MEMES about rape, slavery and the Holocaust are being shared by schoolboys as young as 11 in a bid to impress their pals and score "lad points".

More than a third (36%) of 11-18 year-old boys have shared racist or homophobic pictures, compared to 17% of girls, new research suggests.

The figures from Digital Awareness UK (DAUK) also revealed that 73% of boys and 70% of girls have seen an offensive meme on a private group chat, while 40% of the boys see offensive memes daily.

Emma Robertson, co-founder of DAUK, said the memes ranged from the less serious to "anything in relation to somebody's faith, and the holocaust, jokes about the #MeToo campaign".

She also said the racist memes included "horrible comparisons with black people and animals" and things like "fat shaming".

Memes are pictures or gifs, often with writing overlaid, which attempt humour by changing the context of the original material.

Speaking at the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference's (HMC) annual autumn conference, Ms Robertson said: "I think you have got the groups of students who are just looking to perhaps get lad points, or to entertain, to engage.

She added: "When you're joking about rape, when you're joking about slavery, it is banter, but you are still going too far with that.

The data comes as DAUK and HMC launch their new Tech Control 2018 campaign, which aimds to educate children on healthy online living.

A poll of 20,000 students also revealed that 88% of offensive content they see online was racist, 80% was sexist, and 74% was homophobic.

Simon Lockyer, head of the Royal Hospital School in Suffolk, said: "There is often no malice at all involved in what they're saying.

"A lot of the time they say things that they would never ever write with a pen or say. But it's easier somehow through the medium of social media to do something which you don't have to process in the same way."