This weekend, The Sunday Times reported the closure of 57 chat rooms following the breaking of safeguarding rules. Their investigation revealed that the sites had allowed abusers to ‘coach’ young people into disordered eating. In light of this, stem4 calls for better education and early access to real-life help for young people with eating disorders.
Indeed, young people who have an eating disorder, specifically anorexia nervosa, are more vulnerable on-line than other users. This is due to a combination of factors. Firstly, the disorder itself can create an ‘anorexic voice’ that urges the seeking of thinness and perfection. Secondly, eating disorders can have a hugely isolating impact on young people, often separating them from protection or support from family and social relationships. The low self-esteem and clinical perfectionism that may precipitate an eating disorder, as well as the social isolation therefore sees many young people turning to on-line communities for support. This is preyed on by some on-line sites and abusers who pose under the title of ‘coaches’ who bait vulnerable young people to buy into a supposed ideal, trapping them into further illness.
This kind of harm to vulnerable young people can and should be prevented. Not only does investment need to be made to license and regulate on-line support, early access to real-life professional eating disorder support is essential in order to engage a young person and their family in making change. To prevent young people from turning to damaging online communities, there also needs to be a focus on developing in-person supportive communities beyond professional help, be it at school, home or elsewhere. Education and information on how teachers, parents and carers can best support their children is necessary in order for such communities to exist.
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