The rules we hold ourselves to, and how we protect the young people we work with.
Stardust puts young people in the same rooms as space agencies, primes,
universities and film crews. That is the whole point, and it is also where the
risk is. This framework is the set of rules we hold ourselves to, written down
so that anyone can check whether we are keeping them.
It applies to everyone acting in the Stardust name: staff, ambassadors,
advisors, instructors, partners, and volunteers.
We do not trade access to young people. A young person's participation is
never the price of a partnership, a sponsorship, a film, or a donation. If an
opportunity for Stardust depends on handing someone access to our members, the
answer is no.
We do not overstate what we are. Not our reach, not our partnerships, not
our credentials, and not anyone else's. If we cannot evidence it, we do not
print it. This applies hardest to the things that are flattering.
Consent is understanding, not a signature. Someone has consented when they
can tell you back, in their own words, what they agreed to. A form that a person
did not understand is not consent, it is paperwork.
People can change their minds. Anyone can withdraw from anything, at any
point, including after they have already said yes and after material has been
recorded. We do not use it. We do not argue.
The person in front of us outranks the opportunity behind them. If serving a
young person well and closing a deal ever conflict, we serve the young person
and lose the deal.
Odyssey has members as young as 13. Some of our ambassadors are under 18
themselves.
Screening. Nobody works unsupervised with under-18s on Stardust's behalf
without a current criminal record check and, where the local equivalent exists,
a vulnerable-sector or working-with-children check. No exceptions for seniority,
reputation, or how well we know someone.
Never one to one in private. Adults acting for Stardust do not hold private
one-to-one contact with a member under 18. Conversations happen in Stardust
channels, in group settings, or with a guardian included. Do not move a young
person onto a personal phone number, a private social account, or a direct
message thread off-platform.
Guardians. Where a member is under 18, a parent or guardian consents
alongside them, never instead of them. A young person can refuse even where a
guardian has agreed, and their refusal ends it.
Filming and photography. No young person is filmed, recorded, named,
identified by location, or used in promotional material without informed consent
from them and their guardian, obtained for that specific use. Consent for a
class is not consent for a documentary.
Personal data. We do not pass member contact details to partners, media,
funders or recruiters. If a partner has an opportunity, we tell our members and
the member approaches the partner if they want to.
If something worries you, say it. Anyone who sees or suspects harm reports
it immediately to jason.m@stardustinc.ca. You do not need to be certain,
you do not need proof, and you will never be penalised for raising a concern in
good faith. Where a child is at immediate risk, contact local emergency services
first and Stardust second.
Research involving people runs under an ethics framework hosted at the
University of Victoria, led by Dr. Olav Krigolson.
No research touches a participant before approval is in place. Participants keep
ownership of their own data, and may withdraw it. Observation for the purpose of
running a programme is not research, and we do not quietly convert one into the
other.
Serenity and our wellbeing tools are infrastructure that licensed clinicians
work through. They are not therapy, they are not a substitute for care, and they
do not diagnose anyone.
Clinical governance sits with our Director of Crew and Family Systems
Psychology, who has the authority to stop any piece of work, including work the
chief executive wants.
We use AI in our own operations, and we say so.
We do not license member content for AI training. Member posts, course
material, event recordings, live room recordings and any media featuring an
identifiable member are not sold, licensed or supplied to any party for training
artificial intelligence systems. Material featuring a person under 18 is never
supplied for that purpose under any circumstances.
AI does not make decisions about people. It does not decide who is admitted,
awarded, disciplined or removed. A human does, and that human is accountable.
We do not take payment in exchange for a young person's participation, an award,
a title, or a place in a programme. Scholarships are given on need, not on
ability to promote us. Nobody may collect money in Stardust's name without
written authority.
We work in more than 48 countries. Nobody acting for Stardust uses that access
to campaign politically, to proselytise, or to promote a cause unrelated to our
mission.
We follow the law where we operate, including sanctions and export controls. If
the law somewhere requires us to do something this framework forbids, we stop
operating there rather than lower the standard.
We will. When it happens we say so plainly, to the people affected first, we fix
it, and we write down what changed. We do not manage it quietly.
Concerns about this framework: jason.m@stardustinc.ca
Safeguarding concerns: jason.m@stardustinc.ca and ashley.hg@stardustinc.ca and ashley.hg@stardustinc.ca
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