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A 15-year-old boy and a man in his 20s have been arrested in connection with social media posts encouraging schoolchildren to carry weapons, police have said.
They were detained on suspicion of encouraging or assisting in a crime in central, east London, on Sunday, and have been bailed pending further inquiries, the Metropolitan Police said.
It follows the emergence of the “school wars” trend on platforms such as TikTok and Snapchat. The trend has seen the spread of posts which separate schools into red and blue teams and encourage pupils to fight using bladed weapons.
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Graphics listing schools as ‘red’ or ‘blue’ have been circulating on social media (TikTok)
In one, seen by The Independent, children are urged to “be violent” and use compass points to attack each other. Others suggest they will get video game-style “points” if they “punch an opp” (opponent) or “stain an opp”.
A number of schools, mostly in London, are understood to have written to parents warning them of the trend. In one seen byThe Independent, a west London school warned the craze is causing “serious concern” and urged parents to check their children’s smartphones “in order to keep our school safe”.
Police in London and Bristol previously said they were in “close contact” with schools and had stepped up patrols in connection with the posts.
Commander Neerav Patel from the Metropolitan Police also said he wanted to remind young people of the “serious consequences” of carrying weapons and getting involved in violence.
In a statement a Met Police spokesperson said: “On Sunday, 1 March at approximately 18:45hrs, Met officers arrested two individuals in Central East London in connection with a recent trend of social media posts.
“Both suspects, a man aged in his 20s and a boy aged 15, were arrested on suspicion of encouraging or assisting in a crime. They were bailed pending further enquiries.
“A strong police presence remains around schools, particularly at the end of the school day.
“Local officers continue to work alongside local authority partners, school leaders and parents, whose joint robust response has been vital in protecting young people across the last week.”