What should schools do about online rows between kids?

[Theos]

Apparently the police say that schools should sort them out.

I would suggest that schools should be busy teaching kids not adjudicating an online beef

Maybe there is an option for the vicar to step in!

It's up to parents to manage what their kids are up to online. Not the school.

Anything outside of school is up to the parents and the police to sort

Online bullying between pupils, including outside of school, comes under the Keeping Children Safe in Education policy. It's for schools to deal with.

Get screen shots - it makes dealing with it much easier. The difficulty for schools is when it's one person's word against another.

I agree. Odd how parents seem unable to take their kids phone off them

I have some sympathy with single Mums whose 15 year old son is significantly bigger and stronger than she is!

Good lord, it’s perfectly possible to have sons without having to fight them or wrestle them

I am a pastoral lead and would say that online arguments take up a huge amount of my time in school. I find it quite frustrating because they are not in my care at home - I have my own children to look after ! But I get to work 8am and then have email after email demanding I sort things.

They don't become stronger, bigger and rule breakers all at once though. If you set the right boundaries from when they're young even single mothers will find that their stronger and bigger 15 year olds are no problem.

Yes, I am aware that money schools refused to.

Yet parents and police still think it’s their job

At my dds school the teachers will make the initial enquiries but then contact the parents of everyone involved, more often than not parents are called in and a meeting is held with pastoral care so each family can put in the right controls and supervision to keep their child safer online.
I don't see how schools can do much more than that, so many 11 year olds are on social media sites whilst parents insist their darlings are just doing schoolwork until bullying starts then they want schools to sort everything out.

Online bullying between pupils, including outside of school, comes under the Keeping Children Safe in Education policy. It's for schools to deal with.

This, it comes under school. First and foremost parents should talk to their children about things being screenshotted and shared and how easy it is to do that. My friend's school did a year 7 welcome evening and said if it isn't something you would want up on the big screen in front of a whole school assembly, don't put it in writing. The number of people who have had to apologise 10 years down the line about something they posted on twitter etc is good example to teens of be careful what you commit to in writing or videos.

Parents should also be monitoring phones for this very reason. If bullying happens then of course school step in and have done for my child. It stopped it dead as it should.

I know!! Many of us have parented large teenage boys effectively! 😃

This. They start very small. Parenting starts from the beginning.

Yes, fair. I’m just trying to think around why they might NOT simply remove a phone (no skin in the game here…mine are too small to have phones).

I think a lot of parents really don't want to be the bad guy. I see it a lot. They want school to sort out problems, they don't want to deal with stuff.

Bloody hell, is there anything schools aren't expected to fix these days?! Healthy eating, sex education, financial education, citizenship...and now, how to use a phone responsibly. Its a wonder kids can read and add up at all when you think about it.

I have no idea why the powers that be seem to think schools should be sorting out online nonsense between kids. That is the job of the parents. If the parents can't do it, the schools haven't got a hope in hell.

Honestly - it takes up hours of time.