Guidance for U18s - Using club webpage’s, social networks, email and texts

Mobile technology is a key part of everyday life including how and where you can find information about football. Whether it’s about professional teams you follow or your own team or club it’s a great way to get and share information.

Within football we want you to use social networks, the internet, texts and email safely to get the information you need. We have produced the guidance below to keep us all safe and to ensure that we respect each other:

• Tell an adult you trust about any communications that make you feel uncomfortable or that asks you not to tell your parent/carer
• Know who from your club should be contacting you and how they should be contacting you
• You can talk to your club’s welfare officer if you are unhappy about anything sent to you or said about you over the internet, social networking sites, text messages or via email
• Don’t post, host, text or email things that are hurtful, insulting, offensive, abusive, threatening, or racist as this would go against football rules and could also be against the law
• Don’t give out personal details including mobile numbers, email addresses or social networking account access to people you don’t know well offline
• Facebook has different ‘set up’ guidelines for U18s to help to keep you safe – use them
• Even if you get on with your coach, manager, club officials, adult referees or mentors, don’t invite them to become your friends online, they have been asked not to accept such invitations
• Tell an adult you trust if an adult involved at your club or within refereeing asks you to become their friend online and inform your club welfare officer
• If you receive an image or message which you find offensive, threatening or upsetting tell an adult you trust. Make sure you copy and save the image/message elsewhere or print it off before you remove and destroy it because this may be needed as evidence.