Is this a child protection issue

[Elisheva]

My dd is 7. During her swimming lesson today there was a man in swimming trunks sat on the side of the pool watching the swimming lessons. During swimming lesson times the pool is closed to other swimmers. I asked at reception and they said that the man was cooling off after using the sauna, which is in a room off the pool.
The children sit on a ledge during their lessons while waiting for their turn and the man was sat next to them.
Parents are not allowed poolside during lessons, and currently (because of covid) parents of children over 8 are not allowed to watch from the gallery.
The staff member said that there was nowhere else for the man to sit, that him being in trunks was irrelevant, and that it was no different to the parents watching from the gallery.
I am very uneasy about this situation. I know that the man was doing nothing wrong but it seems to be a situation that could be taken advantage of. I’m not sure whether to take it further and email the centre manager.
What do you think?

@TracyHorrobin

I think this is an issue. Any man or woman happy to sit, alone, in swimwear in this scenario would concern me. I was a child in the '70s and all the local pools had their regular weirdos

How ridiculous - older people have to act like they’re constantly under suspicion of being a pedophile every time a child is nearby?

Heaven forbid precious children are exposed to other unworthy humans or have to share their PUBLIC space with them

@WhatNoRaisins

I think the issue it's this is either a closed to the public lesson or it isn't.

This.

And if he can use the sauna it’s a very fair assumption that he can use the pool too. So the pool need to ail their colours to the mast and if it’s a private sessions then sauna should be closed off too

It’s either closed or it isn’t- yes some pools are open to the public at the same time but OPs isn’t and she may have chosen it because it wasn’t! I’d take it further

Heaven forbid precious children are exposed to other unworthy humans or have to share their PUBLIC space with them hmm why is there always a vile comment like this- you can disagree for sure but actually children are “precious”

How is it a vile comment? People are horrified that adults are happy to be next to children because they’re not thinking “Ooh mustn’t look like a pedophile”. It seems he WAS allowed to use the facilities and had as much right to be there as the children.

Children are precious to their parents, not other people and certainly not random people using the same public facilities. No one else’s children are precious to me

You're mad. He's just paid to use the sauna. That's part of it.

Why would you think that's a child protection issue?

The poll is closed to adult swimmers. Because it's taken up with lessons.

He's not swimming, he's simply cooling down after his sauna.

@AsYouWishButtercup

How is it a vile comment? People are horrified that adults are happy to be next to children because they’re not thinking “Ooh mustn’t look like a pedophile”. It seems he WAS allowed to use the facilities and had as much right to be there as the children.

Your mocking of children was the vile bit

@AsYouWishButtercup

Children are precious to their parents, not other people and certainly not random people using the same public facilities. No one else’s children are precious to me

I think all children are precious in the sense that they need protecting in society

Would you even be thinking in this way if it was a woman sat there? Or a fun dad of one of the children? What makes an unrelated man more of a risk than a dad? Does it make it better if this man has kids or doesn't?

I'm not trying to be goady but make you think about what exactly your concern is. The man was just sitting there. He wasn't talking to the children, or interacting with them. The swimming instructor would have been able to see him and the pool staff were aware of him. There is no more safeguarding risk of that man sitting on the edge of the pool than one of the dads of the children or indeed any parent or guardian. More often safeguarding issues arise within the home rather than from strangers.

If this man was present every week, was talking to children and several of them had reported that he made them uncomfortable then you'd have a point. But the situation you've described is not a safeguarding concern.

Yes I believe it is a safeguarding issue. I have taken kids to leisure centres that had facilities that could only be accessed by walking alongside the pool. During times pool was closed to public for whatever reasons there would be orange plastic barriers and cones segregating the walkway area to make it very clear it was a pathway through but to prevent dawdling and any interaction with pool users.

His sauna ticker doesn't include pool use nor access to the seating around it seems, therefore he should not be there unless leaving or entering sauna.

Would certainly take it further with management. You are right to see this as a potential risk to children. Would they let him wander around during a ladies swimming session that maybe allowed those from cultures that prohibit mixed bathing. Nope.

@OnlyFoolsnMothers

I think all children are precious in the sense that they need protecting in society

Protecting from what in this instance? An adult they don’t know in a swimming pool who is posing literally zero risk?

And do we only protect people until they’re 17 years and 364 days old, and the next day they’re an adult who needs to go about their business trying not to look like a pedophile?

I think adults need protected from drama llamas loons obsessed that every other man is out to harm their children but there you go.

Agree it’s a safeguarding issue. Allowing strangers, especially men, to build up familiarity with children in quiet talking/ touching distance is a clear risk and opportunity for grooming. The classic, “Oh it’s ok, it’s only that man I know from talking to at the swimming pool”.

Whilst they will be being broadly supervised, the teacher won’t be monitoring him every second, and if they are watching him then they will be paying less attention to the children in the water.

