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Idaho Falls Shoshin Ryu: Safe Sport Act Compliant

Abuse is a complex issue. The term may evoke a strong emotional response and can create confusion as people try to agree upon what is and is not abuse. Abuse can occur in many different forms, including physical, sexual, and emotional harm.

The Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017 (the “Act”) was created in reaction to the abuse found at various youth sports organizations. The Act creates a new standard of care that affects youth serving organizations across the country.

The Act established mandatory reporting requirements and requires covered sports organizations to establish reasonable procedures to limit one-on-one interactions between an adult and participating minors without being in an observable and interruptible distance from another adult.

Shoshin Ryu takes an active role to protect its students and instructors from abuse and harassment.  Shoshin Ryu  is committed to fostering a safe, fun, and healthy environment for all members. As part of its compliance efforts associated with the Act, Shoshin Ryu has updated its prevention policies and mandatory reporting requirements, including where, how and what to report in the event a concern were to ever arise.

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MANDATORY REPORTING

Any Shoshin Ryu Instructor, Assistant Instructor, Volunteer or parent who learns of facts that give reason to suspect an incident of child abuse, including sex abuse, physical or mental injury and negligent treatment are required, as soon as possible (within a 24-hour period), to report such incident to the appropriate law enforcement agencies, as determined by state or federal law. Reasonable, moderate and non-cruel discipline administered by a parent or legal guardian to their child does not have to be reported. A failure to make a required report may subject one to criminal penalties.  A person will not be held liable if they make a report in good faith, including in situations where the reported incident is determined not to be child abuse.

ALL SHOSHIN RYU INSTRUCTORS, ASSISTANT INSTRUCTORS, VOLUNTEERS AND PARENTS ARE REQUIRED TO ADHERE TO THE FOLLOWING OBLIGATIONS:

Where to Report

  1. Appropriate law enforcement authorities; and
  2. Shoshin Ryu

How to Report

  1. Directly to local Shoshin Ryu instructor.
  2. Email – Shoshin Ryu-Provided Form – to sms@shoshinryu.org
  3. Local Law Enforcement (208-529-1200) – It is important to note that submitting a report to the Shoshin Ryu Organization under methods 1 and 2 does not relieve one from the obligation to report the incident to appropriate law enforcement authorities.

What to Report

  1. The name(s)/contact information of the complainant(s);
  2. The type of misconduct alleged;
  3. The name(s) of the individual(s) alleged to have committed the misconduct;
  4. The approximate dates the misconduct was committed;
  5. The names of other individuals who might have information regarding the alleged misconduct; and
  6. A summary statement of the reasons to believe that misconduct has occurred.

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UPDATED PREVENTION POLICIES

All Shoshin Ryu Instructors, Assistant Instructors and
Volunteers are required to comply with the following policies related to their
interaction with any participants in Shoshin Ryu.  The following policies are intended to be
additive to and supplement the Shoshin Ryu dojo and teaching etiquette.

  1. All forms of abuse including sexual, physical, emotional, harassment, bullying, and hazing are prohibited. Abuse also includes negligent treatment of a child.
  2. Prohibited sexual abuse physical acts include genital contact whether or not either party is clothed; fondling of a participant’s breast or buttocks; sexual penetration; sexual assault, exchange of a reward in sport for sexual favors; lingering or repeated embrace that goes beyond acceptable physical touch; tickling, wrestling, or massage; and continued physical contact that makes a participant uncomfortable.
  3. Prohibited sexual abuse verbal acts include making sexually oriented comments, jokes and innuendo; Instructor/Assistant/Volunteer discussing his or her sex life with participant; asking about a participant’s sex life; requesting or sending a nude or partial dress photo; exposing participants to pornographic material; voyeurism; and sexting with a participant.
  4. Any type of “grooming” behavior associated with sexual predators is prohibited.Grooming is the process by which an offender draws a victim into a sexual relationship and maintains that relationship in secrecy. The shrouding of the relationship is an essential feature of grooming.The grooming process includes 1)Targeting a vulnerable victim, 2) Gaining the victim’s trust, 3) Filling a need (gifts, special privileges, extra attention, or affection making the adult seem more important to the minor), 4) Isolating the child, 5) Sexualizing the relationship (i.e. desensitizing the child to touch, inappropriate conversation topics, etc.), 6) Maintaining control (using secrecy and blame to maintain the minor’s continued participation).
  5. Prohibited forms of physical abuse include punching, beating, biting, striking, choking, slapping, or intentionally hitting a participant with objects or sports equipment with malicious intent and desire to injure; providing alcohol to a participant under legal drinking age; providing illegal drugs or non-prescribed medications to any participant; encouraging or permitting a participant to return to play after injury or sickness prematurely without medical clearance; prescribing dieting or other weight control methods for humiliation purposes; isolating a participant in a confined space; forcing participant to assume a painful stance or position for no athletic purpose; withholding, or denying adequate hydration, nutrition medical attention, or sleep.
  6. Prohibited emotional abuse includes a pattern of verbally attacking a participant personally such as calling them worthless, fat or disgusting; physically aggressive behaviors such as throwing or hitting objects; and ignoring a participant for extended periods of time or excluding them from practice.
  7. Bullying includes an intentional, persistent, or repeated pattern of committing or willfully tolerating (e.g., staff not preventing) physical, nonphysical, or cyber bullying behaviors that are intended to cause fear, humiliation, physical harm in an attempt to socially exclude, diminish, or isolate another person emotionally, physically, or sexually. It is often not the Instructor/Assistant/Volunteer, but instead, other participants who are the perpetrators of bullying. However, it is a violation if the Instructor/Assistant/Volunteer knows or should have known of the bullying behavior but takes no action to intervene on behalf of the targeted participants.
  8. Prohibited hazing includes any contact which is intimidating, humiliating, offensive or physically harmful. Hazing typically is an activity that serves as a condition for joining a team of being socially accepted by team members.
  9. Two deep leadership is highly encouraged where two adults (e.g., any combination of staff or parents) should be present at all times so that a minor participant can’t be isolated with a single unrelated adult, except in the case of an emergency.
  10. All electronic communications including email, texting, social media, etc. between the Instructor/Assistant/Volunteer and a minor participant should be limited strictly to the legitimate activities of the organization.
  11. In connection with any overnight travel, Instructors/Assistants/Volunteers are prohibited from spending the night in the same room as an unrelated minor participant; any room sharing by participants should be monitored to ensure grouping of participants of the same sex and age group in rooms; and Instructors/Assistants/Volunteers must ensure adequate oversight with a same-sex chaperone for each group.
  12. Transportation of Shoshin Ryu students by Instructors, Assistants and/or Volunteers is forbidden unless the Instructor/Assistant/Volunteer is the parent, guardian or sibling of the applicable student, or permission has been given by the applicable student’s parent or legal guardian.
  13. Parents should be encouraged to appropriately support their children’s martial art experience and all martial art practices should be open to observation by parents.