Charities warn of impact of online self-harm images

The survey of 2,000 11- to 21-year-olds commissioned by ChildLine, YouthNet, SelfharmUK and YoungMinds, reveals a significant number of young people say self-harm images make them feel "like hurting themselves".

A quarter of 11- to 14-year-olds said they had seen self-harm images online, with more than half having the urge to hurt themselves afterwards.

In addition, 70 per cent of 18- to 21-year-olds had also seen images of self-harm online, with one in four feeling like hurting themselves after.

The images seen were found upsetting by 90 per cent of the younger category, and 80 per cent of the older category.

Lucie Russell, YoungMinds campaigns director, said: “Our research shows that exposure to images of people self-harming online is far too common among children and young people and that this exposure is having a significant effect on their wellbeing.

“What is most frightening is the young age of children being affected by online imagery with 11 to 14-year-olds finding the images particularly upsetting and making them more likely to self-harm themselves.”

The poll also revealed a sixth of 11- to 14-year-olds and one in 10 young people aged 18 to 21 had shared images of someone self-harming on social media.

However, more than half of all the young people polled said they would not know how to report an image of someone self-harming on social media.

Russell added: “Sharing images of self-harm on social media is also more common among these younger age groups, which is also a very worrying finding.

“We must do more to build emotional resilience among children and young people to help them deal with the pressures that they face both online and offline.”

The figures also show that only around a third of 11- to 18-year-olds are likely to look for help and support online, rising to 69 per cent among 18- to 21-years-olds

Emma Thomas, YouthNet chief executive, added: “Far more must be done to educate and empower young people, so they can be safer online.

“This isn’t about demonising the internet or social media, it is about making it a safer space for children and young people.”

The findings come ahead of Self-Harm Awareness Day on Sunday 1 March, which marks the start of the charities' week-long online awareness campaign.