Parents at Queen Elizabeth have been sent letters

A 16-year-old schoolboy has been warned by police after his Facebook postings sparked a paedophile alert in schools.

Using at least one pseudo name, his requests for large numbers of teenage girls to be his friend and "inappropriate" comments to them prompted fears that it was an older male trying to arrange meetings.

It resulted in letters being sent out to parents including at the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Faversham who were copied in on the alert by a Sittingbourne school.

In it deputy head Chris Care advised parents to ensure they were aware of the names he was believed to be using and recommended deleting them and blocking future contact.

Police began an investigation and identified the teenager involved.

Sgt Dan Worthington, of the Sittingbourne Neighbourhood Team, said: "Following a letter recently sent out through schools regarding the dangers of responding to requests from strangers on Facebook, I wanted to reassure everyone that this particular incident has been successfully resolved.

"After investigating the allegation fully, we spoke to the 16-year-old boy involved, who admitted writing the inappropriate comments.

"Having realised the possible implications of his actions and apologising to those concerned, he has agreed not to write comments of this nature again or befriend those he doesn't know on any social networking site. We will continue to monitor his behaviour to ensure this happens.

"We would urge pupils to take the normal steps to safeguard themselves while using social networking sites, by not accepting friend requests from strangers or if anyone is using the site inappropriately, to immediately report it to the site moderator and/or a responsible adult."

Mr Care from the grammar school said: "We have a duty of care to our pupils while they are in school but clearly we cannot control what they do out of it.

"The warning was passed on to us and we felt it was necessary to let parents know so they can talk to their children.

"We also talk to our students about the dangers of social networking as part of their personal and social health education and the school has an 'outstanding' grade from Ofsted for our safeguarding children procedures.

"But the reality is that there is huge potential for misuse on these sites and with smart phones and similar devices, it's difficult for parents to know who their children are communicating with."