Member

Turning to older children, last year my noble friend Lady Kidron and I hosted a meeting at the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges. The meeting brought together representatives from across the medical specialties to discuss what they are seeing in out-patients, on wards, in GP surgeries and in emergency departments. We heard about cases of sextortion, cyber bullying and gaming addiction. We were told about children who could not leave their bedrooms, let alone go to school, and about the impacts of that inactivity, including obesity and musculoskeletal issues. Psychiatrists talked to us about young people who had been radicalised online and those who had learned self-harming behaviours online. We heard about children suffering PTSD after seeing beheadings or videos of animals being tortured. Clinicians working in emergency departments talked about young people coming in following strangulation, either as part of challenges or during sexual activity, or with injuries after being drawn into organised crime or county lines. The age range of the children presenting with injuries linked to harmful sexual practices is falling; we were told about fatal and near fatal injuries in children as young as 13. Doctors in that room described this as a public health emergency.