officer:
besafe@englandnetball.co.uk
Childline: 0800 1111
And for any issue over the internet: Please visit the
CEOP website