Policy Manual
2014-2015
“Quality Organizational Values + Quality Coaching + Quality Athletes = Excellence on and off the Field!”
New England Diamond Gems Anti Bullying Policy
Statement of intent
The New England Diamond Gems are committed to providing a caring, friendly and safe environment for all of our players so they can play softball in a relaxed and secure atmosphere. Bullying of any kind is UNACCEPTABLE at our organization. If bullying does occur, all players should feel comfortable reporting the incident and knowing that incidents will be dealt with promptly and effectively.
What is bullying?
Bullying is deliberately hurtful behavior, repeated over time, where it is difficult for those being bullied to defend themselves. It can take many forms, but the four main types are physical (e.g. hitting, kicking, theft), verbal (e.g. name calling, racists remarks), cyber (using email, internet, or texting, etc.) or indirect (e.g. spreading rumors).
Single incidences of verbal or physical attack and behavior which is hurtful will be taken seriously by the organization as well.
These are some of the ways children and young people have described bullying:
Being called names
Being teased or ridiculed
Being pushed or pulled
Being, attacked or intimidated
Having their possessions taken and thrown about
Having rumors spread about them
Being ignored and left out
Being taken advantage of; e.g. being forced to hand over possessions of money
Being attacked because of their religion, race or color, gender or sexuality
Being sent threatening notes, emails, text messages or threatening phone calls
Gang pressure
Objectives of this policy
All managers, coaches, children and parents should have an understanding of what bullying is.
All managers and coaches should have a clear understanding of the New England Diamond Gems policy on bullying and follow the proper steps to to report and take action.
All Parents, Players and Board Members should have a clear understanding of the New England Diamond Gems policy on bullying and what they should do if bullying arises.
As an organization we take bullying seriously. Children and parents should be assured that they will be supported when bullying is reported.
Bullying will not be tolerated.
How can parents and families help the New England Diamond Gems prevent bullying?
Parents and families have an important role to play in helping to deal with bullying. They can do this by:
Discouraging your child from using bullying behavior anywhere including at home.
Watch out for signs that your child is being bullied or is bullying others.
Contact the organization at the first sign if you are worried that your child is being bullied or is a bully.
Encourage your child to participate in the organizational activities.
Avoid negative comments whilst your child or your child’s teammate is playing a game.
When giving feedback to your child remember the positives as well as the negatives. There is always a positive however bad you feel your child has played this should be the feedback your child remembers. Take the sandwich approach, give positive feedback, constructive feedback and then end with another positive comment.
Signs a child may be being bullied are:
A child is afraid to go to a practice or a game
Changes his/her routine
Child becomes withdrawn, anxious or lacking in confidence
A child attempts suicide, runs away or hurts themselves deliberately (self-harm)
A child has nightmares, cries himself to sleep or starts wetting the bed.
A child gives an improbable excuse for any of the above
What can you do if you think your child is being bullied?
Ask your child directly.
Take any incidents of bullying that they tell you about seriously
Talk calmly with your child about their experiences
Make a note of what your child says
Reassure your child that they have done the right thing on telling you
Contact your child’s team manager.
Understand that your child may need to change aspects of their behavior
Never approach another parent directly
Do not encourage your child to retaliate
How can you approach the club about your worries?
Contact the organization or your coach as soon as possible
Always try to be calm
Be clear as possible about what your child says has happened
What the New England Diamond Gems will do
Take your concern seriously
Investigate the issue and report back to you
Keep a record of the incident and any action taken
We will attempt to get the bully to change behavior
If needed the person who is doing the bullying will be terminated from the program and organization.
Child/Player Protection
Any persons found to be bullying (parents, players, coaches, board members or family members) will be subject to the New England Diamond Gems disciplinary procedure set forth by the Board of Trustees who will have power to:
1. Warn as to future conduct
2. Suspend from the team and organization
3. Terminate their membership from the team and the organization
New England Diamond Gems Social Media policy
The New England Diamond Gems may utilize social media and social network sites to further enhance communications with various stakeholder organizations in support of our organizational goals and objectives. The New England Diamond Gems have the ability to publish articles, facilitate discussions and communicate information through various media related to conducting our organizational business. Social media facilitates further discussion of our organizational issues, operations and services by providing members of the public the opportunity to participate in many ways using the Internet. This policy document provides members of the New England Diamond Gems organization, players, parents and board of directors, with guidance and specific expectations on appropriate and acceptable use of social media to communicate about New England Diamond Gems business.
Principles:
Confidentiality –
Do not post confidential or proprietary information about New England Diamond Gems, its staff, its players and parents, its affiliates, its alumni or other officials.
Privacy –
Do not post anything that you would not present in any public forum. In particular, do not discuss a situation involving named or pictured individuals on a social media site without their knowledge or permission.
Permanence:
Remember that whatever you share may be public for an indefinite period of time, even if you attempt to modify or delete it.
Audience:
Be careful what personal information you share online. Many social networking websites are not secured and information is available to anyone with access to a computer and the internet.
“Do No Harm” –
New England Diamond Gems encourages the use of social media to enhance its reputation and promote the players and league through communication, and promotion of various tournaments, clinics and various programs. You must ensure that your authorized use of social media does not harm or otherwise injure the League, its staff, its players and family. .
