Internet is bad for kids’ mental health

Social media is having a negative effect on mental health services for children in Ireland, says a report on cyberbullying by a cross-party group of TDs and senators.

The Oireachtas committee on communications will publish a report today recommending a single body for the regulation of social media content.

It said the Office of Internet Safety “does not adequately deal with cyber-bullying”, that the office has “no formal regulatory role”, and “its primary function is to monitor the current self-regulatory model agreed with internet service providers”.

The committee examined the issue following a number of suicides linked to alleged online bullying — including two sisters, Erin, 13, and Shannon, 15, Gallagher who took their own lives last winter.

At the funeral of Erin, the first to die, Fr John Joe Duffy made an impassioned plea for regulation of social networking sites.

The report found there is no central agency or body charged with managing reports or claims that social media users have engaged in cyberbullying or other inappropriate behaviour.

“This has been left to the social media companies themselves,” says the report.

“One social network provider received some 100,000 requests per day but had just 90 people to deal with such requests.”

It quotes a submission from St Patrick’s Hospital which said: “Social media is having a negative effect on Irish child and adolescent mental health services in terms of cyberbullying, exposure to unsuitable violent and sexual material, as well as excessive use of social media websites instead of actual social interaction.”

The paper on “addressing the growth of social media and tackling cyberbullying” also noted there are “several websites which promote eating disorders”.

It cites what it describes as “troubling data” on the use of social networking sites:

* A third of teenage boys and 41% of teenage girls said they were made to feel uncomfortable by an adult on a social networking site;

* 71% of boys and 75% of girls were made uncomfortable by another teen;

* 10% of boys and 12% of girls were bullied on social networking sites;

* 16% of boys and 5% of girls admitted to bullying.

It says the main differences between traditional bullying and cyberbulling are that children who would not otherwise engage in bullying do so online.

The report says there are difficulties in legislating in respect of social media sites, because the global nature of the internet means laws must be drafted between many countries.

It says some laws already in place can deal with the issue — including Incitement to Hatred, Criminal Damage, and Defamation Acts — but “the cost involved in pursuing a case through the courts may be prohibitive and this is a matter which requires further examination”.

It recommends an education campaign for children, teachers, and parents, and says consideration should be given to a number of suggestions, such as one from Google which said it would be happy to work with the Department of Education on a “digital literacy curriculum” for schools.