SOCIAL MEDIA SUICIDE LINK
Internet ‘behind surge in children threatening to kill themselves’
SOCIAL media is being blamed for a shocking rise in suicidal youngsters seeking help from Childline.
Charity NSPCC, which runs the helpline, says the number of counselling sessions needed to help children in Scotland deal with suicidal thoughts has leapt by almost a fifth in the past year.
Its phone service provided 1,095 sessions in 2016-17, a rise of 17 per cent on 2015-16 figures.
This increase is higher than the UK average, where the number of sessions required has risen 15 per cent on the previous year.
Overall, the round-the-clock helpline dealt with more than 22,000 contacts across the UK from young people who were tormented by thoughts of killing themselves in 2016-17 – equivalent to almost 62 counselling sessions a day, or around one every 20 minutes. It is the highest-ever figure for the charity. The NSPCC said that children as young as ten were reaching ‘crisis point’ – with unhappiness, anxiety and depression often fuelled by sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
A total of 2,061 cases were so serious and harrowing that youngsters were deemed to be ‘actively suicidal’ – meaning they had already written a note, given away treasured items or planned their death.
One 15-year-old boy told advisers: ‘I’ve been feeling down since a family member passed away. I’ve been self-harming and drinking a lot as well. I know it’s bad but I’d rather be
numb than sober. I often feel like dying is the only way to stop feeling like this.’
The ‘inescapable’ intrusion of social media, turbulent home lives, domestic abuse and school pressures were all triggers for the cries for help.
Childline founder and president Esther Rantzen warned the ‘fragmentation’ of traditional extended families also meant children had fewer places to turn for help.
She said: ‘What is it that is causing this deep unhappiness? Why are children feeling more suicidal than ever before?
‘Why is there an increase in all kinds of mental health issues: depression, anxiety, self-harm, eating disorders?
‘What is it about the way we are treating our children that they feel so isolated that they turn to a helpline? I asked our counsellors that question and very often they say: social media.
‘They explained to me that the virtual reality conveys the impression that everybody is gloriously attractive, wonderfully funny, liked by like-minded people.
‘By contrast is the experience of the individual child who has nobody in their life that they can trust.
‘The fact is that this can intensify the loneliness and isolation of a child or young person, who is made to feel inadequate because they may not have a single person they can turn to and trust.
‘The additional problem is that social media can be used to bully and harass and torture young people and bring pressures like sexting and online grooming.’
Head of helplines for Childline in Scotland Elaine Chalmers said: ‘We must face the painful reality that many young people across Scotland and the UK feel so overwhelmed by their problems they’ve considered taking their own, precious lives.
‘We have never seen figures like these before and they are a blunt wake-up call.’
The crisis is chronicled in the NSPCC annual report, Always There For Me, which is published today.
The top three reasons given for contacting the helpline were mental health problems, troubled family relationships and bullying and cyber-bullying.
In a survey earlier this year, children said social media firms were failing to protect them from online pornography and bullying.
Four out of five pupils reported being worried about inappropriate material on their smartphones and iPads, said the NSPCC.
The Childline number is 0800 1111.
‘Made to feel inadequate’