MAKE SOCIAL MEDIA SAFER
Parenting Mental Health is partnering with Dove
Parenting Mental Health is partnering with
Dove and a group of campaigning organisations to make social media safer for young people.
Social media is making kids sick. Over 8 in 10 youth mental health specialists say social media is fuelling a mental health crisis among young people. New research from the Dove Self-Esteem Project has revealed:
- 9 in 10 kids are exposed to toxic beauty content on social media. As a result, this harmful content is impacting the mental health of 1 in 2 kids.
- 9 in 10 youth mental health specialists say exposure to harmful beauty content on social media can lead to physical consequences, like disordered eating or self-harm.
Dove’s ‘Campaign for Kids Online Safety’ is taking action to support young people’s mental health.
Campaign for safer social media
Dove is funding access to mental health resources and support organisations that are working to make social media safer from the design level.
Parenting Mental Health together with Global Action Plan, 5Rights and Girlguiding, will raise awareness of harmful features on social media to encourage new design standards that will make social media safer for kids. Together, we can protect our kids’ mental health. Visit Dove.com/KidsOnlineSafety to sign the ‘Protect Kids’ Mental Health’ petition from GAP and 5Rights to call for social media to be made safe by design.
Providing access to resources
Parenting Mental Health in partnership with Dove will make access to support services and advocates more accessible for parents whose young people are navigating mental health challenges.
In partnership with the Maudsley Charity, Dove will fund Mental Health Facilities at the Pears Maudsley Centre for Children and Young People - a new facility that will protect the mental health of some of the UK’s most vulnerable young people experiencing anxiety, depression, self-harm, and eating disorders.
If you’re worried about your own or someone else’s health, you can contact Beat, the UK’s eating disorder charity, 365 days a year on
0808 801 0677 or
beateatingdisorders.org.uk or Text SHOUT to 85258 for free, confidential mental health support, 24/7.
SUPPORT FROM PARENTS WITH LIVED EXPERIENCE
Our private Facebook community is a unique space where 37,000 parents from all over the world share the experience of parenting a child with a mental health issue. With the option to post anonymously or as yourself, the group is a safe non-judgemental space, carefully and thoughtfully moderated to ensure you get support when you need it, how you need it.
Reach out for advice, to vent, share fears and frustrations, celebrate the wins, give and receive support any time of day or night and make new connections. You don't have to go through this alone.
FROM OUR COMMUNITY
As far as I was aware we were a regular family of 6 who were leading a charmed life in Switzerland. No major life traumas or bereavements, basically a pretty blessed life. But then, at 19:00 in the car on the way to hip hop, my then 16 year old daughter, Isla, broke down and told me she had been self harming and purging and needed help.
RACHEL
HER FAMILY STORY
