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 The International Alliance for Youth Sports (IAYS), as part of its ongoing efforts to help ensure that children worldwide are shielded from the horrors of abuse while participating in sports, has released its Child Protection Recommendations.
The Recommendations provide a blueprint for organizations involved in youth sports programming to assist with the planning and implementation of a practical child abuse prevention policy.
The publication – which can be downloaded HERE at no cost – features detailed information on many important aspects of creating and implementing a child protection policy.
“We all have a responsibility to provide every bit of security we can to ensure a safe and healthy environment for the children who participate in our programs,” said Fred Engh, founder and president of the IAYS. “These Recommendations will help guide organizations in making prudent decisions to help safeguard their young participants from the many ugly forms of abuse that can destroy a youngster’s life.”
The Child Protection Recommendations were developed by the IAYS and its regional representatives around the world. Among those providing valuable input were Mark Mungal, president of the Trinidad and Tobago Alliance for Sport and Physical Education and the IAYS Caribbean Regional Representative; Clement Chileshe, founder and director of Sport in Action in Zambia and the IAYS African Regional Representative; and Arturo Sanchez Alvarez, who operates a sports development center in Mexico and is the IAYS Latin America Regional Representative.
The Recommendations provide information on developing an organization’s policies on child abuse prevention, as well as the steps involved in the screening of staff and volunteers, training and supervising them and conducting evaluations. There is also information on the international rights of children and the benefits of sports participation for youngsters. Sample Codes of Ethics for coaches, parents, officials, administrators and participants are provided, as well.
The types of abuse that can be found in youth sports programming, which are covered in the Recommendations, include physical abuse, neglect, emotional abuse and sexual abuse.
Every step an organization takes to safeguard participants from these various forms of abuse adds another layer of protection around the program. So the more an organization does to protect itself and its participants, the stronger that shield becomes and the less likely an incident will occur.
The goal of the IAYS is to build the value of sports for children worldwide. The vision of the IAYS is for all children throughout the world to have the opportunity to gain the benefits of sports.
The IAYS is driven by the belief that sports have great value in the physical, social and moral development of children and it is focused on convincing all child-minded organizations throughout the world that sports play a major role in the overall development of children.
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| Last Modified: 5/28/2010 9:03 AM |
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