The police have held awareness talks to the 8-a-side teams about the dangers of social networks
Villarreal CF has declared war on cyberbullying. The Villarreal CF youth academy’s youngest players have received awareness and prevention talks on the dangers of social networks among minors, thanks to the close collaboration between the club and the National Police Force and its Vila-real police station.
These informative sessions, given by the Villarreal CF national police security coordinator, Sergio Botía, were aimed at both the young talents and their parents and legal guardians. In these relaxed talks, held at the José Manuel Llaneza Training Ground, the officer warned parents of the reality and threats that their children can encounter on the internet, while the youngsters were given useful advice on how to behave on the internet, reminding them of the importance of asking for help in the event of suffering or witnessing cyber-bullying.
The activation of these talks comes as a result of the popularisation of social networks among younger and younger users. “We detected this need last season. We saw that the teams have more and more exposure at tournament level and the children are increasingly precocious in the use of social networks. Faced with this situation, Villarreal CF wanted to give them the necessary resources to use them responsibly and with a critical spirit”, says Karim Hamidi, deputy coordinator of 8-a-side football.
To achieve this, Villarreal CF made use of its collaboration with the National Police Force, with which it has close ties through the Vila-real Police Station, and they welcomed the conference with enthusiasm:”‘We were very excited. It is something we work a lot with schools and this is the first time we have done it with the club. We think it’s timely because children are accessing networks and technology at an increasingly younger age and in the world of sport they are very exposed. So we give advice to the little ones and we make parents aware of this reality,” explains Sergio Botía.
Similarly, the National Police Security Coordinator praised Villarreal CF’s proactivity in educational aspects: ‘They are a completely pioneering club in the first division, at the forefront in educational and training matters. It is an entity that is not only a reference point at football level, but also an example in terms of collaboration with the authorities.”
The battle against cyber-bullying does not end here, with the holding of educational talks, but goes much further. The Villarreal CF youth academy has a protocol on the use of mobile phones to prevent misuse when the boys are in the custody of the Submarine’s technicians. ‘”t is a standard protocol that we share with the parents and the children. When we go to tournaments and the children take their mobile phones with them, their use is limited to common areas, always in the presence of the coaching staff. This way we avoid possible addictions and encourage interaction between teammates,” explains Lucía Gómez, an 8-a-side football psychologist and Villarreal Women player.
Finally, Villarreal will continue these talks, initiated by the police, with similar training sessions, which will be given by the club’s psychology department and academy coaches. “We are very satisfied with the response from the children and their parents. We have had 100% attendance and our idea is to continue to raise awareness of these realities that occur off the pitch,” said Karim Hamidi.
