The increasing amount of children reaching out to Childline suggests social media could have an impact on a child’s mental well-being. The organisation have revealed that in 2017/18, they have delivered 4,636 counselling sessions for loneliness or isolation, almost 80% of said calls were from girls, many claiming to be feeling the effects of social media, forcing them to compare themselves to others online.
Childline founder, Dame Esther Rantzen, urges that Loneliness is taken seriously as it is potentially “damaging to children’s physical and mental health.” She asks the important question of “what is causing this rise among the young?” An important question to address, as the majority of those who reached out for help were teenagers, the youngest caller with this issue was just 10-years-old.
One teenage boy said that social media makes him feel “really isolated and alone” because he can see all his friends having a good time on social media. Ester Rantzen goes further to question whether there is an illusion created by social networks that everyone else is “liked, popular and enjoying a far more exciting life” when in fact people clearly feel lonelier now, than ever.
