The distraught mother of a 'bullied' 12-year-old who hanged herself has pleaded with parents to monitor their children's social media.
Jessica Scatterson killed herself in her bedroom in Warrington, Cheshire, in April 2017 after posting a picture online of her foot with 'RIP' written on it.
An inquest into her death heard her social media activity had been ramped up to 'intense' levels which led her to be 'emotionally overwhelmed' before her suicide.
Her heartbroken mother Rachael Warburton has claimed it is 'far too easy' for young kids to access self-harming content on social media.
She told Sun Online: 'It's really scary what children can access on the internet and I don't want another child to take their own life.
'It is still the parents' responsibility to supervise their children's online activity...but any help from schools, government and internet providers would help.
'The government and internet providers should block these sites and make it harder for children to access them.'
The minimum age requirement for access to the big social media sites is 13, but Jessica, who was living with her dad after a custody dispute, was easily able to create accounts.
Drawings and notes referencing death and suicide were found in her room days after she passed. The notes included the name of an alleged bully.
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Nasty messages between the girl and her friends in the days leading up to her death were discovered on her iPad.
The inquest into her death was told that Jessica's friends knew she had previously self-harmed, but never told her parents or teachers at Penketh High School.
A police inquiry revealed there had been an incident 'relating to Jessica being bullied at school' in April 2016.
Inspector Hannah Friend said Jessica had come home with scratches to her face and a swollen eye after arguing with another girl. The matter was reported to the police but it was unclear who started the fight so no action was taken.
When quizzed by police, Jessica's friends denied she was bullied and said she 'gave as good as she got'.
The British government has warned social media giants such as Facebook and Instagram they'll be hit with multi-million-pound fines if they fail to rid their platforms of harmful content.
UK ministers are planning to launch a tech regulator that can impose the penalties on the firms for failing to delete posts that promote suicide or self-harm.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
