Is Social Media Contributing to Rising Teen Suicide Rate

[Beso]

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/dad-girl-who-died-suicide-13894519.amp

[thesheriff443]

I think it’s part of who that person is and what’s hard wired into their genetic make up.

[arista]

Yes Instagram
helped kill her

[LaLaLand]

Probably.

Like in my high school days we had MSN/Hotmail messenger and then kind of very late on Bebo and/or MySpace, and they could be bad enough for "bullying" back then. Social media is so vast now that I can't even begin to imagine what a nightmare it could be for someone who's being targeted, these internet trolls can be absolutely awful and relentless.

[Beso]

I think it’s part of who that person is and what’s hard wired into their genetic make up.

Having easy access to suicide sites and self harm.pics on twitter may tip them over the edge.

[Tom4784]

It mainly comes down to the fact that people are **** are like to make victims of other people but luckily, unlike bullying in the flesh, it's easier to cut the xyber side out of your life. I don't think Social Media is a bad thing but we really need to teach kids (and adults tbh) to disengage from it and treat it as it is, a tool to stay connected to the people we like and love but not something that rules our lives.

[Beso]

It mainly comes down to the fact that people are **** are like to make victims of other people but luckily, unlike bullying in the flesh, it's easier to cut the xyber side out of your life. I don't think Social Media is a bad thing but we really need to teach kids (and adults tbh) to disengage from it and treat it as it is, a tool to stay connected to the people we like and love but not something that rules our lives.

But these pics of self harming are against twitters policies but are still available on twitter...thousands of them...That's the debate..should more pressure and fines perhaps be made against these social sites...say if a 13 year old was self harming and wanted help...if she types in self harming you don't see no help sites, all you get is these glory pics of cut arms legs etc.


Same with suicide...all you get is pictures and meme glorifying the darkness of suicide.

[Marsh.]

Probably.

[Tom4784]

But these pics of self harming are against twitters policies but are still available on twitter...thousands of them...That's the debate..should more pressure and fines perhaps be made against these social sites...say if a 13 year old was self harming and wanted help...if she types in self harming you don't see no help sites, all you get is these glory pics of cut arms legs etc.


Same with suicide...all you get is pictures and meme glorifying the darkness of suicide.

I think pictures of actual self harm and suicide should be taken down and a failure to do so should come with a fine but I'm hesitant to say the same about memes because humour is a coping mechanism.

[Beso]

I think pictures of actual self harm and suicide should be taken down and a failure to do so should come with a fine but I'm hesitant to say the same about memes because humour is a coping mechanism.

There needs to be something in place that can differentiate between someone looking for help and being directed straight to that help rather than having to trawl through all the gloryfying memes first to get to it.

[Oliver_W]

Social media platforms should take greater responsibility in policing that sort of page. A friend of mine used to self harm, and she recently showed me in disgust that a group she used to frequent for tips on how to self harm without risking her life and still being hideable was still there. As far as I know it's been a couple of years since she managed to stop, so god knows how that page is still there...

she said it was a mark of how far she'd come that looking at the page didn't make her want to do it at all...

[Beso]

Nice to see this discussed in length on question time last night.a

[Toy Soldier]

Social media has been basically proven to be a mental health disaster all round. Most people post all of their achievements, brags, big purchases and happy moments up for all to see and (understandably) none of their failings or their boring day to day stuff... leading to the (completely incorrect) impression that "everyone else is doing great and is so happy so why am I such a failure?". Not realising that that person is doing exactly the same thing, and to other people it looks like they're doing great, and actually everyone has their good days and bad days but only post about the good ones.

[Strictly Jake]

Yes it does contribute to it. I don't think it's the main cause of it but it does contribute when people are bullied on it but also see celebs etc using false filters looking pretty or with good bodies and living a rich lifestyle which the person looking at will know they will never achieve I guess it all leads to depression so ultimately depression is the main cause

[smudgie]

I think it is pretty obvious it does.
I have yet to see on any discussion or report on this on the tv that actually mentions the white elephant in the room.
Family time, no phones or tablets, just old fashioned family time, where the kids got more quality time to discuss any problems and life in general.
I am not advocating stopping the kids using their devices, but putting a few hours a day for device free, kids and adults.
Especially for younger children, parental feedback and support is much more important than anything they see on their phones.

[Mystic Mock]

Cyber bullying on Social Media is definitely apart of the problem, not the whole problem tbf, but I think that it makes the victim feel trapped and powerless to do anything and that there's only one way out, I also think that psychologically you've got to get paranoid that “if the people on the internet are treating me like this then do people in my personal life secretly hate my guts?” even if it might not be the case, cyber bullying can plant that seed in your mind imo.