London’s Metropolitan Police have called on social media giants to ban accounts promoting so-called ‘school wars’, as a series of disturbing online posts urging children as young as 11 to engage in organised fights circulates on TikTok and Snapchat.
Headteachers across the capital have issued warnings to parents after encountering posts that encourage pupils from Year 7 to Year 11 to participate. One such post advertised a ‘north London war’, pitting four named schools on a ‘red side’ against four on a ‘blue side’. Another promoted a ‘Hackney war’ and used images of weapons including knives, compasses, and fireworks. Some posts have suggested a points system based on the harm inflicted on opponents, explicitly urging participants to “be violent”.
Police Monitoring and Warnings
Commander Neerav Patel of the Metropolitan Police stated that the force was aware of the posts and was in contact with several London boroughs to offer reassurance. “We continue to closely monitor online spaces and have worked with platforms to request a dozen social media accounts to be disabled where threats or violence were planned or encouraged,” he said. In a direct message to young people, Commander Patel warned of serious consequences, stating that an arrest, charge, and conviction for violence and carrying weapons could lead to imprisonment with a significant long-term impact on future opportunities.
This is not the first such incident; a previous attempt to organise a school fight in Hackney prompted police to issue a dispersal order, according to the Metropolitan Police.
School Responses and Parental Alerts
Several London schools have written to parents. A letter from Fortismere School in Muswell Hill alerted parents to “recent social media activity circulating across various parts of London that encourages young people to take part in so called ‘tagging’ or ‘schools wars’–style games,” and thanked parents who had raised concerns after checking their children’s phones. Graveney School in Tooting informed parents that it would ensure usual security measures were deployed effectively, including using its ability to search students if necessary.
However, some pupils are sceptical about the veracity of the posts. The Metro reports that some believe them to be spoofs, quoting one Year 10 pupil who said: “People are just trying to fearmonger parents … any teenager with common sense would not meet somewhere where the police have been told about and bring a weapon.”
Platform Action and Government Concern
Social media platforms have taken action. The Guardian understands that Snapchat’s internal safety team has removed any posts inciting violence, while TikTok has been removing content which violates its community guidelines forbidding threats, the glorifying of violence, or promotion of crimes that could harm people or property.
The issue has reached government level. Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he had flagged it to colleagues. MailOnline reported that he wrote underneath one of the posts: “I’ve raised this at highest levels in government. Hope parents are clear with their children that we’ll come down on this sort of behaviour like a ton of bricks.”
