Shocking variety of academics say youngsters bullied by friends on social media

Nearly three-quarters of secondary school teachers (73%) reported that students had been bullied by peers on social media, research shows today.

And almost half (46%) said that students had recorded teachers or other pupils without permission. The survey, on behalf of Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), also found 72% of primary school teachers have seen students using social media below the minimum age requirement.

Speaking to delegates at ASCL’s annual conference in Liverpool today(FRI), union president Manny Botwe will hit out at a “trail of harm” left by social media – “safeguarding concerns, fractured friendships, bullying, anxiety, and the spread of extremist ideologies”. He will continue: “And increasingly, it is being weaponised against schools and teachers, with disgruntled parents using it as a platform to target staff.

“This chaos must end. For too long, tech billionaires have been given immense power without accountability. They hide behind the defence that they are champions of free speech while profiting from platforms that allow harm to fester.

“But enough is enough. It is time to bring these platforms to heel and force them to police their own spaces. While we welcome the Online Safety Act we have yet to see its protections come into force or how effective they prove in practice. As a society, we have the right to demand the protection of our children, the enforcement of decency, and the upholding of standards. That right must be asserted.”

Earlier this week Technology Secretary Peter Kyle admitted the pace of implementing the Online Safety Act – which became law in October 2023 – has been “so frustrating”. The Cabinet minister said he would “legislate again” but will not do a second version of the Act, as it took too long to get through Parliament.

“I will do it swifter, more effectively, and smarter. We may have to get parliament used to updating it… maybe two or three times every Parliament to keep pace with change. I’m not going to wait seven years,” he said.

It came after the dad of Molly Russell said bereaved parents are “losing trust” in Mr Kyle over the rollout of online safety laws. Ian Russell said “nothing’s changed” in the seven years since his daughter Molly took her own life aged 14, in 2017, after viewing harmful content on social media.

He said: “Nothing of significance has changed. The sort of content that Molly saw, that a coroner concluded led to the end of her life, in a more than minimal way, is still easily available online.”

::: Teacher Tapp surveyed 6,409 school teachers and leaders in England on February 25.