tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/young-people-4225/articlesYoung people – The Conversation2024-03-25T13:05:17Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2246772024-03-25T13:05:17Z2024-03-25T13:05:17ZHow to Have Sex: why using films to teach about consent risks misunderstandings<p>Critically-acclaimed and award-winning film How to Have Sex is due to be <a href="https://www.schoolsconsentproject.com/notice-board/partnership-bafta-nominated-film-how-have-sex">screened in UK secondary schools</a> to help initiate conversations about consent. The plan is the result of a partnership between the film, distributor Mubi and the <a href="https://www.schoolsconsentproject.com/">Schools Consent Project</a>, a charity that provides workshops led by volunteers with legal training to give young people information about the law around sex.</p>
<p>How to Have Sex explores complexities around the conditions in which people make choices about sex and relationships, and how they communicate and interpret consent. The film follows 16-year-old Tara (Mia McKenna-Bruce) on a post-GCSEs holiday to Malia, Crete, with friends Skye and Em. </p>
<p>The aim is to party hard and for Tara, the only one in the group to not have had sex, to lose her virginity. However, while her experience is not what she hoped for, this is not a straightforward cautionary tale of the dangers of drinking and casual sex.</p>
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<p>It is encouraging that the Schools Consent Project is offering workshops on consent in schools to explore the issues raised in the film. And taking a legal approach would <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education">meet requirements</a> within current statutory guidance for relationships and sex education on consent in England. </p>
<p>But as academics conducting research with young people about relationships and sex education, we have concerns that focusing on the law is inadequate when it comes to teaching people how to communicate with their partners about sex and ethical relationships.</p>
<p>The Schools Consent Project plans to screen the whole film. We’d advise any schools thinking of planning lessons themselves around the film to do this rather than just showing a standalone clip and then questioning young people on whether or not that constitutes consent under the letter of the law. </p>
<p>How to Have Sex contains important messages on communication and empathy, and focusing on specific scenes risks missing out on the wider and more nuanced conversations on consent watching the film could lead to.</p>
<h2>Ethical sex</h2>
<p>Boys we’ve spoken to in our research work want to know if and when they would be at risk of getting into trouble legally in the event of an allegation of non-consensual sex. They also want to know how to avoid these outcomes. </p>
<p>But framing sex and consent just as a matter of the law does nothing to address how and why consent may come to be compromised in a given situation, nor what it means to have safe and ethical sex based on mutuality and reciprocity. </p>
<p>How to Have Sex offers no easy answers about these complexities and, we’d suggest, shows the limitations of the law. Tara’s first sexual experience with Paddy – characterised by Paddy asking, “Yeah?” and Tara audibly responding, “Yeah,” – probably constitutes legal consent. It is <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1077801221992870">potentially reasonable</a> on the darkened beach where they have sex to misread her grimaces, tears and discomfort as not undermining her expressed agreement.</p>
<p>Paddy may, therefore, be able to avoid getting into trouble legally, but has not necessarily behaved ethically or responsibly toward Tara. The scene raises vital issues about respect and empathy, but if it is not used to have these conversations, it risks feeding into polarised narratives of blame and responsibility for consent – which we have encountered with the young people we’ve worked with.</p>
<p>Tara may be deemed to be at fault for not communicating her discomfort clearly enough to Paddy, or for not talking to her friends. In the film, even her friend Em tells her: “you should have said something.”</p>
<h2>Entrenched perceptions</h2>
<p>The young people we work with are often pulled between wanting straightforward answers to the complexities associated with topics like consent and wanting acknowledgement that <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-022-01335-9">no such answers exist</a>. </p>
<p>If young people and teachers are given the tools and spaces they need to engage in nuanced conversations, there is scope for the film to be helpful. If not, it risks being taken up by young people in ways that entrench, rather than challenge, the gender norms and inequalities that shape attitudes to consent. </p>
<p>These include the still pervasive ideas that <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14681811.2017.1393407?casa_token=NY0KZg1CfzYAAAAA%3ACjbJ2A9AQ9UORxYqm64MI5Ca5lOoE-qtRnzKuzHACcfqSj-3M0FIk1okHCGVkQOUvB0kbhrRFH5pAg">it is up to girls</a> to clearly communicate their consent or non-consent to boys, and that it is boys who initiate sex in a transactional – rather than mutual and reciprocal – dynamic. Instead, we need to emphasise to young people that sex should be a mutual process of exploring and establishing what both parties want and agree to. </p>
<p>Films can be a productive means of creating safe distance for having challenging discussions in schools about rape and sexual assault, but it would be a mistake to think this is where the conversation should focus. </p>
<p>The great thing about How to Have Sex is that we get to see the wider events that led to the encounter. We can dissect and understand the characters’ motivations and choices. </p>
<p>Tara is a complex young woman, who is witty and confident yet clearly feels out of place and left behind by her peers. The film avoids simply framing Tara as a helpless victim. Instead she is actively seeking to share intimacy with some of the guys she encounters and is doing what she can to explore her sexuality. But that does not mean she wants the sex she is exposed to. </p>
<p>And at its heart, How to Have Sex is a film about the complex and contradictory emotions of friendship. It’s about connection and how individuals treat one another. </p>
<p>In response to the issues raised in this article, the Schools Consent Project said there was clear appetite from schools for legal education on consent. “We believe that consent education has to be a nuanced and ongoing conversation, not a tick-box or law lecture – neither of which we provide.” </p>
<p>They added: “Having a lawyer lead this conversation is in our experience highly effective … students feel safe knowing that their questions will be accurately answered which in turn encourages open discussion.”</p>
<p>We argue that looking at consent in the film from a legal perspective risks narrowing in on specific scenes of sexual encounters, but this approach does not engage with all the wider dynamics and processes that shape how consent comes to be compromised. And these dynamics are all there in the film – they just need careful discussion. </p>
<p>To avoid these unintended outcomes, the film should be used as a catalyst for discussing the nuances of sex and relationships with young people rather than as a conduit for reinforcing binary, legalistic views on consent.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224677/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emily Setty receives funding from UKRI, Leverhulme and British Academy funders. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonny Hunt is a partner of the Sex Education Forum & an Independent Sex Education Consultant. </span></em></p>Without nuanced discussion, the film may end up being interpreted by young people in unintended ways.Emily Setty, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, University of SurreyJonny Hunt, Senior Lecturer in Applied Social Science, University of BedfordshireLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2261222024-03-20T19:04:04Z2024-03-20T19:04:04Z‘How long before climate change will destroy the Earth?’: research reveals what Australian kids want to know about our warming world<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582994/original/file-20240320-16-lx7lnj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C19%2C6374%2C4224&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-boy-taking-photos-land-burnt-1563856276">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every day, more children discover they are living in a climate crisis. This makes <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(21)00278-3/fulltext">many children feel</a> sad, anxious, angry, powerless, confused and frightened about what the future holds. </p>
<p>The climate change burden facing young people is inherently unfair. But they have the potential to be the most powerful generation when it comes to creating change.</p>
<p>Research and public debate so far has largely <a href="https://www.hhrjournal.org/2014/07/climate-change-childrens-rights-and-the-pursuit-of-intergenerational-climate-justice/">failed to engage</a> with the voices and opinions of children – instead, focusing on the views of adults.
