Nearly one in five older teenagers regularly access content about suicide and self-harm on their smartphones, a survey shows.
Charity Parentkind found that 18 percent of 1,000 16- to 18-year-olds surveyed received such material at least “once or twice a month,” with teenage girls more likely to watch it than boys.
Meanwhile, 17 per cent had often received “extremely violent or bloody images”, and a similar proportion even said social media made them feel “life is not worth living”.
Charity Parentkind found that 18 percent of 1,000 16- to 18-year-olds surveyed received such material at least “once or twice a month” (file image)
For the majority, 58 percent, parents have never put controls on their phones (file image)
A surprising 35 percent of teens have received a sexual image or message from a stranger.
But for the majority, 58 percent, parents have never put controls on their phones.
Parentkind boss Jason Elsom said: “We need to give children their childhood back and stop the spread of sexual violence, suicidal fawning and bullying through social media and smartphones.”