Reflecting On Parents In Sport Week 2021
If you logged on to Twitter between 4th and 10th October, you would have noticed #ParentsinSportWeek trending.
You might have even seen the different clubs and associations you follow tweeting about it.
The purpose of it all? To raise awareness among parents around the issue of safeguarding in sport.
Safeguarding refers to the practice of keeping children safe, focussing on the prevention of child abuse. The organisation that leads on the promotion of safeguarding in sport within the United Kingdom is the Child Protection in Sport Unit, commonly referred to as the CPSU.
It was created in 2001, with the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children partnering with Sport England, Sport Wales, and Sport Northern Ireland, after several high profile cases of child abuse within sport.
For the last five years, along with Children First in Scotland, the unit has organised Parents in Sport Week during the first week of October. To help parents understand their role in supporting their child’s sporting experience and protect them from potential risks in sport.
The Creation and Aims Of The Week
Paul Stephenson has worked for the NSPCC for over 20 years and is now a senior consultant for them.
He has witnessed the CPSU develop since it was created and was a part of the first Parents in Sport Week five years ago.
“The governing bodies were quite frustrated that a lot of their time was spent responding to a small number of parents poor behaviour and not acknowledging the vast majority of positive sports parents who were putting a lot of hours and time into supporting their young people,” he says.
“We weren’t able to spend an awful lot of time communicating how best the parents could support their young people.
“We weren’t able to get the positive message out to parents, because wrongly, a lot of the media attention, or a lot of the external noise, was around poor parental behaviour.
“So we tried to flip that message on its head and look at actually what is required for a parent to be able to positively support their child, and help their child stay involved in sport for longer.
“It was about not just participation but about retention of the young person in sport, and making sure that children had a really positive experience.
“We clarify what the parents role in that is and how they support their own children.”
What Parents In Sport Week Did This Year
Parents in Sport Week draws attention to different things that parents need to be aware of when looking after young athletes.
The CPSU attempts to inform parents about what to be aware of when choosing a club, what changes in a young person’s behaviour they need to be aware of, and how best to approach them. So that they feel comfortable in raising any issues and getting the help that they need.
“We are encouraging parents to use the NSPCC helpline for advice,” says Stephenson.
“We have created a short animation about how to respond if anyone had a concern. And a free ten minute online learning resource as well.”
“This year, the NSPCC have reached out directly to some of their parental contact groups to make them aware of these resources that are available.
“The NSPCC have reached out and said, “these are some of the resources that are available, can you share those with your networks?”
“We had Paul Stewart, former Tottenham and Man City player, doing a number of videos supporting Parents in Sport. Advising parents about what they should expect from their child’s club, what messages parents need to share with their own young people to help keep them safe.”
“We did see #ParentsinSportWeek from local clubs as well, who would have picked it up from their governing body and decided to promote the campaign to their local parents with their own messages.”
The Importance Of Parents In Sport Week
Research conducted by the NSPCC and published in their report last year, How Safe Are Our Children 2020, found that the number and rate of recorded abuse against children had increased since 2014/2015.
Since that year, the number and rate of physical abuse offences against 11 to 18 year olds in England and Wales had increased.
The number and rate of recorded sexual abuse offences against older children had also increased in all four nations during the same period of time.
And last month, an analysis of police reports revealed that online abuse crimes have risen by 78 per cent in the last four years.
It is more important than ever that parents are equipped with the knowledge of what to look out for when choosing a sports club for their child, and noticing when something might be wrong.
Speaking about why the CPSU was created in 2001, Stephenson explains the role that adults can play in safeguarding children in sport.
“The NSPCC realised that we do quite a lot of work in education, but after education, sport is the largest sector where young people will be involved.
“So therefore there’s a greater responsibility to not only ensure that young people got positive messages around resources like Childline, but also the adults who work with young people got messages around how to engage with those young people, and how to help keep those young people safe.
“We want to ensure that not only are those within sport not a risk to children, but that the tens of thousands of volunteers and parents that give up their time every week to make sure that children can participate in sport also act as the eyes and ears for the wider society.”
He comes back to this idea that there needs to be constant engagement with the issue in society later on during our conversation.
“The message and support to parents is so important, it’s not just about one week.
“We focus a lot of energy around this week every year, but we will encourage sports organisations and clubs to promote the positive messages to parents and their key role in keeping young people safe throughout the year.”
The message surrounding Parents in Sport Week is one that adults involved in sport need to hear throughout the year. So that children feel supported and that if they can talk to someone about the issues occurring in their lives.
Sport should be something that can be enjoyed by everyone. And we all have a duty to make sure that everyone who takes part can do so in a safe environment without concerns.
CPSU Contact Information:
CPSU@nspcc.org.uk
England 0116 366 5580
Wales 029 2033 4975
Northern Ireland 028 9035 1135
Childline 0800 1111
