Angus school pupils have told social media giants they must do more in the fight against bullying.
Secondary youngsters used the platform of the Angus Council chamber to make the plea in the wake of shocking incidents at local schools in recent weeks.
The children repeated a message delivered to Holyrood politicians on the success of their pioneering Think B4 you Type campaign launched last year but said greater protection could be given to young people by online behemoths.
As councillors backed a new district-wide anti bullying strategy, a former authority leader also touched on the Caroline Flack tragedy as an illustration of the “insidious” danger of online trolls targeting children and adults.
There was also focus on a “mismatch” between the alarming figure of 75% of Angus kids having witnessed bullying – but just 1% of parents acknowledging their child had bullied someone else.
The Arbroath Academy attack was brought to the attention of Scottish education secretary John Swinney by the 12-year-old victim’s mother, with the politician admitting he had found it difficult to watch the “appalling” footage.
Youngsters from Brechin High, Forfar Academy, Carnoustie High and Arbroath Academy were widely praised by children and learning committee members for their efforts to take the anti-bullying message to secondary and primary schools in Angus.
In response to a question from Monifieth and Sidlaw Liberal Democrat councillor Ben Lawrie, one pupil told the chamber she felt social media companies could do “a lot more”.
“I think we should tell our social media networks that they should have more of a clear helpline.
“A lot of it happens on social media and in some cases if the social media network wasn’t there it wouldn’t happen,” she said.
Angus SNP group leader Lynne Devine said that among the “big numbers” of survey statistics which included 84% of staff seeing bullying behaviour in school and 51% of children saying they had been a victim, was the admission by just 1% of parents their child was involved in bullying.
“There is a mismatch there and there is a great deal of work to be done to work on steps to report it and, more importantly, to stop it,” said the Forfar councillor.
Brechin and Edzell Independent Bob Myles said: “We are all appalled by bullying.”
Referring to the filming of Angus incidents, he added: “What was equally appalling is that so-called friends thought it was appropriate to post it online – they are equally culpable.
“With the recent events involving a TV star and its tragic consequences, there is the anonymity behind much of the online material, which is far more insidious.”
