An MP has warned that Scotland is “sleepwalking into an out-of-control child mental health crisis” caused by a surge in online bullying incidents and attacks on kids.
Melanie Ward, MP for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy, says she is inundated with issues in her area relating to online harm and violence among teens. The Labour representative stated that she is “deeply concerned” over the role of social media in the current youth violence epidemic.
It comes after a childhood emergency was declared in Scotland on Wednesday, with experts stating that the experience of growing up in the country is worse now than it has ever been before. The national emergency was announced by Children First amid the Record’s Our Kids … Our Future campaign, which has been calling on tech giants to remove violent clips of teens from platforms before they are circulated.
Our Kids … Our Future was launched in February last year after a sickening series of attacks on youths swept across the nation. In most cases, victims were targeted with cruel taunts online before they were assaulted, with their attacks filmed and uploaded online for “likes and popularity”.
Ward said: “I have dealt with issues relating to online abuse and violence among teenagers since being elected and, as a parent myself, I am deeply concerned about the rise in bullying and the role that apps are playing in it. Addictive features on social media are making violent and abusive videos more widespread and popular and so they are much more desirable to replicate.”
Ward’s comments come after the Record reported on two serious incidents involving youths in her constituency. In March last year, we told how a teenage girl was booted unconscious outside Kirkcaldy High School by another youth as an adult woman stood by and cheered on her attacker.
The sickening scene was filmed by onlookers and uploaded to social media, where it went viral. The clip shows the victim lying on the ground suffering a number of kicks and blows to her head and body.
In the video, a woman, understood to be a relative of the attacker, can be seen and heard instructing the culprit to carry out the abuse while a crowd of pupils watch on. In January, a disabled teenager was left “fearing he would die” after he was beaten by a gang of football fans in the same town.
Harrowing footage shared online shows the victim curled up on the floor as one yob delivered repeated punches and kicks all over his body. During the senseless attack, the boy’s hearing aid was knocked out from his ear and onto the ground.
The device was then trampled on by the thugs, who broke it during the process. Ward said that the lack of regulations around violent online footage is causing children to suffer as she backed the proposed Safer Phones Bill.
She said: “Current regulation means that we are sleepwalking into an out-of-control child mental health crisis. The Daily Record’s Our Kids…Our Future campaign is really important and I would encourage any concerned constituents to contact me as I am always here to help.”
Declaring the childhood emergency earlier this week, Mary Glasgow, Children First chief executive, said: “The Daily Record has done some important work over the last two years highlighting some of the horrific bullying, violence and abuse that some children and young people have suffered. These heartbreaking stories highlight the serious issues with cyberbullying, smartphones and social media that are fuelling this childhood emergency.
“Content showing such extreme and disturbing acts of violence should not be on social media. The big companies must take responsibility for this and put safeguards in place to stop our children and young people from seeing this.”
She added: “Adults across Scotland are seriously concerned about the horrendous impact that smartphones, social media and harmful online content is having on the mental health of children. Sadly, childhood is getting shorter in the fast-paced and dangerous world we now live in. Our teams across Scotland support children who are distressed and at risk of serious harm and help them recover from unthinkable trauma and abuse. As a society, we are failing children.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said:“We want to ensure that young people are safe from online abuse, including bullying and are investing in initiatives that support them to navigate online spaces and use screen time in a healthy, balanced and positive way. We also support parents and carers to ensure that they have the information to guide children and recognise when a child is at risk.
“The regulatory responsibility around online content and mobile phones lies with the UK Government. Ministers recently met with Ofcom and emphasised the need for the UK Government’s Online Safety Act to deliver effective and improved safeguards for children and young people online, including more prescriptive guidance to providers on identifying and quantifying child users of their service.”
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