Social media accounts dedicated to fights and bullying are rife within Tayside and Fife secondary schools, The Courier can reveal.
An investigation by our social media team found at least 70 public pages on Instagram and TikTok set up for cyberbullying.
And it’s just the tip of the iceberg, with more accounts private – only available to view by people chosen by the owner – and others hosted on Snapchat, where content disappears after a time limit.
It comes days after a video of a brutal assault within a classroom at Waid Academy, Anstruther, prompted questions around safeguarding and accountability in local schools.
The footage shows one girl approach a fellow female pupil and hit her on the body before pulling her off the chair to the floor and punching her and kicking her in the face.
It later emerged that a schoolboy had allegedly been knocked unconscious in a fight on the same day.
School fight videos on Instagram
Violent videos appear to be more prevalent on Instagram than TikTok.
We found multiple anonymous accounts dedicated to fights in secondary schools in Fife and Perth.
This is despite such accounts breaching the platform’s community guidelines, which state that “sharing graphic images” to “glorify violence is never allowed”.
One Instagram account is dedicated to fights at Waid Academy.
A video, uploaded last spring, shows pupils brawling in the playground. Another shows one girl punching another under a table.
A separate account for fights in schools across Fife shows a clip of two boys in school uniform grappling on a bus.
One video, on a now-deleted account dedicated to ‘scraps’ at a particular Fife school, shows two boys in school uniform brawling in a field, as other pupils egg them on.
Another shows three boys throwing punches in the street near a bus stop.
One Instagram account asks for pupils to send in videos via Snapchat.
A different Instagram showcases clips of nine different brawls and asks followers to “send in fights”.
One video shows two girls in school uniform pulling each other by the hair and punching each other on the body.
Another shows girls wrestling on the ground, surrounded by pupils egging them on.
An Instagram account for Madras College asks students at the St Andrews school: “Who is the most hated at Madras?”
TikTok hub for bullying accounts
Type in the name of any school in Angus, Dundee, Fife and Perth and Kinross on TikTok and you will find an account used for cyberbullying.
Students are using the video-sharing app to post hundreds of photos and videos of classmates without their consent.
Several clips seen by The Courier reveal pupils’ identities – including their full name, photo and social media accounts.
Most accounts are dedicated to ‘guess who’ and ‘Little Miss/Mr’ crazes, with some racking up over 17,000 views.
‘Guess who’ videos show a list of clues about a pupil, prompting others to guess their identity in the comments.
An account for kids in Dundee describes one Primary 7 pupil as a ‘slag’.
Another, for a school in Angus, describes a student as ‘fat’ with ‘no pals’.
One, dedicated for a Fife school, brands a pupil ‘ugly’ and a ‘f****t’.
Some make much more serious claims; one Fife secondary school account compares a pupil to Hitler.
Another brands a fellow pupil a rapist; a third a ‘paedo’.
‘Little Miss/Mr’ videos show a Mr Men character and then name a student.
Some, like ‘Little Miss Pretty’ and ‘Mr Tall’ are harmless fun.
Others make derogatory comments, branding girls ‘Little Miss Slag’ and boys ‘Mr Man Slag’ and ‘Mr says he’s straight but is clearly gay’.
Further accounts propose fights between pupils, with other users encouraged to comment with who they think would win.
Social media firms launch investigation
The Courier understands Instagram’s parent company Meta and TikTok are investigating the accounts we have brought to their attention.
A TikTok spokesperson said: “Bullying and harassment have no place on TikTok.
“We have reviewed the accounts flagged to us and removed ones that violate our Community Guidelines.
“We use a combination of technologies and moderation teams to proactively remove this type of content and encourage our community to report potentially violative videos or accounts via our reporting tools.
“We also partner with the Professional Online Safety Helpline to support teachers who are concerned about this kind of content.”
A Meta source said the company have clear policies against bullying and harassment and will remove content they believe violates their policies.
Joanne Smith, NSPCC Scotland policy and public affairs manager, said: “For too long, platforms have not prioritised their duty of care to young users and have failed to invest in proactively identifying harmful content, preventing it from being shared with children and removing it as quickly as possible.
“We’ve been campaigning since 2017 for a robust Online Safety Bill that drives culture change in tech companies so they place children’s safety at the forefront and effectively tackle harmful content.”
Head of education and children’s services Maria Lloyd said that all Fife schools are aware of the issues social media can cause and have systems in place to deal with any incidents, including making sure those responsible understand the impact of their actions on others.
A spokesperson for Perth & Kinross Council said pupils are taught about cyberbullying and it “is not tolerated”.
A spokesperson for Angus Council said their anti-bullying policy “helps to prevent bullying by creating an environment which fosters positive relationships, better behaviour and high expectations for all children and young people”.
Dundee City Council have been approached for comment.
