Police have urged Facebook to remove a page featuring “dangerous” videos of schoolchildren fighting. More than 20 clips filmed on smartphones showing fights in the Beeston area of Leeds have been uploaded to the page since it was created in June and have been watched more than 32,000 times.
Some of the children featured are thought to be as young as 11. In one clip two boys in uniform and on school premises square up before the larger floors his rival with a blow to the chin. In another, two girls grab each other’s hair as they wrestle on the ground. One girl holds down her opponent’s head and repeatedly punches her in the face.
The page invites viewers to send in their own footage and includes posts in which children challenge rivals to fight.
West Yorkshire police has reported the page to Facebook but it remained online last night.
A police spokesman told the Yorkshire Evening Post: “The dangers of becoming involved in a prearranged and unsupervised fight are clear. Police have reported the page to Facebook in an attempt to get the site closed down.”
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The NSPCC said: “It is time for social media companies to be held to account for the material on their sites and pay more attention to safeguarding duties. Videos showing violence between children must be removed immediately.”