Janice Turner: Suicidal girls are just a nuisance to tech giants

[TimeLady]

Well said, Janice.

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/suicidal-girls-are-just-a-nuisance-to-tech-giants-rx8202jqn?shareToken=1ab908486f3c6f854cb4c105d54b226b

Why should the tech warriors of Silicon Valley, mainly single male geeks, have their open internet compromised by hormonal, self-dramatising females? Nick Clegg, Facebook’s new head of global affairs, was asked if he would let his sons view these bloody images: “Of course not!” But then Bill Gates and Steve Jobs denied their children access to the same technology they hard-sold to ours, while Silicon Valley kids are sent to screen-free schools. Those who preach that parents should install adult content filters know they aren’t good enough.

So true - the willful blindness of social media to the potential harm it causes to some of its users (mostly women and girls) is not OK on any level. Reputation protection at the expense of women and girls - where have I heard that before /s

Another good article by Janice.

This has been a problem for at least a decade.

Perhaps in another decade we’ll tackle all the self harm under hashtags such as #ftm #topsurgery #trans and wonder why nobody did anything earlier.

This account with 86K+ followers is incredibly sad:

instagram.com/ftmtransitions?utm_source=ig_profile_share&igshid=1nxvdzx55d62m

I think there is an issue with social media and self harm, however I think society is too quick to jump to the conclusion that it is to blame for self harm or suicide in teenagers.

What is going on in these kids lives that makes them seek out these images?

Kids still suffer bullying, abuse, poverty, school pressure and many other situations and it is important these issues are addressed before we blame instagram.

I'm a former self harmer and actually found I got more help in understanding my behaviour and learning coping strategies from online support groups than from the health services who were meant to be helping me.