Issues: Children & vulnerable adults and angling clubs

Some recent posts have made me pause to ponder. (And I don't want anyone to think I'm refering to them in particular. I'm not. It's just that some posts recently have made me think.)

We all want juniors to take up our sport. They'll be the future of it. A large part of our passion was learned from fathers/uncles/grandfathers, and we want to pass this along to the next generation. Along with healthy fish stocks also, of course.

I know my Salmon and Sea Trout club are keen on it, bringing on Juniors that is. But before they do anything organised, they're (we're) going to organise Children & Vulnerable Adult training, along with Gardai clearances, for us.

The briefing from a qualified trainer that I've had so far was certainly an eye-opener. I suspect there's much more to learn, in the near future. it seems all to do with protecting yourself from allegations of abuse/suspicions of misconduct as about protecting Children.

Speaking with GAA fanatic neighbours, they've all been through this.

Are Sea anglers and their clubs aware of the issues and being pro-active on it?

I know that the only junior I'll take fishing now is my nephew. Not any of his wee mates, unless one of their parents comes along too.

tottaly agree with you here, since my fiance works with kids, and have heard some of the stories she has had to deal with, wont go into what work she did,
anyway id personaly recomend any club considering a junior section to make sure the juniors in question have one of there parents with them or some one assigned by there parents to be there,, i know in a club im involved with which has a junior section,,, we will be insisting on parents been there, otherwise the juniors in question wont be able to fish,,(harsh some people might think but in todays world we feel its essential)

stevecrow is/was jr officer in gbsac and he could tell about that course, the only jr members i take fishing are family,ie my own and neices nephews

yeah, as junior officer i had the chane to do a course in
'Code of Ethics and Good Practice for Children's Sport'

a real eye opener to what could go on in any sport when dealing with children

guys, child protection is a bloody minefield, i worked in north belfast as an intensive youth support worker for a while and it's more about protecting yourself than anything else. we were sent on re training courses every 6 months as legislation is constantly changeing. most of it is common sense but a lot of it is utter nonsence, but at the end of the day you have to keep yourself in the right. just a pity some young anglers are excluded as their parents will not accompany them to get out fishing. a lot of the parents would prefere to dump their kids off at the beach then swan off and leave you to look after them. we had this happen a lot at a football club i used to help run.some parents see clubs as cheap childcare.

Its a sorry sign of the culture/environment we live in these days

Its a sorry sign of the culture/environment we live in these days

I have a newsagents and plenty of kids streaming in and out all day. I for one am very aware of what I say/do all day every day. I watch every P & Q I use. I agree that it is sad but that's the way it has become.