(YOUR GYM NAME) ANTI BULLY POLICY AND ACTION PLAN 

Bullying of any kind is unacceptable at (Your Gym Name) and will not be tolerated. Bullying is counterproductive to a team spirit and can be devastating to a victim. We are committed to providing a safe, caring and friendly environment for all of our athletes. 

The objective of this policy and action plan are: 

  1. To make it clear that (Your Gym Name) will not tolerate bullying of any form.
  2. To define bullying and give everyone a good understanding of bullying
  3. To make it known to all that there is a policy and protocol should an issue arise.
  4. To make how to report bullying clear and understandable 

What is Bullying? 

The USASF defines bullying as a severe or repeated use by one or more people of oral, written, electronic or other technological expression, imagine, sounds, data or intelligence of any nature (regardless of the method of transmission), or physical act or gesture, or combination thereof, directed at any other member that to a reasonably objective person has the effect of: 

  1. causing physical or emotional harm to the other member or damage to their property; II. placing the other member is reasonable fear or harm to him/herself or damage to his/her property; III. creating a hostile environment for the other member at any USASF or (Your Gym Name) activity; IV. infringing on the rights of the other member at any (Your Gym Name) or USASF activity; materially and substantially disrupting the training process or the orderly operation of any USASF or (Your Gym Name) activities ( which for the purpose of this section shall include, without limitations, practices, workouts, competitions or other events of a members program.

Reporting Bullying 

An athlete who feels that he or she has been bullied is asked to do one or more of the following things: 

  1. Talk to your parents
  2. Talk to a team coach, program owner or other designated individual
  3. Write a letter or email to the team coach or program owner.
  4. There is no express time limit for initiating a complaint under this procedure, but every effort should be made to bring the complaint to the attention of the appropriate program leadership as soon as possible to make sure that memories are fresh and behavior can be accurately recalled and the bullying can be stopped as soon as possible.

How We Handle Bullying 

If bullying is occurring during (Your Gym Name) related activities, we STOP BULLYING ON THE SPOT using the following steps: 

  1. Intervene immediately
  2. Separate the kids
  3. Ensure everyone is safe
  4. Get all the facts for involved children
  5. Determine if it is bullying
  6. Address the the behavior to ensure the child knows their behavior is wrong and harms others.
  7. Work with the child and parents to understand some of the reasons he or she bullied.
  8. The child who bullied will have to make amends by writing a letter apologizing to the athlete who was bullied
  9. Follow up with athletes and parents to ensure the bullying issue is resolved.

Ultimately the safety of all athletes is the primary concern of (Your Gym Name). It is at the discretion of the owner/program director to remove an athlete from the program if continued bullying is present.Â