Personal Responsibility and Liability –
Communications made via social media are not exempt from the expectations and obligations set forth in New England Diamond Gems policies or from the laws and regulations that govern personal liability across general and traditional forms of communication. You are responsible for what you post on your own site and on the sites of others, and should only post on behalf of New England Diamond Gems or its affiliates in an official capacity where you have been explicitly authorized to do so.
Here are some practical tips for representing yourself as a member of New England Diamond Gems online and in an official capacity on social media services:
· Affiliation: Disclose your affiliation if you talk about league related matters that are within your team or division.
· Be sensitive: Do not post confidential or sensitive information about the New England Diamond Gems.
· Clearly identify your personal communications: In some cases, individuals maintain several social media outlets, with some for personal use and others for official New England Diamond Gems business. Individuals must use care to separate the two uses and avoid using New England Diamond Gems outlets to distribute personal communications. Unless specifically authorized to speak on behalf of New England Diamond Gems, you must state that the views expressed are your own. On Twitter, for example, you might consider using a disclaimer in the account profile’s “Bio” section: "Tweets are my own and do not reflect the views of my league."
· Accuracy: Take a moment to think about what you are posting (both personally and professionally) before you hit the publish/post button. Think about the content: is it relevant and topical? Are you reviewing and maintaining the content you provide through social media on a regular basis? Proofread for spelling and grammar.
· Be aware of what you say and of your connections in social media networks. For example, a comment you make on a friends Facebook wall is visible to anyone that person is connected to, but you might not be connected to those individuals and therefore unable to control access or anticipate further distribution of your comments. Be thoughtful and discreet.
· Transparency – To both protect the New England Diamond Gems name and build trust with users, social media such as blogs, Facebook pages, Twitter feeds, etc. that are established on behalf of New England Diamond Gems entities should be explicit regarding the nature of the relationship to New England Diamond Gems. As a social media representative of the league, you should clearly state your position within the league and the limits of your authority to speak on behalf of the league. Similarly, in keeping with New England Diamond Gems non-profit status, social media should not be used to promote or transact any commercial business or financial transactions, including revenue from advertising, nor should any staff with administrative responsibilities realize any personal monetary profit from New England Diamond Gems -related social media.
· When sharing information from other users via links or “retweeting,” making sure that the information is relevant to the audience.
· Use of the New England Diamond Gems logo is not permissible as a profile photo or on a blog unless express permission is granted by the President of the league.
Policy
1. No members of the New England Diamond Gems Board of Directors shall be allowed to become a member or official of any New England Diamond Gems social media service.
2. All New England Diamond Gems social media sites shall be (1) approved by our Director of Operations. (2) Designees can be any New England Diamond Gems parents, players or volunteer understanding of this policy and has appropriate content and technical experience.
3. All New England Diamond Gems social networking sites shall adhere to applicable state, federal and local laws, regulations and policies including all Information Technology and Records Management policies and other applicable New England Diamond Gems policies.
4. The New England Diamond Gems social networking sites are subject to all local, state and federal public records laws. Records required to be maintained pursuant to a relevant records retention schedule shall be maintained for the required retention period in a format that preserves the integrity of the original record and is easily accessible using the approved New England Diamond Gems platforms and tools.
5. All social network sites and entries shall clearly indicate that any articles and any other content posted or submitted for posting are subject to public disclosure.
6. The New England Diamond Gems reserves the right to restrict or remove any content that is deemed in violation of this policy or any applicable law.
7. The New England Diamond Gems social networking site shall include an introductory statement which clearly specifies the purpose and topical scope of the blog and social network site.
8. The New England Diamond Gems social networking content and comments containing any of the following forms of content shall not be allowed for posting:
a. Comments not topically related to the particular site or blog article being commented upon;
b. Profane language or content;
c. Content that promotes, fosters, or perpetuates discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, age, religion, gender, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, national origin, physical or mental disability or sexual orientation;
d. Sexual content or links to sexual content;
e. Solicitations of commerce;
f. Conduct or encouragement of illegal activity;
g. Information that may tend to compromise the safety or security of the public or public systems; or
h. Content that violates a legal ownership interest of any other party
9. New England Diamond Gems officials, coaches, players, parents, volunteers or other interested parties found in violation of this policy may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination from the New England Diamond Gems organization..
Attachment A. Definitions
For the purpose of this New England Diamond Gems Social Media Policy, the following terms are defined as provided below:
1. Social Media: Social media is content created by individuals using accessible and scalable technologies through the Internet. Examples of social media include Facebook, blogs, MySpace, RSS, UTube, Second Life, Twitter, LinkedIn, Delicious, Flicker,Snapchat, Instgram, Vinyard etc.
2. Blog: (an abridgment of the term web log) is a New England Diamond Gems website with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video.
3. New England Diamond Gems author: An authorized New England Diamond Gems official that creates and is responsible for posted articles and information on social media sites.
4. Article: An original posting of content to a New England Diamond Gems social media site by a New England Diamond Gems author.
5. Commenter: A New England Diamond Gems official or member of the public who submits a comment for posting in response to the content of a particular New England Diamond Gems article or social media content.
6. Comment: A response to a New England Diamond Gems article or social media content submitted by a commenter.