Private groups on Instagram and Snapchat are hosting disturbing videos showing children from Canberra schools involved in fights and brutal bashings, and parents say the effects for the victims can be long-lasting.

Key points: Dozens of videos submitted to Canberra fights pages

Dozens of videos submitted to Canberra fights pages Parents say video sharing can compound effects of attacks

Parents say video sharing can compound effects of attacks Videos a "dreadful" escalation of cyber-bullying, says psychologist

Canberra mother Alannah* said her 14-year-old son was rattled after a video was shared of him being attacked by another student, and that the subsequent circulation of the video online added to his humiliation.

She asked that her real name not be published, because her son feared he would become the target of further bullying if he was seen by other students as a "dobber".

But she made the decision to speak out after learning that the type of bullying her son had experienced was not isolated.

She described an emerging trend of Canberra high school students attacking one another for the sake of filming and sharing the violence on social media platforms including Instagram and Snapchat.

Accounts on the platforms call for users to upload videos of fights in Canberra, and the ABC has obtained dozens of examples of the violent and graphic footage — some of which could be verified as having happened in the ACT.

Many followers who have liked and commented on the videos identify on their social media accounts that they are Canberra high schoolers; in some instances they name their schools.

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Alannah described the video that was made and shared of her son, who goes to a public school in Canberra.

"They have a friend with their mobile phone at the ready and they go up and approach another teenager and start abusing," she said.

"It's verbal abuse, and then it's pushing and shoving, and then it's turning into punching each other then they're posting these things online, and the shock value is 'look what I've posted', 'look at this fight'.

"The kids that are watching it, the kids that are videotaping it, are just as bad as the kids that are throwing the punches. They're standing around, they're egging each other on, they're laughing."

Alannah's son refused to fight back and was able to walk away from the assault.

He was not physically injured, but mentally the attack left him traumatised, because it came with the added insult of knowing some of his peers were sharing, liking and enjoying the video long after the incident itself.

"It's knowing that people are watching my child being attacked on social media, and then liking it, or they're sharing it, or they're following these other people who are posting these attacks, it's horrifying," she said.

"You see one child attacking another child, and when it's your child, you cannot physically do something at that time to fix it or change it, and once it's online, once it's posted, it's permanent."

This form of cyberbullying begins with physical and verbal violence, but its impact is also felt online.

Sharing 'should be shut down very quickly'

Andrew Campbell, a cyber psychologist and mental health expert at the University of Sydney, said the videos were a "dreadful" but little-understood escalation of cyberbullying.

"Video bullying is definitely a provocation at a higher level of cyberbullying because it's capturing the incident in real time, you could say to illicit a following of that bullying, and thus, you could say, an acceptance of it by the viewing group," Dr Campbell said.

"I think probably the most insidious part of it is that there's actually a following. And the following is probably very poorly educated on what trauma this is doing for the victim that's the centre of the video."

He said the perpetrators have displayed little empathy for the victims, partly due to their young age, but also because the content had been used to boost their online profiles.

"They're seeing as a moment of levity for themselves, of an enjoyment that they've created something and have a following, but they're not understanding that that is going to have a life-long impact."

In a statement to the ABC, the ACT Education Directorate confirmed that it had come across some instances of similar cyberbullying happening at schools in Canberra.

"It is extremely disappointing to see videos of this nature circulating on social media with what appears to be little regard for the wellbeing of those involved. We are aware these kinds of incidents occur from time to time," the statement said.

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The directorate said it was a "situation being faced by schools across the country and internationally", and that in a digitally-connected world, it was the responsibility of everyone in the community — not just schools — to demonstrate to young people how to be a good digital citizen.

"Young people often display behaviour that is normal to them, including behaviour that they see and observe outside of school," the statement said.

"Because of this, our community needs to support the conversation being had with students in schools. We all need to support young people to make good choices in their relationships and about the use of social media."

'We did go to the school, we did go to police'

Nationally, the office of the eSafety Commissioner operates a complaints scheme for Australian children under the age of 18 who are targets of serious cyberbullying. It also has legislated powers to issue civil penalties to social media providers.

The eSafety Commissioner has not received many complaints about fight videos involving children, but when it has, it said the content is usually brought to its attention by schools seeking help in getting the videos taken down.

"Where a video identifies the child involved, and has been posted online to further threaten, harass, humiliate or intimidate that child, then this would be classified as serious cyberbullying and we would be able to assist if the social media platform didn't remove it within 48 hours of the school or individual reporting it to them," a spokesperson for the eSafety Commission said, urging affected children to come forward.

In the case of Alannah and her son, she chose to report the incident even though her son feared it might lead to further bullying.

The response they got from the boy's high school and the authorities reassured them that reporting the incident was the right decision.

"We did go to the school. We did go to the police. We had a restraining order put in place," Alannah said.

"We did everything we needed to do to prevent any further bullying, and it has stopped."

ACT Education Minister Yvette Berry said the type of violence and cyberbullying depicted in the videos was concerning, but it was not always reported.

"Not every single one of these videos comes to my office, and not every single one them the Education Directorate is aware of," she said.

Opposition education spokeswoman Elizabeth Lee also expressed concern.

"It is extremely, extremely disturbing," she said.

The ACT Government has announced a review into the handling of complaints about bullying and violence at Canberra's public schools.

It comes after parents at a primary school in Canberra's far south raised concerns with the ACT Education Directorate, and in the media, that alleged bullying and assaults were not properly being acted upon.

Ms Berry said anyone with concerns should contact the Education Directorate on (02) 6205 5429.

*Some names have been changed.