2020-21 Center Ice Skating Club Electronic Communication Policy
Center Ice Skating Club is committed to creating a safe and positive environment for members’ physical, emotional, and social development and ensuring that it promotes an environment free of misconduct. Effective communication concerning activities, schedules, and administrative issues among coaches, members and their families, officials, and volunteers is critical. However, the use of electronic communication (including mobile devices, web-based applications, social media, and other forms of electronic communication) increases the possibility for improprieties and misunderstandings, and also provides potential offenders with unsupervised and potentially inappropriate access to minor skaters. The improper use of electronic communications can result in misconduct.
Accordingly, all members shall adhere to this Electronic Communications Policy at all times.
Social Media
Center Ice Skating Club (CISC) maintains a website for the purposes of communicating non-personal information about club/skating related activities. This includes communication designed to show support of CISC members and their accomplishments and for the promotion of the CISC its programs, and events.
All electronic communication of any kind between adults and minors, including the use of social media, must be non-personal in nature, and be for the purpose of communicating information about club/skating-related activities.
Use of any social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc.) by a skater to direct statements that can cause abuse or misconduct such as emotional, sexual, bullying, harassment, hazing, taunting and intimidation will NOT be tolerated. This includes statements from a skater toward another skater(s), club member, coach, parent, or Arena staff. The above is considered a violation of the SafeSport Program, and will lead to disciplinary action by the Center Ice Skating Club.
These disciplinary actions are as follows:
- First Offense: Written warning to skater and parent(s) that further violations jeopardize the skater’s standing in the club and USFSA
- Second Offense: 30 days probation. This means that the skater will be marked on the USFSA as a skater that is not in good standing with CISC. This will prohibit the skater from competing or testing during that time frame.
- Third Offense: Dismissal from Center Ice Skating Club
Email, Text Messaging and Similar Electronic Communication
All email and text message content between adults and minors must be non-personal in nature and be for the purpose of communicating information about club/skating activities.
Emails and text messages from any CISC adult, volunteer, coach, or board member to any minor member should include a parent. A parent may (on their own) grant specific permission to contact their minor without copying or including that parent. In such event, all electronic content between adult and minor should be readily available to share with the public or the families of the skater or coach/adult. Coaches, skaters, and club volunteers must follow common sense guidelines regarding the volume and time of day of any allowed electronic communications.
Use of electronic communication (texting or email) to commit abuse or bullying will NOT be tolerated.
Request to Discontinue All Electronic Communication or Imagery with Minors
At any time, a parent may rescind their permission and request in writing that their child not be contacted by any form of electronic communication between coaches or other adults in the program, CISC and its members shall immediately comply with such request without any repercussions for such request.
Violations
Social Media and other means of electronic communication can be used to commit abuse and misconduct (e.g., emotional, sexual, ‘sexting’, bullying, harassment, and hazing). Such communications by any coach, skater, parent, volunteer, or other participant in any CISC activities will NOT be tolerated and will be considered violations of CISC Electronic Communications Policy and the US Center for SafeSport Program, and disciplinary actions above will be followed.