Football Club Provides Support to Players Amid Online Abuse

The manager of a football club has discussed the team’s choice to hire safeguarding specialists to assist players in the squad due to a rise in online harassment. Michael Flynn of Cheltenham Town removed his social media accounts after encountering “horrible stuff” from online harassers and noting concerns, particularly for younger players; fans are also extended assistance. This development follows a finding by Ofcom that individuals aged 18 to 24 spend an average of six hours daily online. Daisy Greenwell, who co-founded Smartphone Free Childhood, commented that the internet’s unregulated nature makes it “a wild west” for children. During a football fan forum held last week, Mr Flynn expressed that he was “very fortunate” that social media was not present during his youth, and he feels “sorry” for contemporary young individuals. He stated, “Social media, for all its good, it’s got a lot of nasty heads.” “That’s one of the reasons why I hate it when I get asked a question on social media, it means [the troll] is probably in the pub misbehaving… and didn’t watch the game.”They’ve seen the result and they go on and post a load of rubbish.”I’ve had some horrible stuff said about me, about family; I’ve come off and I’m not giving them the time of day.” Mr Flynn indicated that the club provides “an avenue” for individuals looking for assistance following online abuse. He assured fans, “There’s always somebody within us who are willing to listen to you and and try and help in any way we can.” Ofcom’s research revealed that one in five children in the UK, aged eight to 15, have misrepresented their age to gain access to social media platforms. Ms Greenwell mentioned that certain parents have found their children participating in WhatsApp groups with 5,000 members. “It just quickly degenerates into horrible, toxic, bullying, racism, misogyny, videos of beheadings, all sorts of things like that,” she said.”Kids just aren’t ready to deal with that digital way of socialising, so if we can keep them off it for as long as possible, until they’re a little bit better at it… [that’s] the best thing parents can do.” Follow BBC Gloucestershire on Facebook, X, and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.