Forums and chat rooms can have positive effects that should be more widely recognized, some experts say. However, the negative influence of the Internet has also received wide coverage this year.
Researchers at the University of Oxford have carried out an analysis of 14 different studies looking at how young people use the Internet. Published in the journal PLoS ONE, they have found in some of their studies a relationship between Internet use and self-injury and suicide. But not everything is negative, since in others they have found that the Internet could be a positive influence.
The dangers of Internet use have been very present this year. In one case, a 14-year-old teenager, Hannah Smith, was found hanged after being given abusive messages on a social network.
Since then, NSPCC research has indicated that a fifth of teenagers aged 11 to 16 have had negative experiences with the internet. Research from the University of Oxford highlighted a number of dangers from internet use, including high rates of self-harm and the risk of bullying.
The study also states that there is a "close link" between Internet forums and an increased risk of suicide among adolescents.
On the other hand, there are examples in which some forum users searched for the positive reinforcement, advising others to seek help and congratulating each other on it.
Report author Professor Keith Hawton says: "Communication via the Internet and other electronic media has a potential role in preventing suicidal behavior in young people. The next step is going to be the development of therapeutic interventions that use these communication channels, especially to access those who do not seek help from medical services," he concludes.
"Instead of focusing primarily on ways to block and censor these sites, we need to think about the possibilities for reach out to people with emotional problems thanks to these websites," says Joe Ferns
Samaritans. "We must recognize that many people are using forums and chat rooms to anonymously discuss their feelings of distress and despair, including suicidal thoughts, which may have a positive impact in the individual. They may be expressing feelings that they have never made known to anyone in their offline lives."