<a href="https://www.cell.com/one-earth/fulltext/S2590-3322(24)00100-3">Our research</a> set out to change this. </p>
<p>We asked 1,500 children to tell us what they wanted to know about climate change. The results show climate action, rather than the scientific cause of the problem, is their greatest concern. It suggests climate change education in schools must become more holistic and empowering, and children should be given more opportunities to shape the future they will inherit.</p>
<h2>Questions of ‘remarkable depth’</h2>
<p>In Australia, research shows <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264546580_Children's_Fears_hopes_and_heroes_Modern_childhood_in_Australia">43% of children</a> aged 10 to 14 are worried about the future impact of climate change, and one in four believe the world will end before they grow up.</p>
<p>Children are often <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.853">seen as</a> passive, marginal actors in the climate crisis. Evidence of an intergenerational divide is also emerging. Young people report feeling <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378023001103">unheard</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0016718520302748?via%3Dihub">betrayed by older generations</a> when it comes to climate change. </p>
<p>Our study examined 464 questions about climate change submitted to the <a href="https://curiousclimate.org.au/schools/">Curious Climate Schools</a> program in Tasmania in 2021 and 2022. The questions were asked by primary and high school students aged 7 to 18.</p>
<p>The children’s questions reveal a remarkable depth of consideration about climate change.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-well-does-the-new-australian-curriculum-prepare-young-people-for-climate-change-183356">How well does the new Australian Curriculum prepare young people for climate change?</a>
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<img alt="teenagers hold signs at rally" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582991/original/file-20240320-30-u8t2vi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582991/original/file-20240320-30-u8t2vi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582991/original/file-20240320-30-u8t2vi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582991/original/file-20240320-30-u8t2vi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582991/original/file-20240320-30-u8t2vi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582991/original/file-20240320-30-u8t2vi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582991/original/file-20240320-30-u8t2vi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The vast majority of children worry about climate change.</span>
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<h2>Kids are thinking globally</h2>
<p>The impacts of climate change were discussed in 38% of questions. About 10% of questions asked about impacts on places, such as:</p>
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<p>With the rate of climate change, what will the Earth be like when I’m an adult?</p>
<p>What does the melting of glaciers in Antarctica mean for Tassie (Tasmania) and our climate?</p>
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<p>These questions demonstrate children’s understanding of the global scale of the climate crisis and their concern about places close to home.</p>
<p>How climate change will affect humans accounted for 12% of questions. Impacts on animals and biodiversity were the subject of 9% of questions. Examples include:</p>
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<p>Will climate change make us live elsewhere, eg underwater or in space?</p>
<p>What species may become extinct due to climate change, which species could adapt to changing conditions and have we already seen this begin to happen?</p>
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<p>Approximately 7% of questions asked about ice melting and/or sea-level rise, while 3% asked about extreme weather or disasters.</p>
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<img alt="four children in school uniforms reading book" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582988/original/file-20240320-30-1bimcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6262%2C4694&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582988/original/file-20240320-30-1bimcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582988/original/file-20240320-30-1bimcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582988/original/file-20240320-30-1bimcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582988/original/file-20240320-30-1bimcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582988/original/file-20240320-30-1bimcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582988/original/file-20240320-30-1bimcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Children wonder what Earth will look like when they are adults.</span>
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<h2>‘What can we do?’</h2>
<p>Action on climate change was the most frequent theme, discussed in 40% of questions. Some questions involved the kinds of action needed and others focused on the challenges in taking action. They include:</p>
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<p>How would you make rapid climate improvements without sacrificing industry and finance?</p>
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<p>Around 16% of questions asked about, or implied, who was responsible for climate action. Governments and politicians were the largest group singled out. Other questions asked about the responsibilities of schools, communities, states, countries and individuals. Examples include:</p>
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<p>What can I do as a 12-year-old to help the planet, and why will these actions help us?</p>
<p>If the world knows about climate change, why has not much happened?</p>
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<p>Some 20% of questions suggested action by specific sectors of the economy. This included stopping using fossil fuels and moving to renewable energy or nuclear power. Some suggested action related to food, agriculture or fisheries.</p>
<h2>Existential worries</h2>
<p>In 27% of questions, students raised existential concerns about climate change. This reveals the urgency and frustration many children feel.</p>
<p>The largest group of these questions (15%) asked for predictions of future events. Some 5% of questions implied the planet, or humanity, was doomed. They included:</p>
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<p>Will all the reefs die?</p>
<p>How long before climate change will destroy the Earth?</p>
<p>How long will we be able to survive on our planet if we do nothing to try to slow down/reverse climate change?</p>
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<h2>Why is Earth getting hot?</h2>
<p>Scientific questions about climate change made up 25% of the total. The largest group related to the causes and physical processes, such as: </p>
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<p>What causes the Earth to get hotter due to climate change?</p>
<p>Would our world be the same now if the Industrial Revolution hadn’t happened?</p>
<p>How do they know the climate and percentage of gases, such as methane, in the 1800s?</p>
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<h2>What all this means</h2>
<p>Our analysis indicates children are very concerned about how climate change affects the things and places they care about. Children also want to know how to contribute to solutions – either through their own actions or influencing adults, industries and governments. Children asked fewer questions about the scientific evidence for climate change. </p>
<p>So what are the implications of this?</p>
<p>Research shows that where climate change is taught in schools, it is primarily <a href="http://www.jsedimensions.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Siperstein-JSE-Nov-2015-Hope-Issue-PDF.pdf">represented as</a> a scientific and environmental issue, without focus on the social and political causes and challenges.</p>
<p>While children need information about the science of global warming, our research suggests this is not enough. Climate change should be integrated into all subjects in the curriculum, from social studies to maths to food. </p>
<p>Teachers should also be trained to understand climate challenges themselves, and to identify and support students suffering from climate distress.</p>
