Did A Social Media Addiction Lead To 11-Year-Old’s Suicide?

Tammy says that her 11-year-old daughter, Selena, was addicted to social media and died by suicide after being bullied online. “When Selena would get negative comments, it almost made it more of an addiction because then she really needed to read people’s responses to those comments as opposed to deleting the comments,” Tammy says. Matthew Bergman, founding attorney of the Social Media Victims’ Law Center (SMVLC) claims, “The products are working exactly as they are designed to work. They are designed to addict children.” Bergman says that the mission of the SMVLC is to hold social media companies legally accountable for the harm he claims they inflict on vulnerable users. He says, “They don’t show you what you want to see – they show you what you can’t look away from.” This episode of Dr. Phil, “Growing up Digital: Are Your Kids Addicted?” airs Monday. And later, Dr. Phil talks with the father of a young man who claims that his son’s preoccupation with a video game led the teenager to turn a gun on him and his wife when they tried to take the game away. Check your local listing for airtimes. WATCH: Mom Says She Didn’t Know What Social Media Addiction Was Until It Was Too Late For Her Child TELL DR. PHIL YOUR STORY: Life in crisis?