Editorial: Children need safe spaces

Every day in Malta, hundreds of children take part in extracurricular sports. These activities are a key part of childhood, offering fun, discipline and teamwork – all while encouraging an active, healthy lifestyle.

But a recent discussion has shed light on a troubling truth: there are no national safeguarding guidelines in place to protect children involved in sport or other extracurricular programmes.

While legal consequences exist for adults who abuse or harm children, there is a glaring lack of preventive structures designed to keep children safe from the outset. The Church has its own Safeguarding Commission but that only covers Church-run entities. Prevention, not just punishment, is essential.

The issue came into focus recently when parents began voicing concerns about the common practice of coaches messaging children, some as young as 11, through group chats on apps like WhatsApp. Two major concerns were raised: the pressure on parents to buy phones for their children just to stay in touch with their coaches and not be left out and the broader safeguarding risks of unsupervised digital communication between adults and minors.

The Authority for Integrity in Maltese Sport (AIMS) confirmed that Malta currently has no formal guidelines on this matter. The Malta Football Association (MFA) also admitted it has no binding rules or minimum safeguarding standards, though its safeguarding officer conducts regular training and promotes awareness. But awareness alone isn’t enough.

By comparison, the UK’s Football Association has a clear policy in place.

Coaches must get parental consent to message children, only use group chats (never one-to-one), include another adult, like a parent or club official, in the conversation and restrict messages to sport-related topics. This kind of framework protects both children and coaches. In Malta, some parents have reported that an adult – such as an assistant coach or parent – was present in group chats but often that adult was not actively monitoring the communication.

One mother was shocked when she saw a coach responding to typical teenage banter of 13-year-olds with offensive acronyms like “STFU” (shut the f*** up). The supervising parent on that chat did not flag anything.

While some parents acknowledged that older children could benefit from more direct communication and responsibility, they insisted this must be done within a well-defined, professional structure.

Relying on the good intentions of individual coaches or clubs is not sufficient. That’s why the Church’s Safeguarding Commission is calling for the creation of national safeguarding standards – not just in sport but across all organisations that work with minors and vulnerable people.

According to Mark Pellicano, head of the Church’s safeguarding body, each organisation should have a code of conduct, and a national body must oversee and audit these organisations. He warned that, in the absence of a central oversight system, individuals flagged as unfit to work with children in one context – such as by the Church – can still find work in the private sector.

Equally important is the practice of safe recruitment. Anyone working with children and vulnerable adults must be properly vetted and trained, Pellicano said.

Our children spend countless hours in these environments, and while it’s uncomfortable to imagine the worst, harm doesn’t only come in extreme forms.

It can arise from inappropriate language, bullying or even early stages of grooming – all of which can begin with something as simple as a private message.

Good safeguarding standards would guard against this sort of thing. They would dial up organisations’ responsibility to prevent such harm. Children need safe spaces and it’s our job to do our utmost to ensure that.