The British Aikido Board - child protection for juniors

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Help and advice for young people in aikido

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Don't let anyone spoil the fun

Aikido is fun - it gives you the opportunity to make new friends, try out a martial art and amaze yourself with what you can do!

But for a few children the fun is spoilt by adults who do or say things during aikido that hurt or frighten them. What these children are experiencing may be abuse. And they may feel they have no one to talk to about it. Or that no one will listen to them or believe what they say.

Is something at aikido worrying you? Are you scared about someone?

If you think that you may be being abused, or if you're not sure but feel worried and frightened, these pages will:

help you understand what child abuse is

explain what to do if you are being abused or are worried about someone at your aikido club

tell you about some special helplines and give you links to other websites that will listen to you and give you helpful advice.

Don't keep it to yourself

If you think you are being abused, or have been in the past, it's really important to tell an adult you trust.

This isn't easy. You may feel worried about what will happen if you do. Here are some other reasons why you may not want to tell anyone:

the person that hurt or worried you may have told you to keep quiet and not to talk to anybody
they may have threatened you about what might happen to you or your place in the team if you tell
they may have made threats about your friends or family
they may have said "No one will believe you" or "No one will do anything if you tell"
you may feel guilty that you didn’t stop the abuse happening
the person may be someone who everyone in your aikido looks up to - perhaps including your parents
you may not want to let your parents down
you may even think the problem will go away if you ignore it.

Don't let any of these things stop you getting help. By telling someone, you can stop the abuse. You'll also be helping to protect other children from the abuser.

How to get help

Tell an adult you trust as soon as possible. This could be: a parent or someone else in your family; another member at the aikido club for example the club welfare officer; a teacher or school counsellor; your doctor or school nurse.

If you have any problems please contact your Association Child Protection Officer (look on your association website for there name) or contact Sue Ward, the BAB Lead Safeguarding Officer on 01271 343952 If Sue is not immediately available please leave a message and she will call you back.
You can also email -
Make sure you are not alone again with the person who has tried to harm you.
If you think you might be hurt right now, contact the police on 999.
You can ring the NSPCC's 24 hour free phone helpline

Telephone:             0808 800 5000
Asian Helpline:      0808 096 7719
Welsh Helpline:    0808 100 2524
Textphone:             0800 056 0686 (for deaf users)
Website:                 www.nspcc.org.uk
You can also contact the Child Protection in Sport Unit (CPSU)
3 Gilmour Close, Beaumont Leys, Leicester LE4 1EZ

Telephone: 0116 234 7278
Website: www.thecpsu.org.uk

Other Useful websites

www.childline.org.uk      - ChildLine is the UK's free and confidential, 24-hour helpline for children in distress or danger.

www.bullying.co.uk         - Advice for children, parents and schools about dealing with bullying.

www.thinkuknow.co.uk - The latest information on the websites you like to visit, mobiles and new technology. Find out what's good, what's not and what you can do about it.

www.ceop.gov.uk           - The Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre is part of UK police and is dedicated to protecting children from sexual abuse wherever they may be. You can report abuse through their site by using the button below. But if you know about a child or young person who is in immediate danger, immediate risk or you require an urgent response, you must call 999 or your local police.

What is Child Abuse

Abuse and neglect are forms of maltreatment of a child. A child may be abused or neglected by someone who:

• Inflicts harm,
• Fails to act to prevent harm.

A child may be abused by:

• A family member
• By a person within an institutional or community setting
• By a person known to them or more rarely by a stranger
• An adult or adults, or another child or children.

Types of Abuse

Physical abuse (Something someone has done to hurt you)

Physical abuse may involve, for instance, hitting, shaking, suffocating, throwing (except in an aikido class, unless they meant to hurt you), or otherwise causing physical harm to a child. Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer makes up that a child is ill or deliberately makes a child ill.

Aikido is a sport where physical contact does take place. For physical abuse to take place the action would be a deliberate act ; for example, applying techniques against the joint that hurt . (see also BAB APPENDIX 17)

Emotional abuse (something said to you)

Emotional abuse is when something nasty said to you for a long time and you worry about it a lot.

• you may be told you are worthless or unloved, not good enough all the time.
• It may be about your age or something they want you to do.
• It may involve seeing or hearing someone else being hurt.
• It may be bullying, causing you or other children to feel frightened or in danger.

In Aikido this may be child on child, or adult on child, and could include requiring children to undertake actions appropriate to the sport but not appropriate within that child’s age group.

Sexual abuse

Sexual abuse is when a young person is asked or force to take part in sexual activities

• This may involve physical contact.
• or asking you to look at photographs of sex or online images, watching sexual activities.

please look at the video it may help to explain this to you.

Neglect

Neglect may be a parent or carer failing to:

• Provide enough food, clothing and shelter (including exclusion from home).
• Protect a child from harm or danger.
• Ensure enough supervision
• Arrange medical care or treatment.

Bullying

Bullying includes:

• Pushing, kicking, hitting, pinching and other forms of violence or threats.
• Name-calling, sarcasm, spreading rumours, persistent teasing.
• Excluding (sending to Coventry), tormenting, ridicule, humiliation.

Bullying can occur between:

• An adult and a child.
• A child and a child.
• A parent and own child.

None of the above are acceptable within aikido

The competitive nature of any sport can create an environment which provides opportunities for bullying. Examples of bullying in aikido could be:

• A parent who pushes too hard.
• A coach who adopts a win-at-all costs philosophy.
• A child aikidoka who intimidates inappropriately
• An older aikidoka who intimidates inappropriately
• An official who places unfair pressure on a person

The physical contact in Aikido, combined with the importance of discipline and respect for authority, can create the opportunity for bullying; for example, coaches who inflict pain or humiliation on child ukes or adult ukes while children are watching.

Harassment

Harassment can take many forms, some examples are sexual remarks; racist insults or racist jokes; verbal abuse or bad language exclusion; unwelcome attention. Harassment can be upsetting, It is for you to decide what is ok and what you don't like.

As an example, most clubs ask students to change partners regularly during a class and stop students refusing practice with any one person. This might be mean that a you feel unable to refuse to practice with someone who is always saying you are not very good.

Disclaimer:
The views, advice and information contained in these pages do not constitute any legal advice. The information supplied is believed to be wholly correct at the time of publication, but some content will have been gleaned by the BAB from various information sources.

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