<p>And children must be given opportunities to get involved in shaping the future. Governments and industry should commit to listening to children’s concerns about climate change, and acting on them.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/i-tend-to-be-very-gentle-how-teachers-are-navigating-climate-change-in-the-classroom-212370">'I tend to be very gentle': how teachers are navigating climate change in the classroom</a>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chloe Lucas received funding from the Centre for Marine Socioecology, the University of Tasmania, and the Tasmanian Climate Change Office for the research and engagement reported in this article, as part of the Curious Climate Schools program. She is also funded by the Australian Research Council. Chloe is a member of the Centre for Marine Socioecology, the Institute of Australian Geographers and the International Environmental Communication Association, and is a member of the Editorial Board of Australian Geographer.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charlotte Earl-Jones received funding from the Centre for Marine Socioecology, the University of Tasmania, and the Tasmanian Climate Change Office for the research and engagement reported in this article, as part of the Curious Climate Schools program. She is also funded by Westpac Scholars Trust and the Australian Commonwealth Government Research Training Program. She is a member of the Institute of Australian Geographers. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gabi Mocatta received funding from the Centre for Marine Socioecology, the University of Tasmania and the Tasmanian Climate Change Office (now re-named Renewables, Climate and Future Industries Tasmania) for the research and engagement reported here. She is also President of the Board of the International Environmental Communication Association.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gretta Pecl receives funding from the Australian Research Council, Department of Agriculture Water and the Environment, Department of Primary Industries NSW, Department of Premier and Cabinet (Tasmania), the Fisheries Research & Development Corporation, and has received travel funding support from the Australian government for participation in the IPCC process. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kim Beasy received funding from the Centre for Marine Socioecology, the University of Tasmania, and the Tasmanian Climate Change Office for the research and engagement reported in this article, as part of the Curious Climate School program. She is a member of the Centre of Marine Socioecology and the Australian Association of Environmental Education. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachel Kelly receives funding from the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, and the Centre for Marine Socioecology at the University of Tasmania.</span></em></p>The result shows climate change education in schools must become more holistic and empowering, and children should be allowed to shape the future they will inherit.Chloe Lucas, Lecturer and Research Fellow, School of Geography, Planning, and Spatial Sciences. Coordinator, Education for Sustainability Tasmania, University of TasmaniaCharlotte Earl-Jones, PhD Candidate, University of TasmaniaGabi Mocatta, Research Fellow in Climate Change Communication, Climate Futures Program, University of Tasmania, and Lecturer in Communication, Deakin UniversityGretta Pecl, Professor, at IMAS and Director of the Centre for Marine Socioecology, University of TasmaniaKim Beasy, Senior Lecturer in Curriculum and Pedagogy, University of TasmaniaRachel Kelly, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Future Ocean and Coastal Infrastructures (FOCI) Consortium, Memorial University, Canada, and Centre for Marine Socioecology, University of TasmaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2255732024-03-19T19:45:05Z2024-03-19T19:45:05ZBy the time they are 20, more than 4 in 5 men and 2 in 3 women have been exposed to pornography: new research<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582667/original/file-20240318-18-n6pp1v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Four in five young men and two in three young women have been exposed to pornography by the time they turn 20, according to the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38508985/">first nationally representative survey</a> on this issue in Australia.</p>
<p>Boys and young men are exposed earlier to pornography than girls and young women, and far more likely to be frequent users.</p>
<p>Among young people who had seen pornography, the average age of first exposure was 13.2 years for males and 14.1 years for females.</p>
<p>Exposure to pornography is likely to shape children’s and young people’s developing sexual and relationship attitudes and behaviours, with potentially significant health consequences.</p>
<p>We summarise the findings here, drawing on the survey among 1,985 young people aged 15-20 conducted by leading violence prevention organisation Our Watch, as well as Maree Crabbe’s interviews with young Australians.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pornography-has-deeply-troubling-effects-on-young-people-but-there-are-ways-we-can-minimise-the-harm-127319">Pornography has deeply troubling effects on young people, but there are ways we can minimise the harm</a>
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<h2>Exposure is common</h2>
<p>Most young people aged 15-20 have seen pornography, whether intentionally or accidentally. Over four-fifths (86%) of young men, and over two-thirds (69%) of young women, have encountered pornography.</p>
<p>While the average age of first exposure to pornography among those who have seen it is 13 for boys and 14 for girls, some children’s first exposure is considerably earlier. As Lizzie commented, </p>
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<p>I was maybe 8 or 9 years old when I first saw porn. I had an older brother and I think one day he left a porn site open, and it just sparked my curiosity after that.</p>
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<p>Young people see pornography two to three years before their first sexual experience with a partner. As Nathan commented, </p>
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<p>there was a group of boys who would spend the entire time at the back of the classroom just having fun, laughing and watching pornography together. And this was well and truly before any of us were sexually active.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/help-ive-just-discovered-my-teen-has-watched-porn-what-should-i-do-215892">Help, I've just discovered my teen has watched porn! What should I do?</a>
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<h2>Deliberate and accidental exposure</h2>
<p>First exposure is about equally likely to be deliberate or accidental. Among young people who had seen pornography, 50.1% of young men and 40.3% of young women reported deliberately seeking pornography the first time they viewed it, while 46.2% of young men and 55.7% of young women reported that their first exposure was unintentional.</p>
<p>Among the children and young people who had deliberately sought out pornography the first time they saw it, the most common motivation was curiosity. Other motivations included looking for sexual stimulation, because friends were watching it, and wanting to learn more about sex.</p>
<p>For young people whose first exposure was unintentional, most had accidentally encountered pornography via an internet pop-up or web search. Other common means included being shown by someone else and coming across it on social media.</p>
<p>Emma’s story is typical: </p>
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<p>I accidentally clicked on just one of the many pop-ups that are around and it took me to a porn site.</p>
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<p>As Mohammad explained: </p>
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<p>Even when you’re not looking for it you find it on the internet.</p>
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<h2>Young men are frequent users</h2>
<p>There is a strong gender contrast in the frequency of pornography use among young people. Many young men are frequent users, with over half (54.4%) using pornography at least weekly and one in six (16%) doing so daily. On the other hand, only about one in seven young women (14.3%) use pornography weekly and only one in 70 (1.4%) do so daily.</p>
<p>Pornography use is both widespread and normalised among young men, as Crabbe’s interviews corroborate. “It was just assumed that boys our age were watching it,” reports Tash. “Every guy I know uses it, girls not so much”, said Hannah.</p>
<p>One-fifth of young people have not seen pornography, including one-tenth (10.5%) of young men and over one-quarter (28.7%) of young women. Compared to boys and young men, girls and young women are less interested in and more critical of pornography.</p>
<p>Lack of interest was the most common reason for not having seen pornography, reported by 59% of men and 87% of women. Other common reasons included concerns that it is disgusting or gross (20% men, 40% women) and that they would not like its depictions of relationships (10% men, 39% women).</p>
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<h2>Why does it matter if young people are exposed to porn?</h2>
<p>Other studies document that pornography <a href="https://theconversation.com/pornography-has-deeply-troubling-effects-on-young-people-but-there-are-ways-we-can-minimise-the-harm-127319">shapes young people’s sexual understandings, expectations, and experiences</a>, just as it shapes these <a href="https://xyonline.net/sites/xyonline.net/files/2020-07/Hald%2C%20Sexuality%20and%20Pornography%20Ch%202014.pdf">among adults</a>.</p>
<p>Pornography consumption is associated with a range of harms, including <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1054139X08006587">risky</a> <a href="https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/4/8/e004996">sexual behaviours</a> such as <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10410236.2021.1991641">choking</a>, more <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2009.01422.x">sexually objectifying and gender-stereotypical</a> views of women, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ab.20328">rape myth acceptance</a>, <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2013-27678-001">sexual coercion</a> and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ab.20367">aggression</a>, and <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/6/1/1">sexual and dating violence victimisation</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hold-pornography-to-account-not-education-programs-for-childrens-harmful-sexual-behaviour-68473">Hold pornography to account – not education programs – for children's harmful sexual behaviour</a>
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<h2>Lessening the harms</h2>
<p>Four strategies are necessary to mitigate the potential harms of pornography exposure.</p>
<p>First, children and young people across Australia should have access to <a href="https://education.ourwatch.org.au/">respectful relationships education</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1054139X20304560">comprehensive sexuality education</a> in schools. This should provide alternative and age-appropriate content on sexuality, including critical <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15546128.2020.1856744">content on pornography</a>.</p>
