A crushed mother wants UK law amendments to allow parents access to their deceased children's social media profiles after her son's passing.
Ellen Roome's petition urging social media firms to share data with parents following a child's death has garnered over 100,000 signatures. She launched the campaign after her 14-year-old son, Jools Sweeney, committed suicide in 2022, according to a report from The Guardian.
Legally, parents cannot verify whether their child experienced bullying, intimidation, or exposure to dangerous information online before their death. Roome called this "entirely wrong," saying Jools left no signs and looked cheerful before his demise.
A postmortem is required following an illness-related child death. According to Roome, while it will not bring her kid back, it may help shed light on the last hours of her child.
Roome's petition may provoke a parliamentary discussion after the general election if the new petition committee approves Roome's petition, She joins Ian Russell, whose daughter Molly died after accessing hazardous internet information, in campaigning for automatic rights to their departed children's data.
The Online Safety Act gave coroners greater authority on April 1, but parents cannot view their children's social media data. This statute enables coroners to investigate suicides, not internet fatalities.
After his death, Roome questioned privacy protections, saying they benefit social media firms. She remarked that since his son is no longer with her, "so what privacy rules are we protecting him from?"
Social Media's Impact on Children's Mental Health
Since 2007, cellphones and smartphones have transformed teens' online presence and mental health. The smartphone revolution allowed ongoing connectivity away from home.
Common Sense Media found that 79% of teenagers and 28% of eight-to-12-year-olds held smartphones in 2016. Thus, teens spend more time online.
In 2015, Common Sense Media found that teenagers spend two hours a day on social media and seven hours online for leisure. Same-year Pew Research revealed one in four adolescents were online "almost constantly." By 2022, the percentage had nearly quadrupled to 46 percent.
In an era dominated by digital connectivity, concerns about children's safety and privacy on social media have sparked legislative action in New York and other states in the United States. Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Teenage mental health deterioration is associated with high internet and social media engagement. Even when not using their gadgets, teenagers are concerned with the internet, causing anxiety and a lack of presence in real life.
Moreover, teens' social connections, emotions, physical activity, and sleep habits have changed due to virtual and social media. In a few years, this transformation has changed social life for everyone, including non-users.
Some experts warned that the recommendation system in social media platforms, particularly TikTok, was promoting hazardous content to Generation Z.
In 2020, former TikTok Germany ad sales manager Charles Bahr informed superiors that the algorithm was bombarding teenage viewers with gloomy and suicide-related content, but they did not take action, per Bloomberg.
Experts to Parents: Protect Your Kids from Harmful Social Media Content
In light of these social media challenges, the American Psychological Association (APA) produced a guideline with scientifically-based social media safety advice for teens.
The APA's Health Advisory on Social Media Use in Adolescence promotes healthy socialization and reduces psychological damage for teenagers using social media.
Here are some important suggestions from APA:
Adolescents should utilize social media for social support, online companionship, and emotional intimacy.
Adults should assess, discuss, and coach 10 to 14-year-olds' social media use. Digital literacy may provide youngsters with greater liberty and privacy as they grow older.
Youngsters should protected from content that depicts unlawful or dangerous activities, such as self-harm, violence, and disordered eating. Report and delete such items as soon as possible.
The APA also advises adolescents to avoid comparing themselves to others.
