00;00;09;24 - 00;00;28;27
Speaker 1
Hello and welcome to this podcast from the Child Protection Sport Unit. We're part of the NSPCC and funded by UK sports councils. Our work supports organizations to safeguard all children taking part in sport.

00;00;29;00 - 00;00;57;12
Liza
Hi, my name is Liza where I want to see any consultants at the CPSU. You may have been aware that we've been champion safeguarding online in sports for many years and like most aspects of life, social media is an integral part of sport and physical activity. But we should never forget our safeguards in responsibilities, and we must take time to think through carefully the different types of risks that children may be exposed to in a virtual sport setting.

00;00;57;14 - 00;01;20;02
Liza
The CPSU are so pleased to have our NSPCC colleagues who are leading the way in online safety. I would like to introduce Laura Randolph and Helen Westerman. Thank you to the both of you for joining us today for the Online Safety Podcast. And we've got a series of questions that have been put forward from our national governing bodies and active partnership lead officers around this subject matter.

00;01;20;04 - 00;01;38;05
Helen
Thanks, Liza, and I'll be facilitating the discussions today. And as Liza said, we hope we're going to be addressing some of the issues that you've raised with the CPSU. I've seen Liza, bullying has been raised as a big concern for children, particularly in the online space. What sorts of things are you hearing about at CPSU?

00;01;38;08 - 00;02;07;10
Liza
I think there's been a variety of concerns that have been raised, Helen, mostly around cyberbullying. You know, some of the examples that are coming forward. We've had one where four members of a club where cyber bullying two children from different clubs as while they were younger than them, and that resulted in police action. The police were involved in this because there was threats of violence, trying to extort young money from young people and racism as well, and some of them a criminal offenses.

00;02;07;10 - 00;02;27;04
Liza
So the police picked those concerns up on what they advised the club to do in that circumstances was to impose a temporary suspension while it was investigated by the club and by the national governing body, and what the club and the national governing body agreed to do was to give those young people who had been bullying a two year behavioral contract.

00;02;27;04 - 00;02;55;25
Liza
So that's code to conduct. So kind of tailoring not to the needs of those young people and put an end some boundaries, because that's the big thing that the codes of conduct gives around boundaries around supervision and what they can and can't do, and particularly online. So I think that that was a really proactive way of that. And GB dealing with that situation, all the things that are around people making horrible comments on Facebook and parents kind of not knowing what to do.

00;02;55;25 - 00;03;16;07
Liza
So raising that with the club because there was a link to that particular sport and activity on what the the club and the national governing body advise them to do is because the children went to the same school as well, was to contact the school and make the school aware of it as well, so that it could be addressed within the sport and environment, but also within the school environment as well.

00;03;16;12 - 00;03;46;19
Liza
And they contacted Facebook and blocked the children that were where were bullying. But unfortunately and very sadly, we've had adults as well who have been posting things negatively about children who were on the same team as their children. And I think for me, that's very sad that adults who, you know, their children are participating, their sport, getting so involved in it, where they think that they can then abuse online children around their sport and process.

00;03;46;21 - 00;04;08;28
Liza
One of the things for me is thinking about the nuances of sport and the complexities of sport, is that a lot of children spend time away from home when they're doing sport and activities, particularly those young people who are talented or elite athlete. They're away on camps, on training camps, on tournaments, move away from their families. You know, they could be hundreds of miles away.

00;04;08;28 - 00;04;39;01
Liza
And in some sport, if you think about the codes of sports like ski and snowboard, and that has to take place abroad because we don't have the weather conditions. And for me, for those young people who were experiencing bullying, it's particularly worrying when people and their teammates are saying to them that they don't like them, that they should go home, and that support network for those children is no longer there because they're not at home with their parents, who would be able to support them emotionally and be able to deal with the concerns that are being raised.

00;04;39;08 - 00;05;02;14
Liza
We've also heard of concerns around initiations and deaths as well for young people, particularly wonder away from their protective carers and how that's ended up in serious injuries for some young people. So I think sport is slightly different from other sectors where kids will be spending potentially large amounts of times away from their protective carers.

00;05;02;16 - 00;05;17;19
Helen
Got some horrible incidents talked about there, but also some really useful tips and suggestions. Thanks, Liza. So, Laura, some platforms are now asking the sender to think about their message before they send it. What should young people do if they receive an abusive message?

00;05;17;22 - 00;05;34;22
Laura
If we split this in two, and we talk about, a young person being asked to think about the message for they send it. Yeah. There's apps like BBC Own It. When a child is typing out a message, a prompt will come up and say, are you sure you want to send this? And it does put the onus on the child or young person to think about what they send.

00;05;34;24 - 00;05;52;00
Laura
But if we just bring it back to the offline element, how many times we also think before we speak when we grow up? It's the saying now it's think before you text, think before you post. It's the same language in the same concerns that we had when we were younger. And when I say we were younger, when people like myself were younger to the current environment.

00;05;52;00 - 00;06;07;29
Laura
Now the one thing to remember when it comes to online is that because social media and because, what we use, it isn't the person in front of us. We are less inhibited with how we speak. We're a bit braver, a bit more risky. And what we'll say we wouldn't necessarily say to the person in front of us.

00;06;08;05 - 00;06;23;18
Laura
But when it's a screen and you can't see the action, there's less fear sometimes. And that's when I think people might forget. And, people forget what it is they're saying. Apps like BBC on IT app are prompts that will, help children think about where that text is going, how it could be received and who could see it and for how long.

00;06;23;20 - 00;06;43;10
Laura
And then if we look at the second bit was, what do they do if they receive an abusive image? If an abusive image, a message is sent. If it's via a social platform, they will have reporting buttons that they can use to assist in removing content. But it's really important that for children and people to know that if you do something, and you regret it or you think, oh, should I have done that?

00;06;43;10 - 00;07;02;13
Laura
Or you're concerned or you're upset. Speak to someone that you know. Speak to a family member. Speak to somebody that you trust in a professional environment and seek that help. And if it's an adult, there's concerns. Again, there are so many different support networks out there that you can seek advice from. Go to one and seek their advice and get pointed in the right direction, rather than staying quiet out of fear.

00;07;02;13 - 00;07;05;14
Laura
It's always best to seek support.

00;07;05;16 - 00;07;35;05
Helen
Wow, thank you very much. A huge thank you to to Liza and Laura for their contributions today. Hopefully we've answered some of the questions that you've you've posed to CPSU and a huge thank you to you for listening and for further support and information. We would encourage you to look at the CPSC website. Thanks very much.

00;07;35;07 - 00;07;47;17
Speaker 1
Thank you for listening to this Child Protection and Support Unit podcast. If you're looking for more information and resources on safeguarding children in sport, please visit our website at the CPSU. Org UK.