Social media leaves young feeling isolated
SOCIAL media is causing a loneliness epidemic among children, Childline warns.
Figures from the helpline show that it delivered 4,636 counselling sessions for loneliness in 2017-18 – a 14 per cent rise on the previous year.
Teenagers accounted for most of these, with the youngest child being just 10 years old. Girls received almost 80 per cent of sessions.
The NSPCC, which supports the service, said that children were becoming increasingly isolated because of social networking.
Many of the children said that comparing themselves to others online or watching people they thought were friends socialise without them had affected their self-esteem.
One teenage boy told Childline: “Recently I’ve been feeling really isolated and alone. I see all my friends having a good time on social media and it gets me down, I feel like no one cares enough to invite me.
“My mood is getting worse and now I’m just upset all the time and can’t stop crying.”
The NSPCC is calling on the Government to provide funding to Childline so it can help more young people struggling with mental health issues.
Dame Esther Rantzen. Childline’s founder, said it was important to understand the underlying issues: “Loneliness needs to be taken seriously because it is potentially damaging to children’s physical and mental health. The crucial question is what is causing this rise among the young?
“Are we all too busy to make space and time for our children? Is it that we have lost the habit of eating together? Or is it the illusion created by social networks that everyone else is liked, popular and enjoying a far more exciting life, so they feel lonelier than ever?
“Whatever the reason, it’s crucial that young people know they can always contact Childline to speak to someone who will listen and care about them.”