Social media bullying affects teens, says crisis centre

The executive director of a crisis centre in Shediac says social media may be to blame in part for the increase of young people with suicidal thoughts.

Krystal LeBlanc at the Beausejour Family Crisis Resource Centre says those feelings often come from harassment or bullying by text messages and through social media sites.

"With Facebook and [the] internet, those hurtful words are extremely permanent. So what would take a whole day to get through a school might take maybe 15 minutes now through the realities of Facebook and text messaging," LeBlanc said.

She said she thinks the effects social media can have isn't something older generations may understand.

"I'm struggling to understand a lot of the difficulties that they're experiencing. They weren't in any way issues that I had when I was let's say 12 or 13 years old," LeBlanc said.

"So you'll see things like ... a 12 or 13 year old having suicidal thoughts. I know I see it every day but it's one of those [problems] that I still struggle to believe that it's actually happening."

In the past year, the Beausejour Family Crisis Resource Centre has dealt with 1,300 interventions.

The public can learn more about how the crisis centre helps at its open house in Shediac to mark its 15th year in operation.