Traditional games bring people together in a way that feels relaxed and informal. That is their strength – and it is also the moment when safeguarding is most easily forgotten. A friendly community afternoon can still expose a child to harm, a person with a disability to humiliation, or a refugee family to risk if a photo is shared online. In this lesson we look at three areas you must manage in every I-PLAY session: safeguarding minors, safeguarding people with disabilities, and data protection and visual privacy.

01What safeguarding means

Safeguarding is everything you do to protect participants from harm – physical, emotional, verbal or digital – and to make sure that, if something does go wrong, it is noticed and acted upon. The I-PLAY curriculum asks facilitators to implement safeguarding protocols for activities involving minors and participants with disabilities, and to promote a culture of zero tolerance for physical and verbal abuse – for everyone.

02Safeguarding minors

• Know and follow your organisation’s child protection policy, including who to report concerns to. If your organisation does not have one, raise this before you run sessions with minors.
• Avoid one-to-one situations out of sight. Plan activities so that adults are visible and, where possible, more than one adult is present.
• Use appropriate physical contact only. In games with catching or snatching (such as Mendil kapmaca), agree clear rules on where touching is allowed.
• Listen and act. If a young person tells you something worrying, listen calmly, do not promise to keep it secret and follow your reporting procedure.
• Zero tolerance. Insults, mocking, humiliating “jokes” and physical aggression are stopped immediately – whether they come from participants, spectators or adults.

03Safeguarding people with disabilities

The curriculum’s inclusion profile gives clear guidance. Where possible, learn participants’ specific needs before the session and prepare the environment accordingly. A mobility impairment, a sensory disability and an intellectual disability each require different considerations. Some key principles:

• Ask, don’t assume. The person (or their family or support worker, where appropriate) is the expert on their own needs.
• Protect dignity. Design roles and adaptations so that different abilities feel like natural variation, not special treatment. Never single someone out in front of the group.
• Welcome accompanying persons and brief them on their role in the session.
• Prepare equipment and space in advance – for example lighter or brighter objects, clear surfaces and reduced distances.

04GDPR and visual privacy

Photos and videos are a natural part of community events and of European projects that need to show their results. But the I-PLAY curriculum is clear: we never document or share participants’ identities for the sake of project visibility if it compromises their dignity or security. Under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), images of identifiable people are personal data, and images of children require extra care.