My daughter KILLED HERSELF after reading about it online

Judy Thomas and her husband Andy are now fighting for safer internet access in schools

As the use of smartphones and tablets continues to grow, children can often be found glued to a screen, scrolling through social media.

But without strict online safety measures in place, this behaviour can – for young people in particular – be a cause for concern.

Studies show that teenagers who use social media more than three times a day are more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety. Excessive use can disrupt sleep, cause distraction and expose teens to bullying and unrealistic views.

But, most shockingly, it’s reported that girls who use social media for at least two hours a day are at an increased risk of suicide.

Judy Thomas, 64, knows the devastating effect unregulated online use can bring, after her daughter Frankie tragically took her own life. Here she shares her heartbreaking story with Woman.

I called up to her to take her to a music lesson. She didn’t answer, so I went upstairs to fetch her from her room. Nothing could have prepared me for what came next. I found her body, lifeless and cold.

Andy was at work but I grabbed the phone and dialled 999, trying to resuscitate her until an ambulance arrived. She was then taken to Royal Surrey Hospital, but nothing could be done. Our Frankie had gone. Life as we knew it had changed forever, just like that.

Unsupervised time

Police found a note that she’d left in the house. We were distraught. Frankie had never spoken about suicide before, and there was no indication. We had no idea.

The next day, we spoke to the school and were horrified to find out that she’d spent more than two hours unsupervised on one of the school’s ipads. We learnt she’d taken a break from class as the noise had been too much for her but rather than researching the lesson subject, she’d been looking at hardcore pornography and stories of self-harm and suicide. The last one she’d read mirrored the way she took her own life.

The thought that she could be accessing this material at school never even crossed my mind. I was appalled. Why weren’t there any safety measures in place blocking the students from this content?

The following month we had Frankie’s cremation, which was attended by more than 200 people. Then came her inquest in October 2021. The coroner said that while we’d done everything we could to protect Frankie at home, the failures in internet security at the school ‘more than minimally’ contributed to her death. Frankie had accessed the same material months earlier. It was devastating.

The school had no idea its online security was so bad. They had the right equipment, but it wasn’t connected. We wondered how many more schools were in the same position. We discovered there was no vigorous testing that schools have to go through. It was shocking – making sure their online safety measures are working should be just as important as testing the fire alarm once a week.

Andy and I are now doing everything we can to try to get this policy changed and ensure measures are thoroughly checked by Ofsted.

We’re urging all schools to make sure they have the highest levels of filtering on their equipment to block access to dangerous material and immediately alert staff. Pupils should also be supervised when online.

Frankie’s coroner has written to the Department for Education about its outdated guidance and we’re hoping we’ll meet with the Education Minister too.

Four years on, I’m still traumatised by that day. While there’s nothing we can do to bring Frankie back, I hope that by raising awareness of the importance of online safety measures in schools, it will keep more children safe. It may even help save lives.

‘School had no idea’