Digital self-harm: Rising trend of teens cyberbullying themselves

But she said parents should never assume that cyberbullying was self-inflicted because the risk of harming the child by not believing and supporting them was too great. She said parents should seek professional therapy for their child either way.

One of the most high-profile cases of digital self-harm was in 2013, when Hannah Smith, a 14-year-old girl from Britain, died by suicide after receiving cruel and harassing messages — including to “drink bleach” and “die” — on the social media site Ask.fm.

After an inquiry, it emerged that 98 per cent of the messages came from the same IP address as her own computer.

The US study, published in Child and Adolescent Mental Health in July, found young people who engaged in digital self-harm or cyber self-bullying were more likely to experience suicidal thoughts.

The sample of 4972 Americans aged 12 to 17 found there were no differences in experience with digital self-harm by gender or race, but non-heterosexual adolescents were significantly more likely to have engaged in the behaviour. Specifically, 15.5 per cent of non-heterosexual students said they had posted something anonymously online about themselves that was mean, compared with 8 per cent of heterosexual adolescents.

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In another sign the trend is increasing, the study found teenagers aged 14 were more than twice as likely as those aged 17 to have ever engaged in digital self-harm.

Meanwhile, new figures from eSafety reveal the number of reports to the online safety regulator’s cyberbullying scheme for under 18s was 69 per cent higher in 2021 than 2019, and 80 per cent higher in the first six months of this year, compared with the same time in 2021.

This could indicate a rise in bullying, but it could also partly stem from a growing awareness that reporting to eSafety is an option. While eSafety does not determine whether the cyberbullying is self-inflicted or carried out by a third party, the office has the power to order the prompt removal of material from online platforms.

Commissioner of eSafety Julie Inman Grant said the peak age for cyberbullying was about 14, and she believed the increase was fuelled by increased online exposure, with parents saying they were more lax around screens and social media for their children than before the pandemic.

“Now we are starting to come out the other side of the pandemic, many parents tell us they are finding it hard to ratchet this increased screen time and social media usage back,” Inman Grant said.

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