Erin Gallagher’s death is the third high-profile apparent suicide linked to cyberbullying in a matter of weeks.

For Irish teens, their ‘virtual’ world is as real as the rest of their lives. But has the unsupervised freedom we afford them online created a monster we can’t control, asks Claire O’Sullivan

“Social media. It’s second nature to us. It’s massive. It’s everywhere. It’s at home, on the way to school, in class, at dinner, in bed,” one of the 16-year-old girls we interviewed said.

IF you want a crash course in cyberbullying, log on to the Askfm website.