I also think that most men are very aware of not coming across as being paedophiles and would not voluntarily sit close to random children in a situation like this.

I think you need to keep on reporting.

“Building up familiarity” he was sitting down on a ledge ignoring them. FGS

I think it’s inappropriate for a random man to be able to sit in close proximity to the children if the parents aren’t even allowed to sit in the gallery to watch because of ‘Covid’. If changes have been made due to Covid then everyone should be following the policy. Surely he could cool down in the shower or go and sit at the opposite end of the pool?

@AsYouWishButtercup

I think all children are precious in the sense that they need protecting in society

Protecting from what in this instance? An adult they don’t know in a swimming pool who is posing literally zero risk?

And do we only protect people until they’re 17 years and 364 days old, and the next day they’re an adult who needs to go about their business trying not to look like a pedophile?

I think adults need protected from drama llamas loons obsessed that every other man is out to harm their children but there you go.

Ok so why bother dbs checking anyone who works with children- why not have schools open to the public to walk through? I didn’t say that the individual posed a risk, but if the OP chose a class because the pool was closed to the public then it should be closed to the public.

And FYI a 7 year old and a 17year old aren’t comparable

It’s not a school though, it’s a public pool of which he has been allowed to have access for his benefit. An adult - unless they were a member of staff or parent - would literally have no place in a school. This man is using HIS facilities that he has paid for. It’s not his fault that the pool management is clearly crap and they either haven’t made it clear the session is private, or it is not in fact private at all.

And FYI a 7 year old and a 17year old aren’t comparable

Why not? They’re both children.

@CeilingWax

Agree it’s a safeguarding issue. Allowing strangers, especially men, to build up familiarity with children in quiet talking/ touching distance is a clear risk and opportunity for grooming. The classic, “Oh it’s ok, it’s only that man I know from talking to at the swimming pool”.

Whilst they will be being broadly supervised, the teacher won’t be monitoring him every second, and if they are watching him then they will be paying less attention to the children in the water.

I also think that most men are very aware of not coming across as being paedophiles and would not voluntarily sit close to random children in a situation like this.

I think you need to keep on reporting.

Nothing from your first paragraph is anything like what the OP has described.

I think you’re right OP. I have a lot to do with safeguarding at my work and would keep raising it with the leisure centre. Something is flagging this to you as an issue. Listen to it

I wonder if this man just lacks self awareness. Most people would feel really odd being the only person sat poolside in swimwear while a load of kids were having a lesson. Maybe a staff member needs to explain that it's a private lesson and he can sit elsewhere.

Just to be clear, the pool is closed to the public at this time. It is only swimming lessons, so there in no way he could have thought he was allowed to go in the pool. The sauna is accessed via a door off the swimming pool. He had been in the sauna and then come out and sat on the ledge next to the door, where the children were also sitting/standing.
There is no seating area poolside, the only seats are in the gallery. It is not a through route.
And, again, I do not think this particular man was a pedophile. I am concerned about the situation, not the individual.

But if he was able to go in the sauna he MUST have thought it was accessible to him. Why wouldn’t you? Unless it’s the unfortunate circumstances where he went in the sauna during ‘his’ allowed time slot and came out when the lessons had started. In which case it’s just bad timing - it still piss poor management from the pool. You need to raise it with them to make it clear to other pool users that between Xpm and Xpm it’s private lessons and they need to be out. Better yet, blow a whistle and turf them out before lessons start!

I agree with you OP, it’s a safeguarding issue. The whole point of safeguarding is to be preventative, not reactive.
While this man may not have been doing anything dodgy, the fact that you are questioning it suggests that it was questionable, and it sure sounds questionable to me. And let’s be honest here, just because he wasn’t actively engaging the children in conversation, he may well have heard their names, and from what you say he was watching. I mean, an unknown adult in an area that’s closed to members of the public, who is sitting near half naked children, watching half naked children, is going to make themselves conspicuous by their behavior, whether they are up to anything dodgy or not.

Personally I would be making a complaint to the center, because this is a safeguarding failure. Also, if people don’t want other people to think their behavior is dodgy, they shouldn’t act in ways that make them look like it might be.

Honestly, I despair of a lot of the posters on this thread. How can we uphold safeguarding when so many people don’t see a problem with a half naked man being where he’s not supposed to be, watching half naked children who he doesn’t know, and potentially learning identifying details about those children? And don’t give me all this bullshit about can’t men do anything without people thinking they are a pedophile? Plenty of men manage to conduct themselves in a way that never suggests they are a pedophile, even paedophiles, so fuck right off with that.

And, you could bet your boots that if it was another parent engineering a situation where they could conveniently watch their own child from the poolside when nobody else is allowed, posters would be up in arms saying they were entitled and they shouldn’t be allowed.