Social Media can drive Youth to Suicide

A Catholic Church official believes schools should teach students how to use social media responsibly.

This is especially since the increased smartphone and social media use has been linked to depression and anxiety among children and adolescents.

According to Father Conegundo Garganta, executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines Episcopal Commission on Youth, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian’s call for the Department of Education to make responsible social media use a key component in mental health programs for schools, was a “good move.”

“It’s a good move. I hope it will also engage other platforms and government agencies or departments and sectors of society that have direct link to the issue,” he said in an interview.

“Also, to maximize the available laws and rules that are meant to secure safety of the younger clients and consumers of the varied forms of social media,” added Garganta.

The CBCP official also pushed for stricter monitoring of the said platforms. “Stricter monitoring and periodic assessment of these platforms must be observed by all the stakeholders through regular public hearings,” Garganta said.

Gatchalian issued the call after a news report cited an expert as saying that the blue light of smartphones inhibits melatonin production and keeps young people awake at night and when young people are sleep-deprived, they become more prone to having depression and anxiety.

The Department of Health (DOH) said that around 3.3 million Filipinos suffer from depressive disorders.

The 2015 World Health Organization’s Global-based student health survey, a study involving more than 8,000 high school students aged 13-17 in the Philippines, revealed that nearly 17 percent of its respondents had attempted suicide in the previous year and almost 12 percent of the study’s participants also seriously considered committing suicide.