Guidelines proposed for student athletes rights

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

National

Mon, September 25, 2023 | 06:42

Guidelines proposed for student athletes rights

Posted : 2010-12-12 19:06

Updated : 2010-12-12 19:06

The human rights agency Sunday announced guidelines coaches and teammates should follow to protect student athletes from rights violations.

The National Human Rights Commission said it will recommend the related ministries and sports organizations across the nation adopt the guidelines and implement them.

Its move comes as acts of violence and cases of rights violations committed on student athletes by coaches or their seniors are recurrent at schools and even during sports games.

Included in the guidelines are details of cases of rights violations, sexual abuse and extreme corporal punishment. The rights agency recommended that the sports authorities ban physical contact between coaches and athletes. It also recommended that any sexually-suggestive comments or remarks that have to do with appearances should be banned.

Under the guidelines, coaches will be obliged to notify and receive prior permission before visiting athletes in their rooms and avoid creating a situation in which they are left alone with an athlete in an enclosed space, such as a private room or a car.

It also said student athletes should be guaranteed the right to study. To make sure that young athletes will be given greater study hours, it recommended that systematic steps be instituted so that schools, parents, coaches and athletes can check their study hours.

It also said the education authorities come up with measures to punish schools or educators for the failure to guarantee study hours.
About half of the nation's student athletes were beaten at least once by coaches or senior teammates while training or competing in tournaments, according to a recent survey by the Korean Olympic Committee. Nearly 27 percent of athletes said they experienced sexual abuse and harassment.

chojh@koreatimes.co.kr