Teenager’s death linked to harmful online material

A Surrey teenager took her own life in 2018 after
viewing content about self-harm and suicide online. Frances-Rose Thomas, a
student at a Surrey special educational needs school read the material on an
iPad that belonged to the school. The device wasn’t protected by any filter or
security system. It’s said that the 15-year-old was given “unfettered and
unsupervised” internet access at Undershaw, which was then known as Stepping
Stones School before she passed away in September 2018. 

“Destructive
tendencies”

The girl had recently moved from another school, but
struggled and missed several lessons. This meant she was left alone and
unsupervised for lengthy periods of time. Surrey Coroner’s Court was told that
the teenager had complex needs and suffered from low self-esteem and anxiety.
She was also said to have "overwhelming, perhaps all-consuming, fear of
failure", and "destructive tendencies". Although she was given
extra educational support, she found it tough to engage. 

Frankie’s parents believed the internet access she was
given would be “limited”, but this was not the case. It appears electronic
software called Lightspeed wasn’t effective enough to protect Frankie from the
content. A forensic analysis of the girl’s laptop found that she spent much of
early 2018 accessing sites themed around self-harm and suicide. 

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