‘Online pressure sexualising pupils’ say school principals

School principals have identified online and peer pressure as causes of the sexualisation of primary school pupils.

Their views emerge as a study found that schools are dealing with children as young as six who have suicidal thoughts or are self-harming, but only some schools have ad hoc access to professional counselling.

The research published this week was conducted on behalf of St Patrick’s Mental Health Services by Dublin City University’s school of nursing and human sciences with 1,282 primary principals.