The ‘What About YOUth?’ Survey, published in December 2015, surveyed over 120,000 British 15-year-olds about their health and wellbeing. Here are the key findings:
BULLYING
Over half of young people (over 55 per cent) in England said that they had been bullied in some form in the past couple of months. 15 per cent had experienced cyber-bullying within the past couple of months. 26 per cent of participants had bullied another person or people at some point in the past.
DRINKING
Just over three in five young people (62 per cent) reported that they had previously had a whole alcoholic drink (not just a sip). Six per cent of all young people were classed as regular drinkers (drinking alcohol at least once a week), 8 per cent of young people drink alcohol about once a fortnight, 11 per cent drink about once a month, and 32 per cent drink only a few times a year.
HAPPINESS
22 per cent of young people had very high life satisfaction scores, 44 per cent had high life satisfaction scores, 21 per cent had medium life satisfaction scores and 14 per cent had low life satisfaction.
BODY IMAGE
Half (52 per cent) of all young people thought their body was ‘about the right size’. 12 per cent thought they were ‘a bit too thin’, and 2 per cent thought they were ‘much too thin’. Just over a quarter (28 per cent) thought their body was ‘a bit too fat’ and 6 per cent thought they were ‘much too fat’.
DRUGS
26 per cent of young people said they had ever been offered cannabis. 11 per cent said they had tried cannabis, including trying it once. Looking at young people overall, 5 per cent had taken cannabis in the last month and 9 per cent had taken it in the last year, and 2 per cent had taken it more than a year ago. The majority (87 per cent) had never been offered any other drugs. 98 per cent of young people had not tried other drugs.
HEALTH
Around one in three young people (29 per cent) said their health was ‘excellent’, over half said their health was ‘good’, while a smaller proportion said their health was ‘fair’ (13 per cent) or ‘poor’ (1 per cent). Around one in seven young people stated that they had a long-term illness, disability or medical condition that has been diagnosed by a doctor (14 per cent).
SMOKING
24 per cent of young people had ever smoked. Eight per cent of young people were current smokers, which comprised of 5 per cent who were regular smokers and 3 per cent who smoked occasionally.
SEXTING
46% of young people say sexting is part of everyday life for teenagers nowadays
IPPR – Young people, sex and relationships: the new norms, 2014
44% of girls and 32% of boys in England have engaged with sexting.
27% of girls sent explicit images because they felt pressured to do so
STIR Report, 2015
SELF-HARM
About 25% of young people have self-harmed on one occasion
Wright, 2013
The UK has one of the highest rates of self-harm in Europe at 400 per 100,000 population
Hawton
Self-harm results in about 150,000 attendances at accident and emergency departments each year
Self-harm in Children and Young People Handbook, National CAMH Support Service
55% of parents have never spoken to their children about mental health
Time to Change in partnership with YoungMinds, Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, November 2015
80% of 18-21 year-olds say they have self-harmed or know someone who has self-harmed
ChildLine, YouthNet, selfharmUK and YoungMinds poll, March 2015
52% of young LGBT people report self-harming either now or in the past
Youth chances, 2014
PORN
53% of 11 to 16-year-olds surveyed have seen pornography online
28% of 11-year-olds have seen online pornography
By 15, 65% had seen online pornography
28% Children were more likely to stumble across pornography. 19% than deliberately search for it
59% of boys chose to view online pornography, but only 25% of girls did
44% of boys wanted to emulate pornography, but only 29% of girls
NSPCC, 2016
POLITICS
Of those who voted, more than 70% of 18 to 25-year-olds voted to remain in the European Union. However, only 36% of 18 to 24-year-olds turned out to vote in the EU Referendum