<p>Second, <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003189787-10/talking-children-pornography-jessica-zurcher">parents</a> should be equipped with <a href="https://itstimewetalked.com/parents/">the tools</a> to talk to their children <a href="https://www.theline.org.au/educators-and-practitioners/pornography/">about pornography</a>, helping them to avoid or reject content that is sexist or celebrates violence that can be found in much pornography.</p>
<p>Third, we need social marketing and communication campaigns intended to undermine the influence of sexist and harmful content in pornography, and instead foster more gender-equitable and inclusive social norms.</p>
<p>Fourth, the federal government should support regulatory strategies to reduce minors’ exposure to pornography, such as <a href="https://www.esafety.gov.au/about-us/consultation-cooperation/age-verification">age verification for adult websites</a>, labelling and warning systems, mandated filtering by internet service providers with options for adult opt-in, and other measures.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225573/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maree Crabbe has worked as a consultant on this issue and has developed a range of resources including school curricula, professional learning, two documentary films, and the "It's Time We Talked” website.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kelsey Adams and Michael Flood do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Whether deliberately seeking it out or finding it accidentally, most young Australians have seen pornography by the time they are 20, with potentially damaging consequences.Michael Flood, Professor of Sociology, Queensland University of TechnologyKelsey Adams, PhD candidate, Queensland University of TechnologyMaree Crabbe, PhD candidate, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2219392024-03-08T13:38:13Z2024-03-08T13:38:13ZTeenagers often know when their parents are having money problems − and that knowledge is linked to mental health challenges, new research finds<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576103/original/file-20240216-28-neuioj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=120%2C77%2C5609%2C3736&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Teens are more clued in to family finances than many people think.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/single-working-mother-and-her-teenage-girl-talking-royalty-free-image/1457103190">Olga Rolenko/Moment via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When parents try to shield their kids from financial hardship, they may be doing them a favor: Teens’ views about their families’ economic challenges are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579423001451">connected to their mental health and behavior</a>.</p>
<p>That’s the main finding of a study into household income and child development that I recently conducted with my colleagues.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&oi=ao&user=--zcHSQAAAAJ">professor of psychology</a>, I know there’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-020-01210-4">a good deal of research</a> showing that young people who experience more household economic hardship <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-019-00833-y">tend to have more behavioral problems</a>.</p>
<p>But most studies on this issue rely heavily on caregiver reports – that is, what adults say about their kids. Fewer researchers have asked young people themselves. </p>
<p>To fill this gap, my colleagues and I asked more than 100 Pittsburgh-area teenagers, as well as their parents, about their family income, their views about their financial challenges, and their mental health. We checked in with them multiple times over nine months. </p>
<p>Doing this, we found a few important things. First, we found that many families’ economic situations varied over time – they were doing fine with money in some months and struggling during others. And second, we found that when teenagers said they and their family were experiencing hardship, those teens had more behavioral problems.</p>
<p>For example, many teens said that they couldn’t afford school supplies or that their caregivers worried because they lacked money for necessities. In the months when teens reported experiencing these hardships, they were more likely to feel depressed and get in trouble at school.</p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Other researchers have found that economic hardship is related to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.00986.x">differences in parenting</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/children9070981">academic achievement</a> and many <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2022.106400">other developmental outcomes</a> – but prior studies haven’t always captured the complexities and challenges that struggling families face. </p>
<p>For example, researchers studying links between economic hardship and youth behavioral development have historically looked at family income on a yearly basis. But bills come due weekly or monthly. Our work shows that looking at the annual data alone risks missing an important part of the story: Many families experience brief spells of financial instability.</p>
<p>Our work also shows that teens are acutely affected by economic conditions in their daily lives and understand their families’ circumstances. This has important implications for research. Given that adolescence is a time of major emotional and cognitive changes, our team believes that researchers should center on the perspectives of young people directly affected by economic challenges. For example, we have previously found that how young people view stress and support in their lives may have <a href="https://theconversation.com/positive-parenting-can-help-protect-against-the-effects-of-stress-in-childhood-and-adolescence-new-study-shows-208268">implications for their brain development</a>.</p>
<p>This work also has important implications for public policy. For example, lawmakers assume that economic hardship is fairly stable and set anti-poverty policies accordingly. Our research offers fresh evidence that many people see <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/05/31/business/31-volatility.html">large income swings throughout the year</a>. This kind of economic instability has been found to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-016-0181-5">affect child development</a>, especially when families <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579419001494">lose large amounts of income</a>. To lessen the impact of poverty, policymakers may need to think about economic hardship more dynamically.</p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>Our research team wants to continue putting young people’s voices front and center. We’re also interested in more complex ways to make sense of socioeconomic status. While we know that income matters for families, we’re increasingly focused on household wealth, which is a household’s assets minus its debts. Wealth may influence child development in ways that are different from income. We’re just starting to collect data for a new project examining how both of these factors <a href="https://sanford.duke.edu/story/nichd-awards-grant-sanford-partnership-focused-adolescent-wellness-factors/">affect teen mental health</a>.</p>
<p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take on interesting academic work.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221939/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jamie Hanson and his colleagues receive funding from the National Institutes of Health. Hanson is also a board member of the Pittsburgh Non-Profit, Project Destiny.</span></em></p>A study of more than 100 teens and their caregivers showed a unique link between hardship and behavior problems.Jamie Hanson, Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of PittsburghLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2243702024-03-07T19:24:18Z2024-03-07T19:24:18ZPolitical power in Australia is still overwhelmingly male. But beneath the despair, there’s reason for hope<p>It’s 2024, but power still looks like a man. Despite Australia’s claim to egalitarianism, achieving equal political participation and representation remains a formidable challenge for women. Concerningly, the persistent and ingrained obstacles in women’s way are affecting the aspirations of the next generation of female leaders. </p>
<p>According to 2022 <a href="https://plan-international.org/uploads/2022/10/SOTWGR-2022-EN-Final-SD.pdf">research</a> spanning 29 countries, including Australia, satisfaction among young females aged 15-24 with their leaders’ decisions on issues they care about stands at a mere 11%. An overwhelming 97% acknowledged the importance of political participation. Yet, only 24% of those aspiring to engage in politics could see themselves running for office. </p>
<p>Worse still, 20% have been personally discouraged from political involvement. This is often because they’re either considered to be <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/05_women_lawless_fox.pdf">less qualified</a> or that they will inevitably <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2015/01/27/the-female-political-career-women-members-of-parliament-still-face-obstacles-to-elected-office">face discrimination</a> and gendered violence. </p>
<p>I crunched the numbers to assess the situation in Australia. While much has been said about the <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjBo7vTp9SEAxU3amwGHUFXBH8QFnoECAYQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fiview.abc.net.au%2Fshow%2Fms-represented-with-annabel-crabb&usg=AOvVaw1oHrBbmWBZQhhBmxEIv6gA&opi=89978449">mistreatment</a> of female leaders, how does this play into the psyche of female constituents? </p>
