Churches urged to get tech-savvy to tackle self-harming

Written by Super User 06 Mar 2015
Churches urged to get tech-savvy to tackle self-harming

Churches and youth workers are being encouraged to get up to speed with social media and the internet to support those who are self-harming. A new poll, commissioned in the run up to Self-Harm Awareness Day, has shed light on the number of 11-21 year olds exposed to online self-harm images. Organised by ChildLine, SelfharmUK, YoungMinds and YouthNet, the research found that over half of 11-14 year olds have either self-harmed themselves or know someone who has self-harmed, whilst eight out of every ten 18-21 year olds say they have self-harmed or know someone who has self-harmed. Speaking on Premier's News Hour, Rachel Welch called on those in churches to do more to understand what's happening so they can make a difference. She said: ‘They're all engaging with social media so it's critically important that youth workers and other people from within the church are using those same places. It's important we go to where the young people are.‘

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