Royds Hall Academy in Paddock in Huddersfield sent out a letter to parents of its Year seven students about the safety risks posed on social media, many other schools in the area have reportedly suffered from the same issues.
In the letter, Royds Hall Academy said it was dealing with a rise in problems associated with social media amongst 11 and 12 year olds – its youngest students. Parents were also warned that some students had been asking for ‘Inappropriate imagery’ via Snapchat.
It read, “Unfortunately, I must write to inform you that we are currently experiencing an increase in the number of incidents involving inappropriate use and offensive comments on social media, made by Year 7 students.”
“When an incident is reported, we investigate fully. This involves speaking to all students, collecting written statements, securing evidence of screenshots, logging each incident on the school’s systems, uploading the evidence obtained, contacting parents, issuing an appropriate sanction, completing a restorative meeting to reduce any repeat offence occurring, and then finally, provide an educational intervention following the incident. In some cases, we report incidents to the police, depending on the nature and severity of an incident.”
The school had already banned phones, however they were concerned about events outside of school. Most of these occurrences have taken place on Snapchat.
The letter continued, “Incidents out in the community, away from school, are often brought into school, which means that staff are spending a considerable amount of time investigating incidents that stem from social media platforms. The increase in incidents is primarily coming from Year 7 students, many who are too young to have accounts on the actual social media platforms where reported incidents are coming from.”
“Recently, we are experiencing incidents where students are reporting to us that ‘random people are adding them’ and engaging in inappropriate conversations, asking for inappropriate images and the creating of false accounts to engage in conversation and/or initiate conflict. As a school we are very concerned about this, as students are placing themselves at potential risk.”
The school has urged parents to monitor their children’s social media platforms.