Electronic Communications Policy
Purpose Statement: The electronics communication policy is in place to ensure transparent and proper communication between staff of Fred Wells Tennis and Education Center and participants.
As part of Fred Wells Tennis and Education Center’s emphasis on safety, communications involving any participant, and especially our minor participants under the age of 18, should be appropriate, productive, and transparent. However, the use of mobile devices, web-based applications, social media, and other forms of electronic communications increases the possibility for improprieties and misunderstandings and also provides potential offenders with unsupervised and potentially inappropriate access to participants. The improper use of social media, mobile and electronic communications can result in misconduct. Adherence to the Electronic Communications Policy helps reduce these risks.
All electronic communication between staff and player must be for the purpose of communicating information about team/individual activities, including private lessons. Staff, players and parents/guardians must follow common sense guidelines regarding the volume and time of day of any allowed electronic communication. To facilitate transparent communication directly with players ages 13 years of age or older, an official organization/team page or texting service may be set up. All communication is logged and available to view by authorized persons. Players older than 13 and/or parents/guardians may opt-in to send and/or receive communication through these official channels.
For communication outside of an official team page or texting service, a parent/guardian must be included in on all communication with players under the age of 18. If a parent/guardian wishes to not be copied in on communication with their child(ren), they must sign a waiver that explicitly expresses their permission for a staff member to communicate directly with their minor child(ren). All content between staff and players should be readily available to share with the public or families of the player or staff member.
Social media makes it easy to share ideas and experiences. Fred Wells Tennis and Education Center recognizes however, that social media, mobile and other electronic communications can be especially concerning where minor participants are involved. Staff may not have personal relationships with minor participants on social media platforms, including but not limited to, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat.
All electronic communication of any kind between a staff member and player, including use of social media, must be non-personal in nature and be for the purpose of communicating information about official organization activities or for team oriented motivational purposes. Social media and other means of electronic communication can be used to commit abuse and misconduct (e.g., emotional, sexual, bullying, harassment, and hazing). Such communications by any employee, volunteer, independent contractor or other participant of the Fred Wells Tennis and Education Center will not be tolerated.