, ChildLine cites relationship breakdowns, loneliness and abuse. It also highlights the role of the internet.As Peter Liver, the director of ChildLine, points out: “The internet never sleeps and this is putting enormous pressure on children - they can’t go home and escape bullying like children could 10 years ago.”
But online bullying is not the only problem. We also have the graphic blogs and videos depicting self-harm, anorexia and suicide; the pressure to succeed, to be beautiful; the relentless porn; the sexting; the inescapable sexualisation of children. And young girls are not the only ones being exploited - look no further than some of the repugnant online comments from adults this week about Romeo Beckham, a boy who is just 12 years old.
The demands of a 247 digital world are putting pressures on all of us, but if we adults find them stressful, it is hard to imagine what it must be like for the young. They have to navigate a vast and frightening terrain when we give them few instructions, no map and, crucially, no moral compass. We leave them to their own devices, literally.
It is tragic that many children are so distressed that the only way out they can see is to take their own life. Who can they turn to for help? Budget cuts have left child and adolescent mental health services with “serious and deeply ingrained problems”, according to a Health Select Committee report. The president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Hilary Cass, warns that young people’s mental health is becoming a “hidden epidemic”, with one in 10 children having some form of mental health problem.
It is ironic that children have more places to talk than ever before - Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter - but few where anyone will listen. School is certainly one, and good pastoral care is vital. But that can’t be the only place, and there are still many questions on how best to help troubled children.
For the Maguire family, however, there are sadly no answers. Don Maguire, Ann’s husband, summed it up poignantly in his impact statement to the court. “We shall never know why, but if age bars the full responsibility, who owns the missing part?”
ann.mroz@tesglobal.com
