“Dear Chief Constable,

I am writing to raise a safeguarding concern that has recently been brought to my attention regarding the so called “school wars” trend circulating on social media and its potential impact on pupils across the Rotherham area.

My office was contacted by a parent of a Year 7 pupil at Wickersley School and Sports College who shared concerns following communication issued by the school to families. The letter warned parents about social media posts, primarily on platforms such as TikTok and Snapchat, which appear to promote organised confrontations between pupils from different schools and encourage participants to film incidents and share them online.

While this concern was initially raised with us by a Wickersley parent, we are also aware from other schools in the area that this issue has recently been highlighted more broadly. Several schools have circulated safeguarding notices to parents and carers to raise awareness of the trend and to encourage vigilance regarding children’s social media activity.

Parents understandably find these reports extremely worrying, particularly where posts appear to gamify violence or encourage young people to seek attention online through confrontations with pupils from other schools.

In light of this, I would be grateful if you could advise whether South Yorkshire

Police are aware of any activity linked to this trend locally and whether any monitoring or preventative action is underway. It would also be helpful to know what liaison is taking place between the force, schools, and safeguarding partners to ensure pupils remain safe when travelling to and from school.

Although some of the online content may amount to rumour or exaggeration among young people, the potential for such activity to escalate into real world incidents understandably raises concern among parents and school leaders.

Any reassurance you are able to provide regarding the force’s awareness of the situation and any safeguarding steps being taken would be greatly appreciated.”

If you have any concerns regarding this, please do email me at [email protected]

She has been working incredibly hard across Rother Valley to deliver high quality educational sessions, teaching young people about Politics and Democracy!

Congratulations Grace – I’m looking forward to working with you throughout this year as you continue your work as an ambassador!

Whatever age you are, reading is such a brilliant hobby. It can help you learn, relax and expand your horizons.

When I visit our local primary schools in particular, I’m so pleased to see shelves of books for our children to expand their minds and learn about the world.

I’m always on the lookout for recommendations!