The Sun Online and The NSPCC launch the Block The Bullying campaign to stop the filming and sharing of children attacking other children
We are trying to educate children about why they shouldn't film or share the brutal videos of kids beating up other kids that are sweeping the internet
THE SUN Online today launches its Block The Bullying Campaign with the NSPCC in a bid to stamp out the sharing of vile videos showing children being attacked.
Our aim is to educate children, parents and schools about the horrendous effect filming an act of bullying, then sharing it on social media, can have on children.
We are becoming all too used to seeing sickening footage of a gang of youths attacking a defenceless child or teenager in front of a baying crowd.
The physical assault is a truly horrendous experience that can leave the boy or girl deeply traumatised.
But what many people don't realise is that filming the attack and sharing it on social media can be just as damaging to the child as the violence they have suffered.
Within seconds their entire school can watch the humiliating moment again and again.
Imagine what it would be like to come into class on a Monday after being beaten up and have everyone glued to their phones laughing and sniggering at one of your darkest moments.
Kids have to keep reliving their ordeal, and it can haunt them for months or even years to come.
Not only that, but the presence of a camera often spurs the attackers on and makes them more determined to inflict as much damage as they possibly can.
We are not seeking to demonise these kids, we want them to realise just how much their actions can damage the futures of their schoolmates AND themselves.
By posting a video like this they are leaving a digital footprint that could hinder both their professional and relationship prospects in future.
The aims of the campaign are simple:
Firstly: We call on all social media platforms to remove videos of children being physically bullied by other young people as soon as they comes to their attention.
Secondly: We are asking for Sun readers - both children and adults - to pledge their support to report the videos if they see them.
Thirdly: We aim to educate children as to why they should never film and share incidents of bullying and the damage it can cause to the victims and to themselves.
Fourthly: We want to offer parents an easy step by step guide to help them cope if their children have been victims of cyber bullying.
To show how committed The Sun Online is to this campaign, we pledge to stop showing these videos, unless we have express permission. We hope others will follow suit.
Over the next week, along with information and guidance, we will run a series of harrowing interviews with children who have been victims of this epidemic.
We will also tell teens what to do if they see a bullying video on social media, how parents should react if their child is a victim and we will ask readers to
The first is Amelie Johnston, 13, who was lured down an alley way by so-called friends and then set upon by an older girl, who smashed her head into the pavement again and again.
All the while the girls she previously trusted were filming the attack before immediately sharing it on Snapchat.
Within minutes almost everyone in Amelie's school had seen it.
Amelie said: "The fact people were filming it made the situation so much worse because more people could see it and could comment on what happened. Some of the comments were really hurtful.
"When I went back into school after it happened it was really hard that everyone had seen it and were talking about it. People still talk about it now."
Claire said: "It made her feel really exposed because she had no control over who saw it.
"My husband found it very difficult to watch, but I wanted to watch it so I could try to understand it and get into the heads of the people who did it.
"It made me very angry, scared and quite let down by the system, but it has driven me, because someone has to stand up and say enough is enough and lobby the social media companies to change things."
The Sun's Digital Editor Keith Poole said: "We have been shocked at the number of videos we receive depicting children fighting, often with appalling viciousness.
"We are therefore pleased to be working with the NSPCC to tell readers what to do if they come across these videos online, and we are keen to inform our younger readers of the heartbreaking consequences of being involved in this new form of cyber bullying.
"The Sun is happy to be leading the way by committing not to run such videos in the future and we hope others - especially social media companies - will follow our lead and remove these videos as soon as they are flagged."
Bullying has been around for eternity, but the methods and tactics used by the perpetrator have changed and it is showing no signs of stopping.
It remains one of the most common reasons why children contact (the second most common reason for boys and the third most common reason for girls) and makes up 9 per cent of all counselling sessions (25,740 sessions in 2015/16).
Bullying is the most common reason for children aged 11 and under to contact the charity (almost one in four sessions with this age group were about bullying).
Those aged 11 and under also saw the largest year-on-year increase in counselling about bullying – up 12 per cent when compared with 2014/15.
Worryingly Childline has seen an 88 per cent increase in counselling about online bullying over the past five years.
Online safety experts research shows three out of five parents say that cyberbullying is tougher to deal with than face to face bullying.
62% are concerned about the prospect of cyberbullying - overshadowing the amount of anxiety caused by online grooming (56%) and sexting (59%).
Almost one in 10 parents said their child has been involved in a cyberbullying incident. (In other words, out of an average class size of 30, three pupils have been cyberbullied.
Despite the widespread concern about the topic, 32 per cent said they had yet to talk to their children about it.
If you or anyone you know have experienced this kind of bullying email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368