Children as young as 10 are among the offenders in thousands of social media abuse cases linked to schools that have been reported to the police over the past four years. Shocking incidents uncovered as part of a Schools Week investigation reveal the scale and severity of issues schools are now dealing with from pupils using apps such as Snapchat, TikTok and Instagram. They include female pupils edited into images of the holocaust to a pupil鈥檚 picture doctored to show she was a 鈥渟uicide bomber鈥. Videos of assault on pupils during school and threats to stab classmates have also been reported. One pupil messaged a classmate to say he would slit their throat, while another used TikTok to offer schoolmates 拢20 to stamp on another pupil. Meanwhile, classmates sent a year 10 girl hate messages about her terminally ill mother. Other cases include racist and homophobic abuse. Parents have also been reported for 鈥渟landerous鈥 comments about a headteacher and a fake account that made inappropriate posts on photos of teenage girls. Pressure grows on social media companies Social media companies are under heightened scrutiny after weeks of pupil protests at schools, mostly arranged via their apps. Sean Maher, the head of the Richard Challoner School in Surrey, said flagging problematic posts to sites was 鈥渉opeless. I worry the only way to get this under control is for [companies] to say this is not acceptable on my platform and ban or block accounts.鈥 Schools Week asked English police forces for details of social media abuse cases reported by schools in the past four years. A total of 2,336 incidents were recorded between January 2018 and July last year, when our request was submitted. But just four led to charges. Police said this was down to difficulty obtaining evidence and identifying the suspect, or victims withdrawing support. Nine youths and three adults received a caution or conditional caution, while other cases may be ongoing. Crimes were recorded as harassment or malicious communications. However, just 28 of the country鈥檚 39 forces provided information, meaning the true figure is likely to be larger. The Metropolitan Police 鈥 the country鈥檚 largest force 鈥 refused to provide information. Maher said pastoral staff dealt with social media incidents every day. Schools 鈥榥ot seeking punishment鈥 Schools often did not seek 鈥減unishment鈥 from police, but for officers to outline to pupils the potential consequences of behaviour 鈥渋f they do it again. For the vast majority of young people, that鈥檒l be enough.鈥 Nearly two-thirds of cases showed victims were children, with 77 per cent of wrongdoers identified as youngsters. Cases were most likely to be on Instagram and Snapchat. TikTok was the third most cited, with some also on Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter. Cases reported by schools where adults were suspects included parents allegedly posting 鈥渇alse and slanderous鈥 messages about a head in Lancashire. No date was provided. Another, recorded by the same force, involved a man accusing a victim on Facebook of 鈥渃hild abuse against his son鈥. In May last year Wiltshire Police were told of an unknown suspect setting up a fake Instagram account before commenting 鈥渟exy鈥 on a photo of 13 to 14-year-old female pupils. Police notes show the 鈥渄istressed鈥 complainant was suspended from their job as a result. At the time the data was shared, the case was ongoing. It is not known if the victim was a school staff member, but it is likely as all cases were linked to schools. Schools Week previously revealed attacks on teachers in 鈥渁bhorrent鈥 TikTok videos. But teachers were left 鈥渂anging their heads against a brick wall鈥 trying to get posts removed. Schools should deal with incidents first, say police Hertfordshire, one of the five forces with the most incidents, said it worked 鈥渓oosely鈥 with local schools, including by 鈥渞unning educational sessions targeting local youth crime trends鈥. A spokesperson for Merseyside police said its officers are 鈥渆ffectively embedded in schools supporting these matters鈥 which was why so many cases were recorded and 鈥渇ully investigated鈥. The other three, Northamptonshire, West Midlands and Lancashire, did not respond. A spokesperson for the said the 鈥渆mphasis鈥 was on schools to 鈥渋nitially deal with incidents themselves鈥, but to call police where there were aggravating factors or offences committed. 