R;pple’s digital crisis intervention tool is transforming online safety for young people with age-specific signposting that connects students with tailored mental health support.
The Growing Crisis
In the UK, suicide remains the leading cause of death among people under 35 (1), making prevention a critical public health priority. With young people spending more time online than ever before, exposure to harmful content related to suicide and self-harm has increased significantly. Research reveals the scale of this crisis:
- Across the main five search engines, harmful self-injury content is prevalent. One in every five (22%) results leads directly to content which celebrates, glorifies, or offers instruction about self-injury, suicide or eating disorders – all just one click away. (2)
- Suicide-related internet use is found in 26% of deaths in under 20s, and 13% of deaths in 20–24-year-olds. (3)
The Next Level of Online Safeguarding
R;pple is a digital crisis intervention tool that helps schools, colleges and universities fill a critical gap in online safeguarding.
Beyond just blocking access to harmful online content, the R;pple tool intervenes to ensure help and support is provided to individuals in crisis.
When a student searches online for ways to self-harm or take their own life, the R;pple tool intervenes with a calmly presented pop-up screen that first helps them pause and reflect, then signposts them to 24/7 helplines and mental health resources.
R;pple’s latest enhancement goes a step further and tailors the intervention to students’ specific needs, directing them to mental health support relevant to their age group.
Examples of such support services include:
- Primary-aged students are directed to support through services like Childline and Kidscape.
- Teenagers under 19 are signposted to platforms such as Young Minds and Kooth, which specialise in youth mental health.
- University students are guided toward resources provided by charities like PAPYRUS and The Mix, which specialise in young adult mental health support.
The new approach ensures that students across different educational stages receive the best support they need during challenging times.
Easy and Free-of-charge Implementation for Educational Institutions
The R;pple tool is available to educators free of charge as a browser extension that can be deployed en mass to managed machines. The age-specific support options are available as a free configuration of the tool.
- Existing R;pple Users
Schools, colleges, and universities that have already deployed the R;pple extension can enable the age-specific configuration on managed devices at no cost. The process is straightforward and requires no technical expertise—simply submit a configuration request to the R;pple team.
- New Users
Institutions not yet using R;pple should first deploy the browser extension following the standard deployment process. Once installed, they can request the age-specific configuration as part of the setup. To learn more or get started, visit R;pple for Educators or contact sam.smith@ripplesuicideprevention.com directly.
Prioritising Young People’s Mental Health
R;pple Suicide Prevention is committed to making a positive change and improvements to mental health and suicide prevention in the education sector. We are advocating at the highest level and have been involved in the development of national guidance along with universities and industry professionals helping to shape the way the UK education sector prevents youth suicide.
The R;pple tool has been recommended by organisations such as AMOSSHE, Zero Suicide Alliance, MHFA England, NHS trusts and county councils. To date, it has close to 2 million weekly active users, has intercepted over 70,000 harmful searches and is continuously saving lives to suicide.
Over 130 educational institutions, including University of Reading, University of Durham, Luminate Education Group and more, have adopted the R;pple tool, creating a safety net for those in crisis.
Let’s join forces to ensure comprehensive protection from online harm for every student. Contact us and get started today.
Sources:
(1) ONS, Leading causes of death, 2020
(2) Offcom, One Click Away, 2024
(3) The Lancet & University of Manchester, Suicide by Children and Young People, 2017
