Pupils upset by clown posts
PUpILS posing as clowns in fake Facebook accounts caused “upset” to classmates, according to a Hyndburn school.
Two boys at Norden High School and Sports College set up fake clown social media profiles which were discovered on the morning of Friday, October 14.
The Rishton school said the pupils have been identified and the matter dealt with.
Headteacher Tim Mitchell says it highlights concerns about people pretending to be others online.
He said: “The pupils rather stupidly made up fake profiles. These have done the rounds and we had some children thinking it wasn’t fake.
“parents need to be aware of the fact that children may be joining groups or chats where people aren’t who they say they are. We are trying to deal with it in a calm and measured way. A lot of children - and to some extent parents - are naïve, and children are putting themselves in situations which can be vulnerable.
“These pupils didn’t mean any harm, they just didn’t think. Sometimes what you think might be funny isn’t. However, it raises bigger concerns - you don’t always know who people are online.”
A statement on Norden’s website said: “It has been brought to our attention this morning that several fake clown profiles have been set up on Facebook. The content of conversation/ threads on Facebook is highly inappropriate and causing unnecessary upset and concern to a number of our students.
“It is worrying that a number is our students have accepted a friend request from a clown without knowing who is behind the profile. please reinforce with your son/daughter the dangers of communicating with strangers on Facebook or any other social media application.”
Over the past few weeks there have been dozens of incidents across the country in which pranksters in clown costumes have tried to scare innocent members of the public.
Childline says it has received 120 calls nationally in the past week from children frightened by people dressing up as “creepy clowns”. A quarter of the callers were under the age of 11.