Bullying refers to a child's exposure to repeated physical, verbal or psychological abuse by his or her peers in a school environment. It's an often unreported problem that affects 1 in 4 pupils in Spain, according to the Spanish Association for the Prevention of School Bullying (AEPAE).
Similarly, according to the State Study of School Coexistence in Primary Education, carried out by the Ministry of Education, only 10% of students who are witness to bullying stand up to the perpetrator.
As such, the Spanish top-flight seeks to help address the situation, using their influence and the power football has in uniting and empowering people through its platform LALIGA VS.
LALIGA VS is committed to eradicating hatred both inside and outside the stadiums. After focusing on racism last season, it is now adding a new initiative: LALIGA VS BULLYING.
Set to coincide with the start of the school year, LALIGA utilizes football's fundamental values: team spirit, unity, collective strength and sportsmanship, to convince children not to be passive observers of bullying, but to unite and confront the problem by demonstrating that together they have the power to reduce cases of bullying by supporting the victims. Under the concept ‘A team doesn't let anyone stand alone’, the campaign is focused on highlighting an existing problem in society and football's ability to change the rules. The central element of the campaign depicts bullying as a monster that appears on a school football pitch and shows how, thanks to team unity and the strength of all the players, they manage to tackle the problem.
Through its foundation, Fundación LALIGA, the league introduced specific workshops to address school bullying last year, and that is set to continue for this season. Its Futura Afición project has been highlighting and promoting the positive values of sport in schools all over Spain, reaching over 85,000 students in almost a decade.
Clubs have also done their part in helping address this situation with their own campaigns, with almost twenty LALIGA EA SPORTS and LALIGA HYPERMOTION having their initiatives and projects to raise awareness of football's fight against bullying and the importance of preventing it.
Atlético de Madrid, through its Foundation, has been running the ‘Hazte defensa contra el bullying’ (Become a defender against bullying) project, which involves collaborating with schools in the Community of Madrid to give talks, with the aim of raising awareness of the problem. It also includes the involvement of first team players.
Valencia CF, also through its Foundation, organises the ‘TODOS CONTRA EL ACOSO ESCOLAR’ (EVERYONE AGAINST SCHOOL BULLYING) programme, which is carried out in collaboration with the National Police of the Community of Valencia to tackle cyber-bullying and prevent bullying in general within local schools.
Albacete Balompié runs an educational programme in collaboration with the Provincial Council of Albacete and the National Police. Through this initiative, talks are aimed at the foundation's players, together with their parents, to address issues related to school bullying and its prevention.
With this campaign in place, LALIGA is set to raise its visibility in the next couple of matchdays through pitchside advertising, commentators, and the ad itself. It will also have a special edition shirt that the kids will sport whilst escorting the players onto the pitch. Teams will also receive content that they can use on their social media channels.
In addition, the second season of the LALIGA VS podcast will start this weekend, and for its first episode will feature firsthand experience of Sevilla CF player Saúl Ñiguez.
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