<p>I found gender gaps have persisted in almost every political measure over the past 20 years. But there’s a glimmer of hope, mostly found online. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-the-secret-to-attracting-more-women-into-politics-give-them-more-resources-222159">What's the secret to attracting more women into politics? Give them more resources</a>
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<h2>Politics still unwelcoming and unrepresentative</h2>
<p>Using the <a href="https://australianelectionstudy.org/">Australian Election Study</a>, I examined the gender gaps in political attitudes and behaviours across generations between 2001 and 2022.</p>
<p>The pathway to power for women in politics has never been easy, and it doesn’t get easier once elected. The prevalent discrimination, <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiVwpWMp9SEAxW8UWcHHb4eCPAQtwJ6BAg4EAI&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dz8asUgiCjw0&usg=AOvVaw2_nNYywdfZNl9-qQxzlqys&opi=89978449">gender deafness</a>, sexism and overt abuse not only <a href="https://theconversation.com/expect-sexism-a-gender-politics-expert-reads-julia-gillards-women-and-leadership-142725">force women to abandon</a> their leadership aspirations, but also act as signals that discourage young women from corridors of power. </p>
<p>It is therefore not surprising younger generations of Australian women display a diminished interest in politics, more so than older generations.</p>
<p><iframe id="4MuvN" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/4MuvN/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>I found they’re less represented than men in traditional participatory practices, such as discussing politics or attending political meetings. They’re also less likely to contribute money to a party or campaign. Girls in various Western democracies reported <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249019872_Good_Girls_Go_to_the_Polling_Booth_Bad_Boys_Go_Everywhere_Gender_Differences_in_Anticipated_Political_Participation_Among_American_Fourteen-Year-Olds">similar</a> disinterest. </p>
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<p>Young Australian women are also less satisfied with democracy than men. They report lower trust in government than their male counterparts and are more likely to believe government is run for few big interests rather than for all. </p>
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<h2>Discouragement is everywhere</h2>
<p>Politics continues to be off-putting because sexism is normalised in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-australian-media-womens-voices-are-still-not-heard-172060">media</a>. </p>
<p>Numerous studies show young Australian women <a href="https://www.plan.org.au/publications/she-can-lead/">think</a> female leaders receive unfair treatment from the media. The gendered media coverage is often characterised by negative portrayals of “<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0146167210371949">power-seeking</a>” ambitions, scrutiny of fashion choices, judgement based on reproductive decisions, and a <a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-a-big-problem-with-the-murdoch-media-no-one-is-talking-about-how-it-treats-women-leaders-149986">failure to recognise</a> the mistreatment of female leaders (gender blindness). It all serves as a stark reminder of entrenched sexism in our national mindset.</p>
<p>Moreover, there’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-missing-women-of-australian-politics-research-shows-the-toll-of-harassment-abuse-and-stalking-168567">scepticism</a> in the personal circles of women aspiring to political roles. Friends and family can express concerns about their loved one’s safety working in parliament or for a political party. This undermines the progress of women in political leadership. </p>
<p>Women also hesitate to <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-missing-women-of-australian-politics-research-shows-the-toll-of-harassment-abuse-and-stalking-168567">encourage</a> others to pursue political careers due to the potential for facing abuse.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/online-abuse-could-drive-women-out-of-political-life-the-time-to-act-is-now-214301">Online abuse could drive women out of political life – the time to act is now</a>
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<p>If the political landscape discourages the pool of potential female leaders, it’s understandable gender quotas have had <a href="https://hir.harvard.edu/equal-representation-the-debate-over-gender-quotas-part-1/">mixed success</a>. Labor’s quotas have not been a panacea for attracting young women to politics. </p>
<p>The reality is women <a href="https://theconversation.com/women-politicians-pay-too-high-a-personal-cost-for-their-leadership-201028">pay too high</a> a personal price in leadership positions. Competing work and family roles create high levels of stress and burn-out. This particularly <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-the-secret-to-attracting-more-women-into-politics-give-them-more-resources-222159">deters</a> young women from running for local government, for example – more so than older women and men of all ages. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580075/original/file-20240306-20-s0fb71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman uses her smartphone on public transport." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580075/original/file-20240306-20-s0fb71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580075/original/file-20240306-20-s0fb71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580075/original/file-20240306-20-s0fb71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580075/original/file-20240306-20-s0fb71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580075/original/file-20240306-20-s0fb71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580075/original/file-20240306-20-s0fb71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580075/original/file-20240306-20-s0fb71.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Young women are increasingly engaging in political discussion online.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-woman-using-smartphone-subway-1060222451">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<h2>Bottom-up quest for parity</h2>
<p>Despite these challenges, the 2022 federal election emerged as a pivotal moment in Australian politics, highlighting a <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-explained-the-seismic-2022-federal-election-the-australian-election-study-has-answers-195286">significant shift</a> in the engagement of women and young people. These two social bases turned away from major parties, signalling a growing disenchantment with the established political order. </p>
<p>Young women are actively challenging traditional power structures, leveraging their access to higher education and social media to redefine the political narrative. They are not hesitant to explore political alternatives to the two major parties. </p>
<p>Young women have also been challenging the established political order through getting involved in politics online. They are participating in political discussions, sharing and blogging political information, accessing election information and creating and joining political groups on social media platforms.</p>
<p><iframe id="Dais0" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Dais0/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/jacinda-arderns-resignation-shows-that-women-still-face-an-uphill-battle-in-politics-an-expert-on-female-leaders-answers-5-key-questions-198197">Jacinda Ardern's resignation shows that women still face an uphill battle in politics – an expert on female leaders answers 5 key questions</a>
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<p>This has ushered in younger generations of Australian women who are unwilling to accept abuse and harassment as the inevitable costs of political engagement. With increasing education levels and a <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-young-people-are-moving-to-the-left-though-young-women-are-more-progressive-than-men-reflecting-a-global-trend-222288">more progressive</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/feb/28/australian-voters-are-increasingly-driven-by-issues-rather-than-party-loyalty-and-thats-bad-news-for-the-old-political-order">issue-based mindset</a>, young women are raising their demands and expectations.</p>
<p>This is heartening. We’re starting to see a generation of women who refuse to accept the limitations imposed on them. This development signals a promising shift towards a more inclusive and representative political landscape.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224370/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Intifar Chowdhury does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Data show young Australian women are less politically engaged than men. Given the negative experiences of female politicians, that’s hardly surprising. But there’s a glimmer of hope.Intifar Chowdhury, Lecturer in Government, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2246702024-03-06T17:14:59Z2024-03-06T17:14:59ZWhy do young people have such poor mental health? A psychologist explains<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579608/original/file-20240304-22-i8lpd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=67%2C6%2C4339%2C2978&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/sad-man-82004164">spixel/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A <a href="https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/weve-only-just-begun/">recent report</a> from think tank the Resolution Foundation has found that 34% of young people aged 18-24 in the UK have symptoms of a common mental disorder – the highest rate of any age group. </p>
