A local doctor and author who delivers social media workshops says WhatsApp group bullying has become a huge problem in Bristol primary schools. Dr Susie Davis says Whatsapp group chats are one of the biggest problems she has encountered among Year 5 and 6 primary school children.
The tech addiction expert who founded the charity Papaya visits at least two primary schools in Bristol a week. Speaking to local primary schoolchildren and head teachers, she discovered that the children are creating their own WhatsApp group chats and sometimes using them to talk late into the night.
“Children are not thinking about what they say and how it’s going to make another person feel. It’s then very public and it’s creating real problems with friendships in the classroom,” explained Dr Davis.
Despite WhatsApp having an age rating of 16+ it is commonly used by younger children and research by Ofcom has shown that despite most platforms having a minimum age of 13, 60 per cent children already have their own profile on apps such as Tiktok by the time they are 12.
But even the apps aimed at children such as Roblox are problematic according to Dr Davis. While using the popular gaming app, many children have reported online abuse from strangers.
While bullying and fallouts between friends has always existed and was not created by technology, the use of instant messaging on WhatsApp and other social media platforms has shown people of all ages to behave differently to how they would in person. But neurologists say children don’t have the prefrontal cortex developed so are more prone to react emotionally without considering the consequences first.
Dr Davis said: “They are falling out online and there are huge problems when they go back to school. The problems on WhatsApp are having real problems in the real world which is horrifying.
“I’m seeing a lot of problems with Roadblox too but the nasty comments tend to be from strangers. I met one girl in a workshop who said she had become depressed after she was told she was ugly by a stranger and she really believed it,” added Dr Davis.
Dr Davis said she always gets positive feedback from children about her workshops which aim to warn the children about the harms of social media and end with giving them the choice to decide how they would like to make changes. Speaking about the workshops, Dr Davis said: “They come up with three changes that they want to make and they share them with the class.
“We have this lovely moment where they say they are going to delete their social media, they are going to cut down their gaming, they want to play more with each other. Then they go home with a postcard and they get to share with their parents what they want to do.”
While the children’s workshop sessions mainly focus on primary school children, Papaya also delivers sessions to parents and secondary school pupils. The Bristol based charity has now expanded to other parts of the country and Dr Davis has just published the book ‘Healthy Selfie’ to help teens navigate the online world.
Her advice to parents is to make sure children are not using smartphones and tablets at night, they have time limits imposed and they are able to have open conversations about their use. Dr Davis said: “It’s about getting a healthy balance and it’s different for every family. We can all become addicted to it.
“I delete Instagram every weekend to be present for my kids. It’s like being involuntarily hypnotised and before you know it you’ve lost half an hour of your life.”