One in four 14-year-old girls self-harm

Twenty-two per cent of girls aged 14 said they had self-harmed last year, according to a new report by The Children’s Society.

One in six (16 per cent) surveyed reported self-harming at this age, including nearly one in 10 boys (nine per cent).

The charity’s annual Good Childhood Report surveyed 11,000 children. The report looked at the reasons behind the unhappiness which increases the risk of children self-harming.

The Children’s Society estimates that nearly 110,000 children aged 14 may have self-harmed across the UK during the same 12-month period, including 76,000 girls and 33,000 boys.

Almost half of 14-year-olds who said they had been attracted to people of the same gender or both genders said they had self-harmed (46%).  Four in ten of these children had shown signs of depression (38%) and three in ten had low well-being (30%) - both compared with one in ten (11 per cent) of all children.

The Children’s Society’s new Good Childhood survey of 10-17-year-old children and their parents across 2,000 households, which is also part of the report, found children were least happy with school and their appearance.

Nearly a quarter (24%) said they heard jokes or comments about other people’s bodies or looks all of the time, while more than a fifth (22%) of those in secondary school said jokes or comments were often made about people’s sexual activity.   Both made girls feel much worse about their appearance and less happy with their life as a whole, but this pattern did not apply to boys.

Matthew Reed, Chief Executive at The Children’s Society, said: “It’s vital that children’s well-being is taken more seriously and that much more is done to tackle the root causes of their unhappiness and support their mental health.

“Schools can play an important part in this and that is why we want the Government to make it a requirement for all secondary schools to offer access to a counsellor, regularly monitor children’s well-being and have their mental health provision assessed as part of Ofsted inspections.

“Issues like appearance, gender stereotypes and sexuality should be included in the new Relationships and Sex Education curriculum.

“However, early support for vulnerable children and families in the community, which can help prevent mental health problems from developing, is also vital, and ministers must urgently address the £2bn funding shortfall facing council children’s services departments by 2020.”