SAFESPORT by KAREN TERRY PERRAULT, CHAIR OF SAFESPORT SUBCOMMITTEE
The harms of bullying at the rink There are many positive reasons to par-
ticipate in fi gure skating, but like all sports, it can also be a high-risk environment for mis- conduct. To help maintain a safe environment for our athletes, the U.S. Olympic Committee created SafeSport guidelines. SafeSport is the Olympic community’s initiative to recognize, reduce and respond to misconduct in sports. Everyone involved in the sport of fi gure skat- ing plays a role in creating a healthy environ- ment for our skaters. The SafeSport guidelines U.S. Figure Skating has implemented raise awareness about misconduct, provide tools for education and training, provide guidelines for athlete protection and outline the re- porting process. The
SafeSport Handbook
provides information about six types of abuse and misconduct, including physical, sexual and emotional abuse, and bullying, harassment and hazing.
The
focus of this article is on the ef- fects of bullying. According to the SafeSport Handbook, bul- lying “involves an intentional, persistent or repeated pattern of committing or willfully tolerating physical and nonphysical behav- iors that are intended to cause fear, humiliation, or physical harm in an attempt to socially exclude, diminish, or isolate another person.” Examples of bullying include spreading hurtful rumors about a skat- er and posting messages, photos, videos and comments about a skater on a social network site with the aim of embarrassing or humiliat- ing the skater. A signifi cant number of children and ad-
olescents experience bullying; recent nation- al estimates indicate that about 28 percent of students ages 12 to 18 have been bullied at school. Cyberbullying is also becoming in- creasingly common, as approximately one in four adolescents has admitted to being bullied online.
Eff ects of bullying The eff ects of bullying can vary depend-
ing on many factors, including severity of the bullying, relationship between the individu- als, length of interaction, age and other cog- nitive factors. However, research shows that being bullied can lead to negative short-term eff ects on adolescents’ physical and psycho- logical health and long-term eff ects on their psychosocial adjustment. There are strong
44 DECEMBER 2014
links between being bullied and developing psychological problems such as eating disor- ders, anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation. Over time, victims of bullying tend to develop low self-esteem and feelings of low self-worth, and they experience high levels of loneliness and feelings of rejection. Children and adoles- cents who are bullied also exhibit many psy- chosomatic symptoms, including headache, stomachache, backache, dizziness, bad tem- per, feeling nervous, feeling low, diffi culties in getting to sleep, morning tiredness, feeling left out, loneliness and helplessness.
IN HER OWN WORDS:
One skater’s experience with bullying Life was like the kiss and cry, but
more cry and less kiss. To put this in the simplest terms,
my synchronized skating career was cut short. I was a candidate for a junior-level team for the 2014–15 season, which was something I’ve always dreamed of. But then I was harassed and bullied by girls in my club. They constantly put me down by making fun of me, spreading ru- mors about me and purposely ruin- ing friendships with some of my best friends that I’ve known for years. I was told, “You’re never going to be good enough to make junior,” and “Our team is strong and we can’t have you on it if we want to succeed.” My personal favorite was, “She’s like gum on the bottom of your shoe. She’s annoying and impossible to get rid of, and everyone wants it gone.” These comments caused my drive for skating to wither away. No longer did I want to go to practice and see these teammates. I didn’t want to be at competitions with them, and I did not want to hold hands and arms with people who said disgusting things about me. But I persevered. I held on tight and prayed until the season offi cially ended. I didn’t miss a single practice, no matter how early or late. I didn’t miss any days of sum- mer camp/workshops, and I always came prepared. The ice rink is a place where
What you can do Bullying cannot be tolerated. Our goal is
to protect all skaters and U.S. Figure Skating members from the potentially harmful eff ects of bullying. If you have been bullied, or know someone who has been bullied, you should re- port this behavior. Depending on the circum- stances of the behavior, it can be reported as follows: • If there is a violation of club code of con- duct fi le a complaint at the club level. Follow procedures set forth in your club confl ict resolution policy. Report the inci- dent to club SafeSport compliance chair, if appropriate.
• If there is a violation of SafeSport policies report the incident to U.S. Figure Skat- ing by sending a detailed description to safesport@usfi
gureskating.org, and U.S. Figure Skating will take appropriate ac- tion by engaging the appropriate com- mittee and process.
magical things can happen, be that landing a new jump, passing a test, or getting a gold medal after an amaz- ing program. But there are negative factors associated with the sport, too. I’ve learned that people would take a blade to your back as long as it gets them ahead. Emotional damage is hard to calculate, as it is felt and not physically seen. I have no bumps and bruises from the abuse by girls on my team, but it doesn’t always take a hit to the knee with a metal baton to cause pain. I was told “Suck it up, buttercup; maybe you need tougher skin.”
I want to inspire people with
my strength and be able to make a diff erence in how people treat each other, so we can see teams go out on the ice and show that they trust who they’re holding on to, and that they can work together to present a gold medal-worthy program every time.
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