Angus pupils call on social media giants to tackle bullies.

SCHOOLS: Plea comes in the wake of high profile online attacks by trolls with tragic consequences

Angus pupils have told social media giants they must do more in the fight against bullying.

The pupils used the platform of the Angus Council chamber to make the plea in the wake of incidents at local schools in recent weeks.

They 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 districtwide 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.

Approval of the new policy follows recent high-profile incidents at secondaries in Arbroath, Carnoustie

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I think we should tell our social media networks that they should have more of a clear helpline

and Forfar, which included footage being widely shared on social media.

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,” 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,” she said.

Councillor 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.”