Bullying Policy 

(Short Version) 

Definition of bullying: persistent aggression, whether verbal, psychological or physical, perpetrated by a person or group on another person/persons. Heaviness will not be accepted or tolerated in this society. Incidents of seriousness are regarded as serious breaches of the GAA's Code of Conduct. It is the responsibility of everyone in the Association to prevent abuse and deal with situations if they occur. Players, managers, coaches, social members and supporters have a responsibility to:

 

• Respect everyone's right to play and participate in an environment that is safe and secure and offers praise and recognition

• Ensure that everyone is treated with respect, dignity and sensitivity

• Tackling all forms of prejudice and promoting equality

• Modelling fair play, respectful behaviour and leadership

• Discourage people from encouraging bullying
   

If any serious incident occurs in the association, it is the responsibility of the association/committee to ensure:

• That the person who is being bullied feels safe

• That the bullying stops and that the bully's behaviour is tackled

• That all members of the Peil na Gaeltachta association or everyone who attends our games and activities are aware that bullying is not accepted in the association.

This association will not tolerate bullying of any kind. The association's anti-bullying policy can be summarised as follows in line with the Irish Sports Council's Code of Ethics and Good Practice in relation to children's sport.

 

We will try to:

• To convince the members of the club that bullying will not be tolerated.

• Encourage children, trainers, parents and guardians to report bullying to the club's Children's Officers. The club will use our complaints process to address the challenge.

• Obtaining the support and co-operation of parents and guardians to combat bullying.

 

Bullying can be defined as "a persistent attack, whether verbal, psychological or physical, by a person or group against another person or groups." It is behavior that, by its very nature, exists to intimidate and usually occurs among children in a social environment such as schools, sports clubs and other organizations that work with young people. It involves behavior such as poking, clawing, biting, threatening, hitting or squeezing by one or more children per victim. It is up to the trainer/facilitator to deal with bullying, which may occur in the association. Incidents of bullying will be dealt with promptly and bullying will not be tolerated or tolerated.

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Complaints and Disciplinary Matters in the Club / Disciplinary Approach in the Youth Board

Any player who is out of order will be warned by a coach, referee or other official in the club. If this misconduct continues, minor sanctions, such as a period of suspension from a training session will be applied. If the misbehavior continues after this, parents/guardians will be spoken to and the coach/mentor may want the parent/guardian to collect the child from the training or playing area. This action is appropriate and fair if the player continues to misbehave, does not pay attention to the coach's/referee's instructions, if he has intentionally caused damage to club property or visitors' property, if the association has been brought into disrepute during training, matches or other organized events. Examples of such behavior are: hitting other players/officials in the club, unreasonably and uncontrollably yelling, bullying or refusing to comply with the club's code of conduct. In addition, the association considers it a serious act of misconduct to misuse mobile phones i.e. taking inappropriate pictures in a dressing room or any other place where the Gaeil Óga meet or are present another play.

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When it is clear that there is a major problem, the person in charge of the team is allowed to bring the incident to the attention of the children's officer to review the situation and a meeting with the parents/guardians of the child may be necessary player to find a solution to the problem. In the event that a solution is not found, the following sanctions can be applied

• Warning about giving transport.

• Suspension from training sessions and/or matches.

• Suspension from teams in the club.

• Suspension from club.

• Expulsion from the club.

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Step 1 (unofficial complaint) 

The association will endeavor to deal with all informal/verbal complaints as soon as possible. A complaint can be made to the association's children's officer, another nominated person or a member of the association's committee. All complaints will be registered and kept on file. The association's first step would be to recommend that the person making the complaint speak directly, measuredly and non-threateningly to the person to whom the complaint relates. If a solution cannot be found, a committee member or the children's officer (if appropriate) will have to act as an arbitrator in an attempt to find a solution. If there are many complaints about a member of the association/trainer/parent/player 7rl, the association can submit the complaints to the association's disciplinary committee to resolve the situation.

Step 2 (official complaint) 
If the complaint cannot be resolved at the first stage (informally) the complaint must be put in writing and given to the children's officer or another committee member. The complaint will then be submitted to the discipline committee of the association to find a solution.

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Disciplinary Committee

The discipline committee of the club will be the permanent committee of the club, the children's officer and the main trainer of the club. If the complaint concerns any person mentioned above, it is clear that that person cannot be a member of the disciplinary committee. A written response to the complaint will be given within two weeks. If the complaint relates to suspected abuse, the child abuse reporting process will be applied. The disciplinary committee will hold a meeting to discuss the complaint. The disciplinary committee will communicate the complaint in written form to the person against whom the complaint has been made. That person can respond orally (at a meeting with the disciplinary committee) or in writing. The person with whom a complaint has been made must be accompanied by a parent/guardian. A precise and clear account of the whole process will be kept at every point of the process. All accounts, written or spoken, will be kept discreet and confidential. When dealing with a complaint it is important to be clear:

• About the particular incident under discussion.

• Under any other incident to be considered.

• Under any action to be taken, e.g. to apologize.

• About the kind of behavior that is expected.

• And finally, about what will happen if agreed arrangements are not followed. ​

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After their deliberations, the disciplinary committee can apply any of these sanctions, depending on need:

• To warn off future behaviour.

• Suspension from training sessions and/or matches.

• Suspension from society.

• Expulsion from the association ​

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Appeal Process

An appeal is possible under the policy of the disciplinary committee. That appeal will be made to a appeals committee made up of officers from the senior teams committee in the club.

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Na Gaeil Óga Committee 2021 

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