Annex Three: Case studies

• Author: Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (European Commission), ECORYS
• Pages: 62-92

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Annex three: Case studies

Case study one: Time out against bullying (Belgium)

Summary information

Name of programme/initiative

Time out against bullying (Time Out tegen

Pesten, TOP)

Lead organisation

Centre Ethics in Sport (ICES)

Key focus/objectives

Safeguarding against bullying in youth sport

Member State(s)

Belgium (Flanders)

Period

1 January 2016 to 24 February 2017

Programme funding

ICES

Internet link

http://www.topindesport.be/

Aims and approach

Bullying is defined by this campaign as a form of violence that young people can also

encounter in sports. It notes that research shows that almost one in ten young athletes are

bullied87 and that this often has emotional or physical consequences, diminishes sport

performance or motivation to exercise. The organisation Sporta also notes that more than

30,000 young people are bullied each year, and males are more likely to bully than females.

Sporta also found that 18.5% of young people asked admitted that they had bullied someone

over the past two months88.

The Time out against bullying (Time Out tegen Pesten, TOP) campaign consisted of six actions

to prevent and tackle bullying in youth sport. The campaign consisted of awareness-raising

and educational materials as well as a step-by-step plan on how to implement a prevention

policy in youth clubs. Its overall aim was to inform, encourage and support the sports sector

to work in a bully-free environment. The campaign ran from January 2016 to February 2017.

It was officially launched on 29 January 2016.

The lead organisation was the Centre Ethics in Sport (Internationaal Centrum Ethiek in de

Sport, ICES), in collaboration with: Sport Vlaanderen89; the Flemish School Sports Foundation

(Stichting Vlaamse Schoolsport (SVS)); Vlabus; the Flemish Institute for Sports Policy and

Recreation Management (Vlaams Instituut voor Sportbeheer en Recreatiebeleid (ISB)); the

Flemish sporting federation, VSF; the Flemish school of coaches and trainers, VTS; the

Flemish youth organisation, Tumult; and the communication and design agency Cojak.

According to the Flemish government, the main objectives of the campaign were as follows:

 To encourage the sports sector to actively promote a common vision of bullying

through a shared vision and the adoption of a common position on bullying in sport.

This would then serve as a guiding instrument to promote unity, enable coordinated

actions and give a clear signal that bullying has no place in sports.

 To help sports organisations to create support for a bullying-free sports environment.

Sports managers and coaches were encouraged through the campaign to take a

broad approach to creating a bullying-free environment in their sports organisation.

They could do this by placing this theme on the agenda for discussion, talking about

87 http://www.flanderstoday.eu/education/one-10-report-being-assaulted-sports-clubs-

children

88

http://www.sportafederatie.be/sites/default/files/downloads/sportafederatie/Clubgids%20-

%20Hou%20je%20sportclub%20pestvrij.pdf

89 https://www.sport.vlaanderen/

63

it and demonstrating commitment to ensuring prevention and appropriate reactions

to cases of bullying on and around the sports field.

 To provide to sports directors and coaches complete and evidence-based information

about bullying, including:

 cyber-bullying, focusing on what bullying is, how often does it take place,

what consequences does it have for those involved, who is at risk of being in

a situation involving bullying, and how does bullying manifest itself;

 what are the risk factors for sport, and;

 what effective preventive measures can be taken.

 To help sports directors and supervisors to deal with bullying in an appropriate

manner, it provides an approach to responding appropriately to cases of bullying.

This includes supporting sports directors and supervisors in acquiring the knowledge

and skills needed to enable them to act immediately and decisively.

 To help sports organisations to take concrete steps to create a sustainable bullying-

free environment based on the six concrete principles outlined below.

The six concrete actions promoted by the campaign were as follows:

 Awareness. The campaign focused on raising awareness of bullying among all

stakeholders, including young people, parents, coaches and volunteers, by means of

providing information leaflets, posters and guidance to sporting organisations.

 Positive group climate. In order to try to create a positive climate, the emphasis

was on involving all stakeholders in an attempt to enable them to tackle bullying

together.

 Point of contact and reporting procedure. It is important to break down the

taboos surrounding bullying and to help people to be open about their concerns.

Putting into place a system under which there is a clear contact person and reporting

procedure is crucial for this. The campaign offered guidance about how to do this.

 Code of conduct. The campaign offered advice to organisations on how to draw up

an appropriate code of conduct against bullying and how to implement it.

 Training. The campaign devised three different types of training on bullying, which

incorporated exercise and play elements, in order to teach children about bullying

and how to mitigate and prevent it. For those aged 12 and above, there were also

elements that covered cyber bullying.

 Appropriate response. Dealing with cases of bullying can be complex. On the one

hand, a firm response is necessary but it is also important to deal appropriately with

situations in order to resolve issues in the longer term. Therefore, a no-blame

response, using discussion to solve issues, may be appropriate, and this solution was

a focus for the campaign.

Organisations were encouraged to follow five specific steps:

 Step 1: To distribute a photo through their various channels on which they show

staff and/or athletes making a T-gesture, which was the symbol of the campaign.

Some examples are set out below.