This year’s Anti-Bullying Week theme is ‘One Kind Word and the Guernsey FA is fully behind the Anti-Bullying Alliance’s (ABA) activities, urging local clubs to download and share The FA’s comprehensive policy template.

Anti-Bullying Week runs from 15^th – 19^th November and we are asking local clubs to sign-up to and promote the FA Anti-Bullying Policy, which provides clubs with guidance on:

• signs and indicators of bullying;
• types of abuse, including discrimination and online bullying;
• organisations who can provide help and support for both parents and young people. 

Anti-Bullying Week calls on children and young people to take a lead in creating a future without bullying, using new technologies to promote positive communication rather than being held back by cyberbullying. This year, the ABA’s call to action is:

1. Ask if someone’s OK. Say you’re sorry. Just say hey.
2. In a world that can sometimes feel like it’s filled with negativity, one kind word can provide a moment of hope. It can be a turning point. It can change someone’s perspective. It can change their day. It can change the course of a conversation and break the cycle of bullying.
3. Best of all, one kind word leads to another. Kindness fuels kindness. So from the playground to Parliament, and from our phones to our homes, together, our actions can fire a chain reaction that powers positivity.
4. It starts with one kind word. It starts today.

Following the success of the campaign in 2020, the ABA asked over 400 young people, teachers, and parents, what they wanted from this year’s Anti-Bullying Week. Again and again, the young and not-so-young focussed on wanting anti-bullying work to be about hope and the positive and kind things we can do to halt hurtful behaviour in its tracks.

Guernsey FA designated Safeguarding Officer, Sara Mallet commented:

“Working together and sharing ambitions will help reduce bullying. From parents and carers, to teachers and football coaches, to children and young people, we all have a part to play in coming together to make a difference and being united against bullying. Guernsey Football and the Guernsey FA has a part to play and we are committed to promoting anti-bullying awareness and making sure that the football environment in Guernsey is safe and welcoming for everybody."

Please download The FA’s Anti-Bullying Policy template for grassroots clubs below;

https://www.thefa.com/get-involved/respect/resources

To find out more about Anti-Bullying Week, and the work of the Anti-Bullying Alliance please follow this link; https://anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/anti-bullying-week/anti-bullying-week-2021-one-kind-word and watch this video; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2PPN3-n7xU

The ABA has also worked with football organisations and this year has worked with Premier League Primary Stars to develop a fantastic new resource pack that enables pupils to consider the impact of their behaviour on others in a football context. This resource pack includes two activities that can be used alongside each other or used separately, as two standalone activities;

https://plprimarystars.com/resources/anti-bullying

For direct support in dealing with bullying issues within youth football, please contact your Club Welfare Officer or email safeguarding@guernseyfa.com