There’s rarely a week when somebody doesn’t talk to me about school bullying and teenage angst. Parents are either being accused of lazy parenting or being a helicopter mum!

Recently I spoke with a parent who openly admitted that the types of issues based around bullying on media she is facing with her young daughter her parents never experienced..and that’s a fact.

Apportioning blame or arguing over responsibilty helps nobody but I must confess that the majority of monitoring, educating and supporting our children through the minefield of stress related illnesses and anxiety has to be dealt with at home.

Yes, it would be useful for schools to help with extra advice and support, though I am reliably informed by contacts within the education sector that parents attendance to such events are poorly supported.

The relationship the younger generations have with their phone is proven damaging in so many ways and how we tackle such sad issues as self-harming through media bullying is not an easy one. Limiting phone use whilst frowned upon can reduce the access bullies have and hamper their control.

To anyone facing the challenge of comforting a child who self-harms please seek professional help and sooner rather than later. Keep the school informed as they are supposed to apply and enforce the anti-bullying procedures in place.