Social media against young people
WARNING - Some of the content may be sensitive, covering issues such as suicide, abuse, and children's mental health.
Brief overview of the story
Mary Brockwell had an upbringing "filled with poverty, abuse and family mental health issues". Having faced such adversity and struggles with mental health, Mary left school at age 13.
Many years later, as a Mum to three children, she is the founder of the Charity 'The Life Matters' and a published author.
The charity aims to help those in school and school refusers to build resilience and combat mental health struggles. They believe the leading cause of children's struggle is social media.
I will explain various aspects of this story throughout this article and discuss how social media can affect young people.
About the charity - The Life Matters
The Life Matters Foundation was founded in 2019 by Mary Brockwell. It took two years for it to be authorised by the Charity Commission. Once approved, Mary could create and share the programme with children in school.
Mary is the founder and elected CEO of the charity and is very much involved in running the programme. There are four other trustees on the programme, some of which are self-employed, and others volunteer.
Due to being self-funded and fairly new, they're always finding ways to gain more visibility, such as the campaign they're planning.
The Life Matters are sponsored by The National Lottery Community Fund, Tesco, the Shaqura Centre (in Canterbury), and more.
They have applied to the Government for funding, and have a contract with Medway Council. However, at the moment, they're awaiting funding for this. They're also speaking to the integrated care board within the NHS, aiming to gain funding from this.
The Life Matters charity page - https://www.thelifematters.co.uk
Interview with Mary Brockwell
Interview with Mary Brockwell
What is the programme about?
It is a 10-week programme in the form of a booklet for children ages 8-18. It's filled with activities and explanations on several topics which children work through a week at a time.
Being a physical booklet (as opposed to an online tool) helps to take children away from social media and being online. This, according to Mary, is a big contributing factor to mental health issues in children. "
The Life Matters Foundation logo
The Life Matters Foundation logo
The booklet was based on clinical research and various jobs Mary's had throughout her life. This includes the police, social services, child-minding, and various mental health roles.
The programme is also CPD-accredited, meaning that once completed, children can receive a certificate to put on their CVs. However, due to the accreditation, children must ensure they keep up with the classes to get the certificate.
Therefore, some, especially younger people, work through it with parents or 1-1 with members of the foundation. The Life Matters also train partial teams in schools and colleges to be able to deliver the programme, as they're still growing a team.
Despite the 1-1 nature of the programme, from January they hope to trial cohort sessions. This would involve Mary, a wellbeing officer and ten children.
"It's more of an education tool to help them build their resilience, rather than telling them what to do and think"
The programme's overall aim is to help children build resilience and be educated on the various issues it covers. These include topics such as bullying, LGBTQ+ struggles, alcohol misuse, drug addiction, domestic violence, and more.
Mary's background
Mary got her first job at age 11.
She left school (age 13) to work full-time in Brixton Market. She made her way up to supervisor in some of the roles, having had no qualifications from school.
She worked a number of roles throughout her life, including being in the Police, a child-minder, social services, etc. This allowed her to build some qualifications outside of education.
2019 - She became CEO and founder of The Life Matters Foundation.
2021 - Mary published her first book, "From Darkness to Light".
2022 - The Life Matter programme was finalised, and the charity began teaching the programme to children, mainly in schools.
Now - The programme is used in several schools in Medway in Kent. By January 2025, they plan to run cohort sessions to teach the programme to groups as opposed to 1-1.
Why is social media an issue for young people?
A study found that around 7% of UK children have attempted suicide by the age of 17. Furthermore, 3/4 of lifelong mental illnesses are experienced before the age of 20. The study is more sociological and highlights the demographic this seems to affect more (females, white adolescents, sexual minorities, and those from lower-income households). It does not, however, discuss possible causes for this prevalence of mental health issues in young people.
A different study was conducted by RSPH in 2019, in which they outlined some common negative impacts of social media: anxiety and depression, sleep, body image, cyberbullying, and the fear of missing out (FOMO). Their research shows that mental health conditions, such as anxiety, seem to be linked to the use of social media, and being on various apps. Young people do admit to this. RSPH also outline some positive impacts of social media: access to health information, emotional support and community, self-expression, and making/maintaining relationships.
"Back in the day, when I was younger, there would be bullying in the playground, but that was it. But with social media, that can still be present in a child's life because of the 24/7 nature of social media."
To test the RSPH study and further understand how people view social media, I conducted a Google survey. Despite the smaller sample size, the survey received 40 responses from people of varying ages, social backgrounds and genders. Here are my findings.
Through this project, I have explored The Life Matters charity and discussed issues associated with social media on young people's mental health.
Despite all the upsides social media can bring, it's important to take a step back and ensure these are not outweighed by the negative effects. You may be experiencing downsides to social media that you aren't even aware of. Thank you for following along with my project!
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