Council chiefs will be urged to develop an online safety strategy after a review found pupils and teachers were dealing with an 'increasingly complex' digital environment.

Cheshire West and Chester's people overview and scrutiny committee set up a task group to review the implications of the Government's Online Safety Act, and to consider what role the authority could play in supporting schools, young people and families grapple with online challenges.

The Online Safety Act was introduced in 2023 and makes technology companies and search engines legally responsible for keeping their users safe online.

The Government also announced earlier this year that from spring 2027, under‑16s will no longer be able to use certain social media.

The task group gathered evidence from pupils and school leaders which highlighted what it said was a 'continuing prevalence' of online bullying – including death threats – harmful content, inappropriate online behaviour and the creation of 'hit accounts' – anonymous social media profiles designed to attack, humiliate, or defame other pupils or school staff.

A report to the committee said: "Young people reported experiences ranging from online harassment to serious threats, while headteachers expressed concern about increasingly harmful content being promoted to children through social media algorithms."

It also found mobile phone policies were complex and required 'some flexibility'. It also said schools are carrying much of the responsibility, and that training and support for school staff required strengthening.

It also said there were 'inconsistencies' regarding parental understanding of online risks and digital safety.

A meeting was also held with pupils and school leadership teams at Chester Town Hall.

It found many of the pupils reported feeling uneasy about the idea of not having their phones in school. Some relied on them for medical reasons, some were young carers, and others simply felt anxious if they could not check messages.

It said pupils talked in the meeting about online bullying that they and their peers had suffered, including serious incidents like death threats.

Teachers felt that harmful content online was getting worse, and that algorithms were pushing 'violent or unpleasant' material at children.

The task group made a number of recommendations, including developing of a borough-wide online safety strategy that brings together schools, safeguarding partners, parents, youth services and community organisations.

Providing training and support for school staff was also cited, in order to explore options for providing regularly up to date online safety training for school leaders, teachers, governors and safeguarding leads.

Further recommendations included supporting parents and carers to explore and develop a programme of guidance, resources and awareness campaigns to improve parents' understanding of online risks.

It was also suggested the council could work with schools and relevant partners to help develop an online safety policy framework and good practice toolkit, and facilitate the sharing of information, emerging risks, effective practice and lessons learned across schools to support a coordinated response to online safety issues.

The report added: "The task group found that the Online Safety Act provides a good framework for helping to keep children and young people safe online.

"However, legislation alone will not address the challenges identified during the review. Schools continue to face increasing demands arising from online harm, rapidly changing technologies and different approaches made by families."

A meeting of the overview and scrutiny committee to discuses the findings is pencilled in for Tuesday at Ellesmere Port Library.