Quarter of 14-year-old girls in UK have self-harmed, report finds
by Sarah Marsh, Guardian:
More than 100,000 children aged 14 in the UK are self-harming, with one in four girls of this age having deliberately hurt themselves, according to a new report.
In figures that show the scale of the mental health crisis affecting young people, the Children’s Survey analysed a survey of 11,000 14-year-olds which found that a quarter of girls and nearly one in 10 boys had self-harmed in a year.
The charity estimated that 110,000 children aged 14 may be self-harming, including 76,000 girls and 33,000 boys.
Experts have put the behaviour down to a combination of pressure from school, austerity and gender expectations.
“It is deeply worrying that so many children are unhappy to the extent that they are self-harming. Worries about how they look are a big issue, especially for girls,” said Matthew Reed, the chief executive of the Children’s Society.
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