Make your club aware of our top tips for online communication.
Most children will assume they are safe when using the internet because they are in their own home. They will usually assume that the person they are chatting with is who they say they are.
Most of the time this is true – but sometimes this is not the case and helping children who may be players in your club become more aware in this fact will help them to stay safer online.
The FA recommends you make parents/carers aware of CEOPs ‘Top tips for parents/carers’.
You can print off this information and place it in your next newsletter or simply provide the link to TheFA.com where they can access it themselves - http://www.thefa.com/TheFA/NewsAndFeatures/2009/TopTipsParentsCarers.aspx
The FA hopes that by raising awareness amongst parents/carers, they will then speak with their son, daughter or child in their care about the safer use of the internet and explore www.thinkuknow.co.uk with them.
More and more frequently, coaches and team managers are making use of the internet to communicate with players. Remind your club officials that they need to be mindful of what they are saying, how they are saying it and ensure they are adhering to The FA's Safeguarding Children Policy and are mindful of maintaining appropriate relationships with U18’s in football.
The use of sarcasm and innuendo are not appropriate - it’s important that coaches, team managers, referees and medics remember they are in a position of trust and need to be responsible role models.
