Citygate Youth

Behaviour Management Policy

Citygate Youth is the youth ministry of Citygate Church. Citygate is committed to

providing a safe and secure environment which nurtures all young people and protects them

from spiritual, emotional, physical and sexual abuse.

This policy sets out the procedures that all Citygate Staff Members and Volunteers must

follow when involved in Citygate Youth Programmes. The Policy relates to young people

(Youth) aged 11 through 18, and references to the “Parent” includes legal guardians and

primary caregivers. This document falls within the guidelines of the ‘Behaviour and discipline

guidelines’ written by the Department for Education.

We aspire to have strong leadership to ensure that every young person is in a safe and

supported environment. We will always communicate with parents and other agencies,

where necessary, according to our child protection policy.

The law allows youth leaders to reprimand young people whose conduct is disruptive to our

programmes and events. This means that if a young person misbehaves or fails to follow a

reasonable instruction, a DBS checked youth team member may impose consequences in

line with those contained within this policy.

Key Points

·       The Youth team may act upon this policy at all Citygate Youth programmes. It is

the Youth team’s responsibility to ensure a safe environment for all is being provided

and act upon this policy whenever necessary.

·       When needed the a Youth Team member can confiscate a young person's property if

they believe it will cause them or another young person either physical or psychological harm.

·       If a young person disrupts the programme the Youth Team should report this directly to the Youth Pastors. They will then determine the best course of action and may implement the ‘three strike’ policy.

Security

During our Youth programmes the safety of young people is one of our top priorities. We strive to have a security team that consists of key volunteers from Citygate Church that have

been trained in how to keep the building secure and protect those inside. Our Security team

and Youth team will work together to ensure all of our programmes are safe for everyone in

attendance by having:

·       A trained security team member present at every Youth Programme in our Citygate Buildings.

·       All of our Youth team read The Behaviour Management Policy and understand the appropriate consequences for young people misbehaving

Behaviour and Sanctions

To keep distractions to a minimum in our programme and ensure that every young person is

being given a chance to learn and change their behaviour, we run a ‘three strike policy’

which is implemented when a young person misbehaves and isn’t conducting themselves in

a way that aligns with our church culture and/or policies. The only people able to give out

strikes at Citygate programmes are the Youth Pastors, and the Youth Small Group Leaders.

It’s the responsibility of all Youth Team to inform the leaders of any young people who are

misbehaving and ensure that they are keeping track of anyone who isn’t conducting

themselves in a way that aligns with our culture and/or policies; however Youth Team

members can not give out strikes or threaten the use of strikes.

Youth Team should always aim to consult a young person's Small Group leader during the

strike process to ensure that our young people are being both corrected and pastorally cared

for at the same time.

The Three Strike Policy:

1.     On the first strike the young person is informed that their behaviour is
unacceptable and they have gained one strike. They will also be reminded of
the strike system and told they have two strikes remaining. At this point a
young person's small group leader would be informed of the situation and
brought into the conversation.

2.     If the young person continues to be disruptive and their behaviour does not
change they will be given a second strike. They will again be reminded of the
system and told that another strike will result in them being removed from the
programme and their parents called.

3.     On receiving a third strike the young person will be removed from the
programme by the Youth Pastors and their Small Group leader. Their parents will
be called and informed of the situation and asked if they can pick them up as
soon as possible. If the parent can not pick them up they will be kept in the
foyer or another safe location till the end of the programme. If the parent asks
the young person to make their own way home they will be allowed to leave
the building.

If a young person reaches their three strikes and is removed from the programme they will

be called midweek by the Youth Pastor to review the situation and talk through the young

person's return to future programmes.

Should the behaviour of a young person ever become violent or dangerous the police should

be called immediately.

Smoking

If anyone is found smoking/vaping inside of the building they will be removed from the

programme immediately.

Illegal Substances & Alcohol

We will not tolerate the use of any illegal substances or alcohol at any of our programmes. If

a young person is suspected of being under the influence of and/or have on them any illegal

substances or alcohol, they will be denied access to the program or if found out once inside

our building or whist in a program they will be removed from immediately.

Strikes & Immediate Removals

We expect all of our young people to respect everyone they interact with at our programmes

and respect the location our programmes are taking place in.

We will tolerate ‘silliness’ and ‘cheeky’ behaviour but will not tolerate disrespect, rudeness, bullying or aggression. The majority of bad behaviour will result in a ‘strike’ however extreme misconduct will result in immediate removal from our programmes.

Strikes

·       Continuously swearing

·       Continuously talking through a service

·       Deliberately disobeying a Youth team member

·       Arguing with a Youth team member

·       Disrespecting someone on stage

·       Deliberately disrupting a service

·       Disrespecting Citygate Property

·       Going in any ‘restricted areas’

Immediate Removal

·       Damage to the property

·       Hurt or harm to another person

·       Bullying

·       Arson or fireworks misuse

·       Smoking/Vaping inside the building

·       Sexual misconduct

·       Alcohol and/or illegal substance use and/or possession

·       Threatening behaviour

·       Stealing

·       Possession of knives or weapon

·       Possession of or sharing of pornographic images

·       Racism

·       Sexism

Restraining

It is important that we keep every person who is involved with any of our programs safe. In

case of any violence or aggression being caused, our Youth Team is not to restrain a

young person unless officially trained in restraint.

If a young person starts to act aggressively all youth team members must remove

themselves from the situation and find the nearest team member who is restraint trained.

It is within a Youth Team member's rights to defend themselves if being assaulted and

unable to remove themselves safely from the situation. If a young person is harming themselves the Youth team have the right to intervene

according to our child protection policy.

In the event of dangerous or threatening behaviour within a school, the Youth Team will

request help from the nearest member of the school facility, who will then determine the right

way to approach the situation.