<p>Mental health problems among young people are on the rise. An especially stark finding of the report is that 20 years ago, this age group was the least likely to have a common mental disorder.</p>
<p>The big question is why. As a psychologist researching young people’s wellbeing, I believe that young people today face unprecedented pressures to excel academically, professionally and socially. This pressure can manifest in various forms, including academic stress, performance anxiety and fear of failure. </p>
<p>Current societal difficulties, such as the cost of living crisis, will have further exacerbated these issues – as will the lasting impact of isolation and loss of <a href="https://theconversation.com/coming-of-age-in-2020-the-summer-without-exams-or-school-proms-138750">valuable life experiences</a> during the pandemic. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.orygen.org.au/About/News-And-Events/2024/Generations-agree-youth-mental-health-is-declining/Youth-mental-health-in-crisis-Public-and-generatio.aspx">new survey</a> from King’s College London and non-profit research group the Orygen Institute shows that a majority of the UK public thinks that young people today have a worse time finding a job and more difficulty affording things than previous generations.</p>
<h2>Markers of success</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.oecd-forum.org/posts/19894-poles-apart-how-technology-globalisation-have-affected-the-global-workforce">Globalisation</a> and <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/05/future-of-jobs-technology-skills-workplace/">technological advancements</a> have transformed the job market, splitting jobs more starkly into high- or low-skilled occupations. This has led to greater emphasis on specialised skills and higher education. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-25-years-of-education-policy-led-us-to-believe-we-can-only-succeed-in-life-with-a-degree-210017">How 25 years of education policy led us to believe we can only succeed in life with a degree</a>
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<p>Educational or career success – or failure – is now more visible than ever. The rise of social media has intensified the need to present a perfect image of success.</p>
<p>Logging into a social media account invariably brings an announcement about someone being promoted, starting a new job, or taking up an exciting opportunity. This can potentially trigger negative feelings, particularly if a young person has been struggling to get a job or even an interview. </p>
<p>The King’s College London and Orygen Institute survey found that social media is seen as a <a href="https://www.orygen.org.au/About/News-And-Events/2024/Generations-agree-youth-mental-health-is-declining/Youth-mental-health-in-crisis-Public-and-generatio.aspx">key driver</a> in worsening mental health among the young. </p>
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<img alt="Sad woman looks at phone" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579614/original/file-20240304-22-6kgvy4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579614/original/file-20240304-22-6kgvy4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579614/original/file-20240304-22-6kgvy4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579614/original/file-20240304-22-6kgvy4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579614/original/file-20240304-22-6kgvy4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579614/original/file-20240304-22-6kgvy4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579614/original/file-20240304-22-6kgvy4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A survey shows the UK public believes social media to be a significant factor in poor youth mental health.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/disappointed-black-woman-checking-cell-phone-2415613023">Antonio Guillem/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>The curated nature of social media feeds can create <a href="https://fherehab.com/learning/beauty-standards-mental-health">unrealistic standards</a> of beauty, success and happiness, leading to feelings of insecurity and low self-esteem. <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1047840X.2020.1820214">Increased time online</a> and the pressure to maintain an online identity may also worsen feelings of inadequacy and isolation. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fhumd.2021.684137/full">pandemic</a> exacerbated these issues by intensifying feelings of social isolation and uncertainty. Organisational closures and physical distancing requirements reduced social contact and support. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8653204/">Research studies</a> report mental health deterioration among children and teenagers as a result of COVID control measures, especially among those with preexisting vulnerabilities, such as socioeconomic disadvantage, neurodiversity or disability. </p>
<p>A high proportion of young people in the UK believe that many areas are <a href="https://www.orygen.org.au/About/News-And-Events/2024/Generations-agree-youth-mental-health-is-declining/Youth-mental-health-in-crisis-Public-and-generatio.aspx">worse for them</a> compared to when their parents were their age; 78% think they are less able to afford things and 76% think mental health has worsened. This has the potential to lead to a sense of hopelessness.</p>
<p>If young people view their future as <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41811-023-00165-1">gloomy</a> and feel they can do nothing to change their prospects, they are less likely to engage in tasks and activities that can improve their situation. </p>
<h2>Mental health awareness</h2>
<p>The King’s College and Orygen Institute survey found that 47% of people think mental health problems were <a href="https://www.kcl.ac.uk/policy-institute/assets/youth-mental-health-in-crisis.pdf">just as common</a> among young people in the past; they just weren’t identified as such. </p>
<p>Over the past two decades, there has been a growing awareness and acceptance of mental health issues, leading to greater visibility and discourse. This has helped reduce stigma and improve access to resources. But it has also created new challenges for young people navigating their mental health.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.mind.org.uk/about-us/our-strategy/doing-more-for-young-people/facts-and-figures-about-young-people-and-mental-health/">Increased awareness</a> has empowered young people to seek help and speak out about their struggles. </p>
<p>On the other hand, the way mental health is discussed has created a sense of pressure to find ways to be mentally healthy and resilient, with a person <a href="https://www.bps.org.uk/psychologist/mental-health-awareness-time-re-focus">individually responsible</a> for their own mental wellbeing. This pressure may be particularly challenging for young people who are struggling with difficult circumstances and associated mental health issues, leading to feelings of shame and self-blame.</p>
<p>All these factors are intertwined and difficult to isolate, meaning there is no simple solution. But my advice to everyone, not just young people, is, try to play an active part in each area of your life when you can, push yourself outside of your comfort zone, and make sure you celebrate the small wins.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224670/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fiorentina Sterkaj does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>I believe that young people today face unprecedented pressures to excel academically, professionally and socially.Fiorentina Sterkaj, Director of the Department of Psychological Sciences, School of Psychology, University of East LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2229462024-03-05T16:03:57Z2024-03-05T16:03:57ZTo stop teenagers vaping they need to see it as cringe, not cool<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579543/original/file-20240304-20-xtxrty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C8%2C5449%2C3788&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-uk-sept-8-2019-man-1498869299">Amani A/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The proportion of young people who vape has grown significantly over the last year. According to charity <a href="https://ash.org.uk/resources/view/use-of-e-cigarettes-among-young-people-in-great-britain">Action on Smoking and Health</a>, the proportion of young people aged 11 to 17 in Great Britain who have experimented with vaping has risen from 15.8% in 2022 to 20.5% in 2023. </p>
<p>Vapes often come in gratifying and seemingly innocuous flavours, such as bubblegum, candy floss and sherbet, and in colourful and enticing packaging that is likely to <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/cb.362?saml_referrer">appeal to younger consumers</a>. </p>
<p>What’s more, young people may see vaping as a safe alternative to smoking. A 2015 review from Public Health England stated that e-cigarettes were <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/e-cigarettes-around-95-less-harmful-than-tobacco-estimates-landmark-review">“95% safer” than cigarettes</a>. This messaging was meant for adults addicted to cigarettes – but it has led to the perception that vaping is not harmful. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, vapes can contain <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/e-cigarettes/Quick-Facts-on-the-Risks-of-E-cigarettes-for-Kids-Teens-and-Young-Adults.html#:%7E:text=The%20e%2Dcigarette%20aerosol%20that,to%20a%20serious%20lung%20disease">potentially harmful and addictive substances</a>, such as nicotine and flavourings linked to lung disease.</p>
