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Photography And Children Policy Statement
The following information is taken from the ASA's Child Protection Policy, as detailed on their website (June 2006). The London Borough of Redbridge S.C. takes Child Protection very seriously. We will always follow ASA guidelines, and have therefore adopted the ASA's policy on photographing children as our own.
The ASA have been aware of cases where the photographing of swimmers has been used for illicit purposes. Such illicit photos are taken by persons purporting to be official photographers, hence the ruling that no one unconnected with an event i.e. not a parent/carer takes photos unless they are a suitably approved photographer and have the consent of the meet manager.
The publishing of a photograph of swimmer under 18 either on a notice board or in a published article should only be done with parents consent and in line with ASA guidelines. An issue has arisen in the past where a child's photo was published and led to a parent under court order only to have supervised contact with that child, discovering their whereabouts and making direct contact.
A parent or guardian has a right to refuse to have children photographed. Therefore any photo that may go to press or on a notice board, be it through a member of the club or official photographer, should have receive parental consent before publishing/ displaying the photo, preferably in writing.
Under ASA guidance on the taking of photos once a parent has signed the book we are happy for them to take photos on the belief this is of their swimmer in the main. Other competitors nearby may be taken but not the main object of the photo. However, a person can object to a parent/carer taking a photo if they believe their child to be the main object of the photo, but in practice this seldom happens.
In the case of Open meets and other competitions where the host club has an official photographer present all parents attending should be made aware of this in your meet details. If photos are to be published anywhere the individual parent should give consent. This should not be hard as only a few are ever published and the individual should be easily identified. The ASA guidelines on photos for publication are head and neck only, or in tracksuits if full length, don't give details identifying the swimmer such as full name, place of residence or school attended.
The ASA do not wish to stop parents photographing their children if they wish at their "moments of glory" but all clubs have to ensure they do all we can to safeguard children's well being in the current climate of concern.
