CHILDREN’S OFFICER REPORT- 2011

MEATH COUNTY BOARD AGM FEBRUARY 2012
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During the past year all clubs were sent Garda Vetting forms from AAI. All those who are involved in working with young people should now be vetted and it is up to each club to ensure that new members comply with this requirement into the future.

In March, the Irish Sports council held an information day on Code of EthcIs in Maynooth. Copies of the presentations are freely available online at: http://www.irishsportscouncil.ie/Participation/Code_of_Ethics/

In April 2011, Moira and Domhnall distributed hard copies of the AAI “Code of Ethics and Good Practice for Children in Athletics”, and related material on Bullying policies to Children's Officers around the county. At this time, Domhnall also developed an electronic system to allow clubs update their Children's Officer contacts online, but to date this has not been fully deployed.

In June, following the formation of a new government, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs was established, and Frances Fitzgerald, a TD for Dublin Midwest, was appointed as Ireland's first Minister for Children.

In July, Moira and Michael Lane, Children’s Officer for Westmeath, were appointed Liaison Officers to work with the Parent’s of a child who wanted to transfer from a Meath club to a club outside of Meath. Michael and Moira met with the childs’ parent’s in August, and after this discussion it was felt the child stay with their own club. It was the first such case to come before us under the guidelines, and to some degree, as Brian Dowling said, we were “trailblazing”. If a case does ever arise again, guidelines should be in place to deal with the matter.

Moira put together an up to date list of all Children’s Officers for 2011, and every Primary school in Meath who did the Mini Athletics programme was given a copy.

In September Domhnall was appointed as a Child Protection Officer to the Leinster Board.

In December, Athletics Ireland announced that they would be providing Code of Ethics courses free of charge to any club that wishes to avail of one. The course is 3 hours in duration and requires a minimum of 10 participants and a maximum of 16. The instructors for the course are Moira Aston and Kieron Stout, and any club wishing to book a course should contact Moira directly.

During the past 12 months there were no matters concerning child welfare that were brought to our attention. I think it is worth pointing out that the most recent ISC guidelines on code of ethics are now 6 years old. In the coming year I would like to consult with the members of this board to establish a set of guidelines on best practices concerning the use of internet based "social" networks. As a starting point I would suggest that people refer to the work of Mr. John Laffan who is the Executive Director of the Office for Internet Safety (www.internetsafety.ie). During the past year he made a presentation entitled " Using the Internet and Associated Communications Tools and Keeping Children and Young People Safe". As clubs continue to develop their on-line presence, we as a community must ensure that the same high standards we have adopted for the training field are carried over into the virtual world to keep the young people of our clubs safe.

Regards,
Moira Peppard & Domhnall O’Hanlon