Online Youth Summit 2021 · Code of Conduct
Download the Code of Conduct 2021 [DOCX] Download the Code of Conduct 2021 [PDF]
This year the Ri’s Youth Summit is going online. We’ve put together a short piece of guidance to keep our digital platform open, safe, fulfilling, and a welcoming environment for everyone’s thoughts and ideas throughout the day’s activities.
Please note that all text and voting results from the day will be recorded for the purpose of providing information for this year’s Christmas Lecturers.
Everyone involved in the Youth Summit is responsible for following the Code of Conduct, including all staff, delegates, presenters, and volunteers. Failure to comply will result in exclusion from the day. The Online Youth Summit organisers may inform the participant’s parents/carers and teachers.
Safeguarding is our top priority. Please do not share personal details about yourself or others from your school group, in the chat. Personal details include contact details, social media or other online account names/handles, links to my blogs/streams, links or codes to access games, etc. Do not share links or contents from the chat-rooms outside of the event without the poster’s permission.
Being a part of this day means:
- Respecting and listening to each other’s views
- Using welcoming and inclusive language
- Treating everyone equally
- Respecting other attendees, Ri Moderators and event guests
- Communicating in English only, to ensure fair communication and moderation of comments
- Discussing the ideas you disagree with, rather than criticising or attacking the person behind them
- Helping the Ri Youth Summit community by reporting comments that you believe have broken this Code of Conduct.
We will NOT accept:
- Violent or threatening behaviour;
- Harassment or hate speech;
- Discrimination; or
- Display of inappropriate content.
Harassment/hate speech includes, but is not limited to, offensive verbal or written comments related to gender, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, religion, sexual images in public spaces, deliberate intimidation, stalking, following, harassing photography or recording, sustained disruption of talks or other events, inappropriate physical contact, unwelcome sexual attention or exclusionary or sexual jokes (even ironically).
If what you’re doing is making someone feel uncomfortable, that counts as harassment and is enough reason to stop doing it.
You should ensure that you are using any interactive features sensibly and appropriately. Do not spam the chat with repeated or irrelevant material, as this stops other from being able to participate.
We encourage people to pay attention to potentially harmful language patterns, such as:
- using gendered terms like “dude” or “guys” to address a mixed group of people. This contributes to furthering exclusion of underrepresented individuals, as does using gendered terms in contexts where the gender is unspecified (i.e. you should use “they” if the person hasn’t clearly stated their pronouns).
- using words like “crazy”, “dumb”, “insane”, “lame” or using terms such as “OCD” out of context. These are examples of ableist language, devaluing people who have physical or mental disabilities. Its appearance often stems not from any intentional desire to offend, but from our innate sense of what it means to be normal. These words can be avoided by using more fitting, clearer descriptions of what we want to communicate.
- Using slang or abbreviations which others may not be familiar with.
- Swearing or using abbreviations of swearwords.
Procedure for handling incidents
Each chat room will have at least one dedicated Ri Moderator present. They retain the right to take any actions to keep the event a welcoming environment for everyone. This includes deleting content, written warnings for the offender, or expulsion from the event.
If you see someone is violating the Code of Conduct, or you are either the subject of the harassment or a witness, you can bring the matter to a Moderator’s attention immediately in the chat. They will handle any concerns sensibly, respectfully, and as quickly as possible. The Moderator may need to pass details of your comment or complaint on to others such as the Ri’s safeguarding team, particularly if it raises any concerns over the safety of yourself or another participant. Everything will be treated with respect, care and privacy.
If you think an Ri moderator or guest profile is violating the Code of Conduct, or if you are not comfortable with how your complaint is being handled, you can contact our separate safeguarding team via youthsummit@ri.ac.uk. If you think the situation needs urgent attention, you can phone them on 07741 657 952 or 020 7670 2954. Any situation will be handled following our Safeguarding Policy. The Safeguarding team will inform you of the procedures to follow based on the information provided.
Please bear in mind that all reports are confidential, and we would appreciate if information about the incident was not disclosed publicly until the Ri has had time to address the situation.
If you feel someone is at imminent risk for their life and you feel that police or emergency services need to be involved, please contact a moderator straight away.
Download the Code of Conduct 2021 [DOCX] Download the Code of Conduct 2021 [PDF]
Credits:
This Code of Conduct is based on and adapted from the BIG the STEM communicators network, which was based on and adapted from the Dot Everyone Code of Conduct (CC BY 4.0), the PHP Conference Code of Conduct (CC BY 3.0) and Maths in Public Code of Conduct.Date last reviewed: 12 October 2021
