SOCIAL MEDIA: THE DARKER SIDE

We look into the online dangers for children

Sophie Parkinson was just 13 years old when she took her own life in 2014. Her mother Ruth Moss has urged other parents to check in on their children’s social media use to save young lives.

Parents cannot be there to watch their children’s every digital move, but having open and honest conversations can help, says Ruth.

Sophie was described as a talented and kind secondyear pupil at Dundee High School who enjoyed a range of ac tivities including cooking and acting.

She had struggled with her mental health from the age of se ven and had sought support from doctors.

But harmful content viewed by the Liff teenager around the ages of 12 and 13 exacerbated her mental health struggles and had a “damaging” impact on her life.

Ruth, who now lives in

Edinburgh, bought Sophie her first mobile phone when she was 12.

She wanted to give her daughter more “freedom” as she transitioned from child to teenager as many of her school friends already had their own devices.

Ruth said she had restricted Sophie’s internet and social media access at home in the hope of keeping her safe from online harms.

But Sophie was still able to access harmful content while outside.

She had watched harmful guides on self-harm and suicide and had also been striking up conversations with older men, pretending to be 18 years old.

Ruth said: “A lot of people say that a 12-yearold shouldn’t have access to a phone and the internet but I’m quite defensive about that. It’s the norm these days and Sophie was no different.

“She got the bus to school and had after-school activities and we figured it would be good for her to be able to contact us.”

Parental controls were hard to come by on many phones back then, Ruth said, making her internet access outside of the family home difficult to control.

Sophie ended up falling into danger online as she started to interact with older men and receiving inappropriate photographs.

Ruth said she believes her daughter did not realise what she was g e tt i n g herself into as the messaging escalated.

She continued: “Sophie had her own passcode and I tried to get that balance between giving Sophie her freedom and being a responsible parent.

“But after some difficulty and a lot of arguing, we got into her phone.

“We found she had been contacting older men, and older men had been contacting her.

“She had also been pretending to be older than she was.

“As a parent, that became very difficult. There were pictures sent by these older men that were completely inappropriate.

“When Sophie died, we also realised she had accessed sites that showed her how to die by suicide. It was very distressing.

“It’s very hard for parents to control and it was at that point I thought ‘this is just wrong – we’re exposing our children to these harms’”.

Following Sophie’s death, Ruth has been sharing her story with governments, charities and parents in the hope it will help educate people on the dangers of social media.

She said: “I don’t think people realise how easy it is for children to access harmful content.

“I wanted to make parents, not frightened of it, but to h av e those conversations with their children early on.”

CLOSE BOND: Ruth Moss and daughter Sophie, who was described as a talented and kind second-year pupil.