Hulme pupils face web probe

A SHOCKING website created by students at Hulme Grammar School encourages fellow pupils to wish death on a 12-year-old girl.

The group, which was formed on social networking site Facebook, features reasons why others should hate the Year Seven pupil and even offers advice on how she could commit suicide.

The site currently has 15 members — many of whom are pupils at the Chamber Road school —and is littered with sickening insults and accusations towards the girl and her family.

The group’s creators have removed some of the more inflammatory comments but the group is still up and running and new members can join with ease.

As the group has been set up as global rather than private it is accessible to anyone of Facebook’s millions of users worldwide and can be found via the website’s search engine.

Dr Paul Neeson, principal at Hulme Grammar School, said: “There is an investigation ongoing in the school and we have contacted the parents of all the pupils involved with the website but it is unclear as to who is responsible for this offensive material.

“We have also made a request to Facebook to remove the group. There are many ways in which pupils can act in this way online and as soon as we find out about anything offensive we take steps to get it removed and put a stop to it.”

Online bullying is a growing trend amongst teenagers due to websites such as MySpace, You Tube and Bebo.

Councillor Kay Knox, cabinet member for children, young people and families, said: “This is something that here in Oldham we have taken very seriously and indeed organised a conference for staff from schools, youth services and the voluntary sector to raise awareness of online abuse and bullying.

“This was launched last month with ‘E-Safety week’ and was followed up by events in many schools.

“The feedback from the conference was good and we have agreed to hold a follow up next year to share good practice and to keep abreast of current trends and issues as this is an area that is very fast moving.

“The conference highlighted the threats to young people but also to staff. Parents should be made much more aware of E-safety and how to keep their children safe.”