<p>In response, the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/disposable-vapes-banned-to-protect-childrens-health">government has announced</a> several measures which aim to stop vaping appealing to younger consumers. This includes a ban on the sale of disposable vapes, restrictions on appealing vape flavours, introducing plainer packaging and tighter restrictions on how retailers display vapes.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/disposable-vape-ban-local-communities-voiced-their-concerns-and-the-government-has-listened-221906">Disposable vape ban: local communities voiced their concerns – and the government has listened</a>
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<p>This a start, but more needs to be done. A public health awareness campaign that speaks directly to <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1179173X20945695">young people</a> who are currently vaping or more <a href="https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-020-8270-3#:%7E:text=Vaping%20was%20more%20common%20overall,relatively%20low%20rates%20of%20vaping%20%2D">susceptible to vaping</a> and seeks to make it seem cringe, not cool, could help to break the connection between vaping and social approval. </p>
<h2>Why teens vape</h2>
<p>The popularity of vaping may be linked to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8296881/">peer pressure</a> – young people might start vaping to fit in or to impress their peers by experimenting with new things. Young people are at a critical age where they are learning to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nrn3313">assert their independence</a>, and place more value on the approval and support of their peers than their parents.</p>
<p>Teenagers’ brains are more sensitive to the feelings and excitement derived from taking risks than adults’ brains are. </p>
<p>When young people think their peers are observing them, they are more likely to take risks – the reward response is <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3075496/">amplified</a>. This has been linked with teenagers being more predisposed to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0273229721000368?casa_token=HiKmVsY9010AAAAA:z0t6E8qMRVSD9lWpwd-dvRiQbuqcX6C-iH0l_g7eKzLA3VMAbTrW3jFh0HEzfJsoxykHDJlfDJk">risky health behaviour</a>, like vaping. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Person in hoodie seen from behind blowing smoke rings" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579551/original/file-20240304-26-cyqhrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579551/original/file-20240304-26-cyqhrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579551/original/file-20240304-26-cyqhrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579551/original/file-20240304-26-cyqhrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579551/original/file-20240304-26-cyqhrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579551/original/file-20240304-26-cyqhrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579551/original/file-20240304-26-cyqhrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Teenagers are more predisposed to take risks with their health.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-male-red-hoodie-vaping-smoking-1509908339">Chicken Strip/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>There are huge numbers of posts on social media platforms that position vaping as exciting and fun to teenagers. Popular and trending hashtags include #vapetrick, #vapefam and #vapelife. These serve to create connections and draw teenagers into a community, feeding into their need for social approval among their peers. </p>
<p>To make vaping cringe among young people they need to see it as embarrassing, disgusting and culturally unacceptable – as young people are concerned with how others judge them. Role models who focus on the negative <a href="https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1781&context=oa_dissertations">social consequences</a> of vaping are likely be more effective in motivating young people to see vaping as cringe.</p>
<h2>Break the connection with cool</h2>
<p>One way to break the connection with social approval, in a way that would chime with young people, would be to to involve <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1553118X.2022.2042694">social media influencers</a>. Influencers carry significant credibility with teenagers, acting as <a href="https://wsj.westscience-press.com/index.php/wsshs/article/view/548">trendsetters</a> and affecting <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1553118X.2022.2042694">social norms</a>.</p>
<p>How vaping is depicted in <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10901981221086944">films and across media platforms</a>, such as online video channels, also requires careful monitoring. Limiting depictions of vaping and where it is present, presenting it as undesirable behaviour rather than as cool, may go some way to limit young people wanting to vape. </p>
<p>Stronger regulation of vaping content on social media platforms popular with younger people is essential, such as monitoring the use of popular hashtags. Some platforms have started to do this. TikTok displays a warning message stating “Be informed and aware” with a link to more information on <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/safety/en-gb/substance-support/">substance support</a> when anyone searches for vaping content. </p>
<p><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/20563051211008828">Education</a> programmes typically focus on teaching young people how to critically evaluate information they encounter online, not how social media algorithms affect the content pushed towards them. School education programmes should openly discuss the potential harmful impact algorithms can have on their consumption experiences.</p>
<p>Another measure to implement would be to raise the price of vapes. This has had a significant impact on <a href="https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-019-7147-9">reducing the rate</a> of young people smoking: they are likely to be more sensitive to changes in price than adults. A <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/feb/27/budget-2024-jeremy-hunt-vaping-tax-ni-cut-vapes-tax-cuts">planned tax increase</a> from the government on vaping in the 2024 budget could have a positive effect here. </p>
<p>But care also needs to be taken in limiting teenagers’ access to vaping products. When supply of the energy drink <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prime-ksi-logan-paul-drink-sparked-black-market-uk-2023-2?r=US&IR=T">Prime</a> – a product also popular among younger consumers – was limited, this led to a black market emerging. Young people went to great lengths to acquire the product as a status symbol to gain social approval. Making vapes difficult to acquire could lead to young people vaping to gain kudos among their peers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222946/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emily Moorlock does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Influencers could play an important role in encouraging teenagers not to vape.Emily Moorlock, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, Sheffield Hallam UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2222922024-03-01T17:24:49Z2024-03-01T17:24:49ZYoung people are losing sleep over energy drinks – but a ban won’t be enough to protect them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578725/original/file-20240228-24-66bbn5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=31%2C31%2C5187%2C3489&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/teenage-boy-drinking-caffeine-energy-drink-1571400820">Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jul/27/prime-energy-drinks-teenagers-alarm-marketing">no calming the buzz</a> around energy drinks. And it’s not just because of their notoriously <a href="https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/how-long-do-energy-drinks-last">high caffeine content</a>. </p>
<p>In the first few weeks of 2024, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/feb/10/labour-considers-banning-sale-of-energy-drinks-to-children">UK Labour party proposed</a> including a ban on energy drinks for under-16s in their election manifesto due to concerns about their health impact. Soldiers belonging to the <a href="https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/blues-and-royals-royal-horse-guards-and-1st-dragoons">Blues & Royals</a> – part of the king’s ceremonial bodyguards, the Household Cavalry – have also been <a href="https://www.forces.net/services/army/british-army-regiment-cans-red-bull-relentless-and-monster-energy-drinks-ban#:%7E:text=Soldiers%20belonging%20to%20the%20Blues,they%20break%20the%20new%20rules.">ordered to stop consuming energy drinks</a>. </p>
<p>Since then, one of <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/dwayne-johnson/">Hollywood’s highest paid</a> actors, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/zoa-energy-and-dwayne-the-rock-johnson-launch-new-campaign-packed-with-bde-big-dwayne-energy-302063746.html">launched a new campaign</a> for his “healthy” energy drink brand, Zoa. No doubt Johnson is hoping to capitalise on the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-64145389">thirst for energy drinks that helped Prime</a>, a brand promoted by popular but controversial <a href="https://theconversation.com/prime-a-youtuber-expert-explains-how-logan-paul-and-ksis-drink-became-so-popular-201792">YouTube personalities KSI and Logan Paul</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/food/2023/feb/18/how-the-world-got-hopped-up-on-energy-drinks-prime-logan-paul-ksi">achieve cult status</a> among school-aged children, <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/logan-paul-ksi-energy-drink-prime-secret-to-success-2023-pmslz25dw">especially boys</a>. </p>
<p>But young people’s consumption of energy drinks isn’t likely to be completely driven by influencer trends. If we want to help young people suffering the health consequences of consuming energy drinks too often, regulation is no doubt part of the picture. But we also need to examine the root causes of young people’s attraction to energy drinks.</p>
