Social media is causing spats among primary school pupils to escalate into violence, report finds

Social media is causing petty playground spats among primary school pupils to escalate into serious violence – and even murder, a major report has found.

Arguments are continuing online after the school day has finished and ‘amplifying’ as children are goaded by their peers watching online.

Rather than petering out naturally, researchers said there was an expectation for the threats to be then carried out in the real world.

The three-year study by Crest Advisory found the problem was made worse by children being ‘routinely exposed’ to violent videos and adverts for weapons on the platforms.

It highlighted the murder of 13-year-old schoolboy Olly Stephens, whose trial heard how he was knifed to death in an attack both motivated by, and planned on social media.

The report, titled ‘Fixing Neverland’, has called for a ‘five star’ safety rating system for platforms to be added to the Online Safety Bill, to help parents decide which are suitable for their children.

Among its other recommendations were compulsory age verification and an ‘alerts’ mechanism to warn parents, police, and teachers about threats on social media.

Joe Caluori, head of research and policy at Crest Advisory, said: ‘Children and young people spend increasing amounts of time in unregulated, unsupervised online spaces which are accessible to them at ever younger ages.

‘Many of the dangers and risks children face have migrated into these online spaces, hidden from the eyes of parents and carers, teachers, police or social workers.

‘Our research shows that parents of primary school aged children are unprepared for the risks their children face online, including petty spats which are allowed to escalate quickly, resulting in serious violence, causing life changing injuries and even death, as in the tragic case of Olly Stephens.’

The report, funded by charity The Dawes Trust, accused both the government and tech companies of a ‘collective blind spot’ over the impact of social media on youth violence, with most research focusing on urban gangs.

Social media was found to drive violence among children in the wider population, with conflicts between pupils no longer ending with the school day but continuing online after.

Arguments escalated faster as users felt more emboldened to be offensive online and the ease in which they could post immediately.

The report highlighted the problem of ‘digital spectators’, their peers watching online who they might want to impress or would goad them on to seek revenge.

Online conflicts also offered ‘little room for arguments to peter out naturally’, it found. 

It added: ‘Rather than dying down over time or with distance, as you might have expected in a pre-social media world, the end of the school day or week builds anticipation of what might follow when the individuals in conflict do eventually encounter each other face-to-face.

The three-year study by Crest Advisory found the problem was made worse by children being ‘routinely exposed’ to violent videos and adverts for weapons on the platforms. It highlighted the murder of 13-year-old schoolboy Olly Stephens (pictured), whose trial heard how he was knifed to death in an attack both motivated by and planned on social media

‘There is an expectation that threats made online should be followed through in person. 

‘If a young person who has threatened someone else online does nothing when the opportunity arises, then the original humiliation is compounded with the fear that they’re social status will slide as they’re labelled someone who is ‘all talk’.

The report found the ‘sheer scale and rapid pace of development of social media’ made it harder for adults to protect children.

The Online Safety Bill, which is set to continue through parliament shortly, will impose a duty of care on social media giants.

When asked how many hours a day children and young people aged 11-16 should be allowed access to the internet through their device, the most common response was a limit of two hours, selected by just over a quarter of respondents. Just 16% of parents with children aged 11-16 selected this option, perhaps reflecting the realities of enforcing limits with teenagers

Ofcom will act as watchdog and have the power to hand out hefty fines of up to ten per cent annual turnover – or even block sites from being used in the UK.

The report called for a ‘five star’ rating system, which will indicate how safe social media platforms are for children, to be compiled by Ofcom and added to the Bill.

Among its other key recommendations are for compulsory age verification for platforms through a standardised national system.

It also calls for an ‘Ofcom alerts’ mechanism so parents, carers, and practitioners can be warned about threats on social media platforms from systemic failures to security breaches.