When Children Learn Harm From the Internet: A Disturbing New Warning for Pet Owners

A troubling case presented to the House of Lords has pushed the debate about children and social media into new territory. A medical professional told a parliamentary committee that a young boy killed his family’s puppies after watching violent “how‑to” videos online. It is one of the starkest examples yet of how harmful content can spill into real life — and this time, the victims were animals.

The case was described by Dr Rebecca Foljambe, a GP who works with families on screen‑safety issues. According to her evidence, the child had been shown animal‑cruelty videos on a smartphone at school. These clips didn’t just show violence; they demonstrated methods. The boy went home and copied what he had seen. Afterwards, he suffered nightmares and psychological distress. His age has not been disclosed, and rightly so, but the incident was serious enough to be raised directly with lawmakers.

For those of us who care about animals, this is a deeply uncomfortable story. Pets rely entirely on the adults in the household to keep them safe. Yet the digital world now reaches children long before they have the maturity to understand what they are seeing. A child does not have the emotional or moral framework to process cruelty, let alone recognise that online content is often staged, manipulated, or designed to shock.

The wider concern is that this is not an isolated case. Professionals working with children report a rise in exposure to violent material — including violence against animals — through mainstream platforms. Age checks are weak, parental controls are inconsistent, and many children access social media through friends’ devices even when their own parents restrict it.

This is why the government is now considering an Australian‑style ban on social media for under‑16s. Supporters argue that the risks have moved beyond bullying and mental health. They now include real‑world harm to others, including family pets. Critics say a ban is heavy‑handed, but cases like this make it harder to dismiss the problem as mere “online mischief”.

For pet owners, the message is simple: the digital environment your child enters is not neutral. It can teach kindness, but it can also teach cruelty. And when a child imitates what they see on a screen, the consequences can be devastating for the animals we love.

My personal feelings: ban bloody crappy social media. It really is time for a courageous step and it would rein in the effing mega social media companies who feel immune from sanctions. They have too much free rein and they jerk us around. I dislike them. And that includes Google and for example Facebook. Google owns YouTube which is now saturated with AI generated fake videos. Note: some AI videos are good if not great but there are too many fake animal rescues and fake animal love stories for instance.

Note: this article bar the last para was written by AI on my instructions after a discussion. Why? Speed. I need speed because thanks to effing AI visitor numbers have crashed for all content sites.