CHILD PROTECTION IN THE UK

Child Protection in the UK



Introduction

Society often looks to sport as a means to provide the opportunity for young people to build character and develop leadership skills (Martens, 1990). As Martens stated, "through sport, young people can develop morally -- they can learn a basic code of ethics that is transferable to a moral code for life." Intuitively then, it is reasonable to expect that young people, while developing and learning a moral code transferable to life, are largely influenced by the attitudes and actions of their coaches. With guidance and support from those coaches, children learn to value certain attributes from their sport experience. Some attributes children learn to value as a result of their involvement in sport include: respect, integrity, responsibility, personal sacrifice, having fun and helping others. All of these attributes are transferable to a moral code for life.

One of the more intrinsic values associated with sport is the fact that moral decisions are required, that young people have the opportunity to learn, and adults have the opportunity to model appropriate ethical behavior (Martens, 1990). However, recent developments in sport have revealed that some children and coaches are prone to compromise their values by engaging in activities that lack moral judgment and seriously jeopardize the well being of innocent people. For example Contenta (1996) wrote, "nine midget hockey players [boys] were made to watch pornographic videos, told to drop their pants and do push-ups while molasses, mustard, and peanut butter were spread on them...a funnel was then shoved into their mouths and the fifteen year-olds were force-fed beer."

Perhaps the most reprehensible incident receiving attention recently was the revelation that a former Major Junior A hockey coach, Graham James, had sexually abused more than one of his players during their tenure with the team. One of the players, Sheldon Kennedy, was encouraged to tell his story to authorities in an attempt to bring closure to his ordeal, and perhaps to prevent a similar incident from occurring in the future.

Suffice to say, some coaches have engaged in forms of harassment without regard for the potential psychological damage to the young people they are entrusted to protect. In short, they have taken advantage of their positions of trust either directly or indirectly by abusing children.

The general purpose of this article is to examine the nature of harassment in sport. It examines two major harassment issues: sexual abuse by coaches and hazing rituals. Each issue is followed by a series of recommendations based on the findings. Due to the recent attention directed at boys hockey, several examples are cited for that sport. However, it should be noted that other sports, such as volleyball and swimming are also highlighted. A clear distinction must be made between harassment and sexual abuse in sport. Sexual abuse, involves touching a young person for a sexual purpose while in a position of trust or authority (Robertson, 1997). Harassment is any attention or conduct (oral, written, graphic or physical) ...