AN ANDOVER school has issued a warning to parents after some of its pupils have been found “copying” scenes from a popular Netflix TV show.

In a school newsletter published last week (October 20), headteacher at Portway Junior School, Tim Deery, asked parents to check that their children were not watching Squid Game, rated 15, which recently became Netflix’s biggest ever series launch.

He said : “This is a television programme on Netflix, although I must admit I have not seen it. There seems to have have been a lot of media attention about it and recently a small number of pupils have been copying some elements of the programme. We have been clear with them that this is not acceptable. The programme has a 15 age-rating and is clearly not appropriate for primary-aged pupils and I understand it is quite graphic with a lot of violent content.

He continued: “I cannot imagine any parent allowing their child to watch it, but we believe that it may be viewed via other platforms such as YouTube and TikTok, and some developers have made various mini-games based on Squid Game on Roblox and other gaming platforms. We would strongly advise that children should not watch Squid Game (or any games/television programmes meant for children over 11), so it might be worth checking that you son/daughter is not accessing them without your knowledge.”

The hit dystopian Korean drama, written and directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk, follows desperate people who are invited to take part in a mystery game for a massive sum of money.

Netflix says Squid Game has been watched by a “mind-boggling” 142 million households around the world, calling the programme “our biggest TV show ever”.