鈥淧olice do not seek to criminalise children, but if we are called to a school then officers have a responsibility to support that education partner, and keep the young person safe. Policing is only one part of the wider solution.鈥 Paul Walton, the deputy head at All Saints Catholic College in west London, has called in police several times over the past year, including over threats of violence. None led to police action. He said staff were always 鈥渙ne step behind鈥 as they tended not to use the apps themselves. Snapchat was 鈥減articularly difficult to police鈥 because messages disappeared after views. 鈥淎 lot of our work is reactionary鈥, with pastoral staff 鈥渟pending significant time investigating incidents鈥. Leaders seek staff to ‘police’ social media Pan Panayiotou, the head of Worthing High School in West Sussex, said he had spoken to leaders 鈥渓ooking to employ individuals who can police social media sites to keep abreast of what鈥檚 going on鈥. Worthing had investigated claims made on TikTok about teachers. Online safety and harms are often now taught as part of statutory relationships, sex and health education (RSHE). But Bryden Joy, the lead practitioner for citizenship at Ormiston Academies Trust, said 鈥渕ore and more keeps getting put into PSHE鈥. 鈥淎nd there rarely seems to be an addition of time to cover that. So how well can you cover the depth of what is needed to support these children?鈥 he said during a Westminster Education Forum on children鈥檚 online safety this week. Resolving issues has ‘impact on workload’ Tom Quinn, the chief executive of the Frank Field Education Trust, said schools could not police children鈥檚 use of social media 鈥渨hen they鈥檙e not in school鈥. If parents were letting their children go through social media all hours of the night, 鈥渢hat鈥檚 irresponsible鈥. Maher added that reporting issues to the platforms was 鈥渉opeless. We do occasionally report stuff and you get an automated message, but it usually takes a few weeks for it to come down.鈥 Geoff Barton, the general secretary of the school leaders union ASCL, said schools were at the mercy of technology companies and their terms of service. 鈥淭ime spent resolving these issues also has an impact on workload.鈥 A Snapchat spokesperson said it had 鈥渮ero tolerance鈥 towards platform misuse 鈥渁nd explicitly prohibits bullying and harassment of any kind鈥. A TikTok spokesperson said bullying and harassment had 鈥渘o place鈥. The app 鈥減roactively鈥 removed content violating its community guidelines and encouraged users to report potentially 鈥渧iolative鈥 videos. Meta, which runs Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, said it had clear policies against bullying, harassment and hate speech and removed content when it became aware of it. The Department for Education pointed to its proposed online safety bill which would force companies to make it easier to report harmful content online. The vile social media abuse reported by schools A Lancashire teenager said in a group chat she would 鈥渟tab鈥 another pupil, alongside a photo of a knife, while another messaged a classmate to say he would slit their throat. In 2019, a year 10 girl in Cambridgeshire was sent messages of a 鈥渉ate-filled nature鈥 about her terminally ill mother. Various Instagram accounts doctored images of the holocaust to add female pupils, while in Cambridgeshire an offender in 2019 tried to coerce pupils over TikTok into 鈥渟tomping鈥 on a victim for 拢20. The same force recorded a 10-year-old asking a child of the same age for naked photos, before continuing 鈥渂ullying鈥 at school in 2021. A male 鈥渟pread rumours鈥 that another pupil was gay via Snapchat last year, calling him a 鈥渇aggot, poof, gayboy鈥, in a case reported to Cambridgeshire Three suspects sent a racist voice note in which they called the victim a 鈥渇ucking Paki鈥 and told her to 鈥渒ill herself鈥 in an undated case recorded by Cleveland Police. Pupils in Wiltshire doctored a photo of a classmate to make it look like she was a 鈥渟uicide bomber鈥, alongside the caption 鈥淚鈥檝e got a bomb鈥. What the guidance says聽 Schools deciding whether to involve police in such cases must ensure a 鈥渂alance is struck鈥 between the needs of students involved and the wider school community, NPCC guidance says. Many incidents can be dealt with and resolved internally, and their seriousness is a 鈥渏udgment call for the school鈥. 鈥淎ggravating factors鈥 which could make the incident more serious should be considered.聽