Children added to 'inappropriate' WhatsApp chat

Gloucestershire Police is investigating a report related to an image sent in the chat

Hundreds of schoolchildren have been added to a group chat on WhatsApp containing what has been described as "inappropriate and illegal content".

The BBC has seen emails sent from Ribston Hall High School in Gloucester and Tewkesbury Academy warning parents "a number" of 11 and 12 year-olds in year seven have been invited into the group called 'World Record Breakers'.

One states "almost 300 secondary aged children from local schools" are in the group, which might also include "other unknown individuals".

Gloucestershire Police confirmed it received a report relating to an indecent image posted in the group, which it believed may have been generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI).

The email from Ribston Hall High School was sent by head teacher, Alec Waters, on Tuesday afternoon highlighting the incident to parents and urging them to report any concerns to the school and discuss cyber-safety with their children.

Designated safeguarding lead for Tewkesbury Academy, Jade Buck, wrote to parents on Wednesday.

She said when the link to the group was opened, students could "view sexually explicit images", and she stressed the importance of developing safe online habits.

Parents received the email from Ribston Hall High School on Tuesday

Speaking to BBC Radio Gloucestershire, principal of Tewkesbury Academy Kathleen Mcgillycuddy, stressed the importance of education about social media.

"Where we had young people that we knew were in the group, we supported them to remove themselves and then we've alerted our parents through a letter about the group and given them some advice and guidance as to what they could then do about that," she said.

It is not known which other schools in the county have been impacted.

Gloucestershire Police said a detective had been in contact with the person who reported the group chat and an image from it had been viewed.

The force has advised parents and carers to talk to children about the dangers of being added into unknown chats and to "block, delete and report groups of this nature immediately".

It said the default setting in WhatsApp allowed anyone to add a number to a group chat without needing permission.

This can be disabled through the "who can add me to groups" tab in the privacy settings section.

In a statement, a spokesperson for WhatsApp said it gave "everyone options to control who can add them to groups".

"No one outside of your contacts can add you, if you don't want," they added.

"The first time you receive a message from an unknown number and when you're added to a group, we give you more context and the option to exit, or block and report."

Ribston Hall High School has been approached for comment.