Industry News
Concern for teenagers' wellbeing, after poll
Posted on 25th April 2008
A survey has found that more and more secondary school pupils are suffering from mounting pressure and depression.
Research by the Children's Society found that nearly a third of the 8,000 14 to 16-year-olds surveyed said they often felt depressed.
Twenty-two per cent of teenagers worried about their physical health and seven out of ten worried so much about their appearance they had dieted.
Only nine per cent of parents surveyed felt that children were happier in the 21st century.
Chief executive of the Children's Society Bob Reitemeier said that the issues needed to be addressed in order to give children a better childhood.
"Too often mental health and wellbeing have been dismissed as being of little importance," he said.
Last week, the BBC Parenting website offered advice for parents with teens who were sitting their GCSEs. The article told how it was important not to pile too much pressure on 14 to 15-year-olds, as year ten was seen as a "watershed year".