A GRIEVING father has issued a warning to parents after he discovered his teenage daughter had accessed a website where children were sharing stories about self-harm and suicide.

Today, Tony and Suzanne Jackson were preparing for their daughter Amber’s inquest where they will hear details of her tragic death after she was hit by a train at a Southampton railway station.

Struggling to understand the circumstances of her death, the couple discovered Amber’s involvement in a website which allows youngsters to publish accounts of self-harming and suicide.

It appeared 15-year-old Amber was one of a number of Bitterne Park School pupils and other youngsters publishing supposedly fictional accounts on the website which offers users a platform to share stories and then follow each other’s posts online.

Although Amber’s own works were innocuous, her parents found other young authors aged 11-16 writing on much more harrowing subjects.

Now, Tony and Suzanne want raise awareness of the website’s existence, for fear these stories are normalising suicide issues.

The pair, who have two other children, were left devastated by Amber’s sudden death five months ago, but now they want to ensure no parent has to go through what they have.

As reported by the Daily Echo, Amber died after being hit by a train at Bitterne train station on September 1 last year.

Her parents found the website – which the Daily Echo has chosen not to identify – while trying to understand what led to her death.

Some of the writers they have identified as Bitterne Park pupils, but others remain unknown.

Daily Echo:

PICTURED: Tony Jackson

Although Tony understands action is being taken to help pupils identified, he said he was concerned that other pupils using the site remain unknown and they want it properly investigated.

The issue has been raised with the school a number of times by the Jacksons, but Tony said he never felt he was being listened to.

He said he found the school’s “refusal to recognise” the issue as worrying.

The couple have now moved Amber’s 13-year-old sister out of Bitterne Park.

The family, from Norris Hill, in Bitterne Park, has escalated its concerns with Southampton City Council’s children’s services, which they say has taken their concerns seriously.

They understand it is liaising with the school to safeguard the children identified.

But they understand it is also investigating whether there is a wider problem and whether it involves other schools.

However, Tony said as far as they are aware, their concerns have not been communicated to parents of students at Bitterne Park generally.

Amber’s inquest is due to be heard today in Winchester, but Tony believes her actions were deliberate.

Though her parents do not know how significant a role the online activity played in Amber’s decision, they want other parents to be aware so they can address it.

“We couldn’t read this and leave it – it wouldn’t be morally right to do that,” said Tony, a computer developer.

“We feel strongly that the school has a duty to communicate with parents that this website does exist.

"We would have liked to have known. If we’d had the opportunity to have that conversation with Amber, who knows?”

When contacted by the Daily Echo to ask what the school’s and council’s response was to the issues raised by Amber’s family in the wake of her death, both said they would await the outcome of the inquest and were unable to comment further until its conclusion.

In a a statement, a spokesperson for the website said: "User-generated content must adhere to our content guidelines. We have zero tolerance for works that promote or glorify self-harm and suicide, and this type of content is not permitted on the platform.

"We care about the health and well-being of the community and do our best to direct people in need to support resources and trained professionals who may be able to help."