Social Media Use Outside School

We are aware of growing concerns regarding children’s use of social media outside of school during evenings and weekends.

Groups of pupils are using social media to be persistently unkind about other pupils over platforms such as Snapchat, WhatsApp, Tik-Tok etc.

We understand that this has included both sharing unkind comments about pupils and sharing unkind images or memes of the pupils.  This is leading to a lot of upset and polarisation of some pupils within school and is not in line with our ethos or values.

Most Social media apps are for pupils 13 years and over and as such no pupil under 13 should be accessing these forms of social media.  If your child is over 13, and you do allow your child to access social media at home, it is your responsibility, as a parent or carer, to monitor your child’s use of this social media.  Just like their interactions in person, online interactions require supervision and support.  What is right will vary from family to family but some strategies that are known to be successful include:

• Monitoring their phones for the apps that are downloaded and how children are using them.
   
• Enacting parental controls on phones and consoles - school can signpost you to help and advice on this  and sometime can offer direct support in doing this.
   
• Reviewing the messages they send on platforms and apps – making monitoring part of a daily or weekly routine.
   
• Setting expectations about what space (preferably communal) and times they have access to devices.
   
• Encouraging them to share or discuss with you what they are doing.
   
• Teaching your child to keep private things private, especially on the internet. If they are struggling, encourage your child to confide in you, a family member, or a trusted adult.
   
• Remember that “loving” your child means taking actions that may make your child not “like” you at times.
   
• It’s okay to take your child’s phone, search through it and make sure they are interacting with people you know (and in a way that’s healthy).

Whilst we appreciate the benefits (and prevalence) of these forms of communication, given our pupils’ challenges with social interaction and social communication as part of their SEN needs, (including diagnosis of ASD), many of our pupils are struggling when any problems or conflict arise as a result of what is being shared.

Meadow High School does not tolerate any form of bullying or harassment.

As a school we seek to support victims and their families and educate and support perpetrators to help them understand the impact of their actions and to change their behaviour. We expect families to support us in making this change. 

“Although bullying in itself is not a specific criminal offence in the UK, it is important to bear in mind that some types of harassing or threatening behaviour – or communications – could be a criminal offence, for example under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, the Malicious Communications Act 1988, the Communications Act 2003, and the Public Order Act 1986.” (Preventing and tackling bullying Advice for headteachers, staff and governing bodies July 2017)

Where families do not engage with the school in stopping bullying we will do all in our power to safeguard our pupils.  We will report any incidents to the police where we feel there has been any criminal activity and will seek support from the Schools Safer Schools Police Officers to prevent situations escalating to this level. Before doing this we will always try to work with families of perpetrators to address issues reported to us and make suggestions such as blocking apps or removing devices that are being inappropriately used by pupils.  Where issues persist or advice is not followed we will then report incidents to the police on behalf of victims.

Please also note that

“The Education Act 2011 amended the power in the Education Act 1996 to provide that when an electronic device, such as a mobile phone, has been seized by a member of staff who has been formally authorised by the headteacher, that staff member can examine data or files, and delete these, where there is good reason to do so. This power applies to all schools and there is no need to have parental consent to search through a young person’s mobile phone. “ (Preventing and tackling bullying Advice for headteachers, staff and governing bodies July 2017).

This means that Mrs Rigby can authorise for any mobile phone to be removed from a pupil, so its contents can be examined for harmful content (if we believe it has been used inappropriately).  Should staff find any evidence of illegal content on the phone it would then be given to the police. If staff are unable to access the data on the phone, and we have reason to believe that it has been used in any criminal act we will give the phone to the police.

At Meadow, we can, and do, manage conflicts between children in school that often arise from their use of social media, but remind parents/carers that you have the responsibility for managing your child’s use of social media at home.

As a school we cover ESafety during I.T.,  PSCHE lessons and in 1:1 conversations and teaching opportunities as they arise to support pupils and develop understanding around bullying and criminal activity.   We also have regular          E-safety coffee shops and can facilitate drop in sessions for families in need of support.

Thank you for your cooperation.

For further references please see

Preventing and tackling bullying Advice for headteachers, staff and governing bodies July 2017 :

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preventing-and-tackling-bullying

Ms J Richards
Assistant Headteacher