A Woodingdean headmaster has reported his own pupils to Facebook after discovering children as young as eight were using the site.

Jonathan Whitfield, head at Woodingdean Primary School in Brighton, asked Facebook to delete profiles belonging to underage children – and the firm agreed.

The site’s rules require users to be at least 13 years old before they can register and set up a profile.

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Yet last week police were called after a girl sent abusive messages to the mother of an ex-pupil at the school.

Mr Whitfield said it was “crucial” that children were prevented from using the site for their own protection.

He said: “These kids simply do not have the capacity yet to deal with the dangers that are out there online. We’ve all heard about the possible exploitation and abuse they can encounter.

“But if we find one of the pupils is on the site and we can’t get through to their parents, we contact Facebook to make sure their profile is deleted as quickly as possible.”

Michelle Nethercott, the mother of a deaf ex-pupil at Woodingedean, called the police last week when she started receiving abusive messages from a girl at the school.

She said it was “100% a good idea” for teachers to inform Facebook when they discovered an underage pupil online.

She said: “Anything that gets young kids off the site is a good idea.

“I’m glad the headteacher has taken this into his own hands and is acting to protect the children.”

But Scott Freeman, founder of the Brighton-based charity CyberSmile, said teachers should be educating young people about online dangers rather than banning them from Facebook.

He said: “I can understand why teachers would do something like this, but I’m not sure it’s their role. The kids will just open other accounts under a different name anyway.

“At the end of the day, they know much more about the technology than we do, so they’ll always be one step ahead.”