F.E.I.S. Recommendations

This F.E.I.S. (First Everyone Is Safe) Recommendations list is the consolidation of thoughts from a few other posts. If you are new, this is the third in a series of posts regarding feiseanna safety. You can see Part 1 and Part 2 to get caught up if you need to.

Based on input from you, and some of my own observations, this is a concise list on what contributors think can help make the feiseanna environment  safer:

  • No dancer name/school lists posted in the ‘clear’ on any website – access can be granted to teachers and parents with the appropriate login credentials.
  • Posted results use numbers only to keep dancer/school anonymity in the feis environment.
  • While at a feis, use of the buddy system for all dancers, whether it is dancer/dancer or dancer/parent buddies.
  • Appropriate dresscode before, between and after all dances. ‘Appropriate’ can be determined by governing bodies.
  • Age appropriate makeup – IMHO, none of the girls are old enough to wear the makeup typically seen at feiseanna.
  • Visual identification for parents, other family members and friends, obtained at registration or upon paid entry. Registration would have more control to prove ‘association’ with a dancer. Recommendations have been wristbands and brightly colored stickers.
  • Presence of feis security – even a few school dads with ‘SECURITY’ or possible ‘SAFETY’ t shirts wandering the venue would help.
  • Safety signage that shows the feis is paying attention to safety. Examples might include:  ‘report incidents’, ‘be observant’, ‘no videography’ etc…
  • Observation – everyone needs to be observant and proactive.
  • Enforcement of the standards issued by the governing bodies, and common sense. This is top-down from the dance organizations, to schools, to competitions, to parents and the dancers themselves.

So, what do you think? Any obvious omissions? Again, please keep comments brief if possible.

I will be looking for people who are, or are connected to, the dance governing bodies, and people with working knowledge of how to get these ideas properly formatted, and to the right people. I have done some digging, but I am hoping some of you can help the process. If you can help, or point me in the right direction, please contact me.

 

2 Comments

NancyP

One additional item – posters to message boards should use initials only (or some other agreed upon protocol) to share feis results. Often when the entry lists are protected or anonymized, well-meaning posters to the Voy boards will list entire names and school affiliations. Voy boards are public and that means anyone, well-intentioned or not, can read them. Board moderators should be willing to spend extra time on feis days making sure that full names are not listed. (I know this is extra work; I co-moderate a public message board and guarding our members’ privacy is one of our top concerns.)

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Mike

I agree, and that could be considered as listed under point one, but to be honest, I was thinking just of the ‘feis sites’ when I wrote that. Good call and I will clarify with examples the ‘formal version’ of the list. Thanks

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