<p>Recent evidence suggests that in the UK up to <a href="https://www.bmj.com/company/newsroom/up-to-half-of-kids-worldwide-and-up-to-third-of-uk-kids-consume-energy-drinks-weekly/">a third of children and young adults</a> consume energy drinks regularly. <a href="https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/6/10/e010380">A 2016 systemic review</a> of energy drink consumption by children and young people found boys are more likely to consume higher amounts than girls. </p>
<p>Energy drinks can contain as much as <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10535526/">505mg of caffeine per serving</a> (equivalent to over <a href="https://www.ukactive.com/blog/energy-drinks-and-young-people/">fourteen cans of cola</a>), with <a href="https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/prime-energy-caffeine-children-aYYmC0M1DTCe">most containing around 160mg per can</a>. For comparison, <a href="https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/how-long-do-energy-drinks-last">a typical 250ml cup of coffee</a> contains about 90-140mg.</p>
<p>Owing to this high caffeine content, the consumption of energy drinks has been <a href="https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/14/2/e072951">linked to poor sleep quality</a>. Research has found that the drinks may also contribute to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0033350623003189?via%3Dihub">mental health</a> issues among young people, including anxiety, stress, irritability, and depression. All of which are almost certainly linked to disrupted sleep patterns.</p>
<p>So why are young people so keen on energy drinks? Academic research shows that reasons for consumption include <a href="https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/6/10/e010380">enjoying the taste</a>, as a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6166148/">measure to deal with fatigue</a> and boost mood – and to improve mental and <a href="https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/6/10/e010380">sporting performance</a>.</p>
<p>Another common use for energy drink is as a mixer. Energy drinks are often <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/caffeine-and-alcohol.htm">combined with alcohol and consumed at parties</a> to give an extra buzz. The energy drink <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/caffeine-and-alcohol.htm">counteracts the depressive effect</a> of the alcohol so the drinker feels more alert than they might otherwise. </p>
<p>But this trend also has its dangers. People can end up drinking more alcohol than they realise because its effects are suppressed by the energy drinks. </p>
<p>Branding, marketing and peer influence encourage their use among young people, many of whom <a href="https://research.uhs.nhs.uk/news/energy-drink-intake-rising-among-teens-in-deprived-areas-amid-widening-inequality">are unaware of possible harms</a> of energy drink usage. <a href="https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/2/e047746">A UK study conducted in 2022</a> found that only about half of children knew that energy drinks contained caffeine. </p>
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<h2>Young people lacking in sleep</h2>
<p>Though some academic <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9502542/">studies have</a> reported a link between young people’s use of energy drinks and a <a href="https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-022-12972-w">lack of sleep</a>, the exact relationship between the two isn’t clear.</p>
<p>Numerous factors such as <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/09/screen-time-affecting-sleep-mental-health/">night-time screen use and social media scrolling</a>, academic pressures, and mismatches between school start times and natural sleep-wake rhythms conspire to see many of the world’s <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7019014/">young people falling short</a> of recommended sleep targets. </p>
<p>Whetever the cause of young people’s lack of sleep, energy drinks offer a fast and convenient way to counteract the effects of poor sleep on mood and <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19482732/#:%7E:text=Conclusions%3A%20Many%20adolescents%20used%20multiple,impaired%20by%20excessive%20daytime%20sleepiness.">day-to-day functioning</a>. It’s possible, then, that young people can become trapped in vicious cycles of energy drink use, poor sleep, and deteriorating mental health. </p>
<p>Energy drink use has also been linked to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (<a href="https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/jcr.2015.0018">ADHD</a>). However, while some acute effects of energy drinks, such as increased activity, resemble ADHD symptoms, it is currently unclear whether there is any long term increased risk of developing ADHD as a result of energy drink consumption. </p>
<p>Young people with ADHD symptoms might also be more likely to use energy drinks as a form of “self-medication” or because they enjoy the feeling or lower impulse control. As young people with ADHD are already more likely to experience sleep difficulties, they might also be an especially vulnerable group for whom energy drink use could exacerbate pre-existing sleep issues. </p>
<h2>Bans and regulation are only part of the answer</h2>
<p>In light of the accumulating evidence for the harms of energy drinks, several countries have started to regulate or outright ban their sale minors. In <a href="https://www.ncl.ac.uk/press/articles/latest/2024/01/energydrinksandchildrensmentalhealth/">Lithuania and Turkey</a>, for example, sales of energy drinks to under 18s is not allowed. </p>
<p>In the UK, a <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/jamie-oliver-energy-drink-ban-chef-urges-government-a8142516.html">2018 social media campaign</a> spearheaded by <a href="https://www.jamieoliver.com/features/energy-drinks-are-not-for-children/">celebrity chef Jamie Oliver</a> led to many supermarkets implementing a voluntary ban on sales to under-16s. The following year, the UK government said they would <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-67962147">ban energy drinks for under-16s</a> in England. But the ban has not been implemented.</p>
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<p>Bans and regulation can help to change behaviour, but they are usually not enough on their own. Equipping young people with the knowledge and skills to manage their sleep and energy cycles will play a crucial role in tackling the global shortage of sleep among young people. </p>
<p>Most crucial of all, we need to listen to young people and understand their motivations for using energy drinks so that we can design effective strategies to support them to reduce their consumption.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222292/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Energy drinks are a growing worldwide trend for young people and, for the sake of their health, we must understand whyAja Murray, Reader in Psychology, The University of EdinburghIngrid Obsuth, Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology, The University of EdinburghLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2221942024-02-29T17:37:25Z2024-02-29T17:37:25ZBeing excluded or truant from school leads to mental health problems – and vice versa<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577410/original/file-20240222-19-dlxx0m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C3%2C2488%2C1837&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/toned-photo-sad-teenager-sit-on-760921072">Sabphoto/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the aftermath of the pandemic there has been a <a href="https://theconversation.com/school-absence-rates-have-rocketed-the-whole-educational-experience-needs-to-change-222187">substantial increase</a> in the number of students who are absent from school in the UK, and children are reporting <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/aug/15/number-children-mental-health-crisis-record-high-england">higher levels</a> of mental ill health than ever before. </p>
<p>Research has previously shown that <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13632752.2014.945741">exclusion</a> (a child being removed from school) and <a href="https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/camh.12322">truancy</a> are linked with poor mental health. </p>
<p>Now, I have <a href="https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/camh.12681">carried out research</a> with colleagues to examine whether mental health leads to exclusion and truancy, or whether exclusion and truancy are in fact contributing to poor mental health in children and adolescents. </p>
<p>We found that the connection goes both ways. Children who struggled with their mental health were more likely to later be excluded from school and to truant. And we also found evidence that exclusion and truancy could increase their mental health difficulties.</p>
<h2>A vicious cycle</h2>
<p>Missing out on school <a href="https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2023/09/28/what-are-ghost-children-and-why-is-school-attendance-important/">is detrimental</a> not only to children’s educational achievement but also to their wellbeing and overall development. These children miss out on important formative interactions with their peers and teachers. </p>
<p>Being excluded from school can have a long-term – even life-long – impact. Research suggests that children who have been excluded are <a href="https://www.ippr.org/articles/making-the-difference">more likely</a> to be unemployed and to go to prison, as well as to have mental health difficulties. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/camh.12681">our study</a> we used nationally representative data from more than 15,000 children born in the UK <a href="https://cls.ucl.ac.uk/cls-studies/millennium-cohort-study/">between 2000 and 2002</a>. The survey collected extensive information on participants during their childhood and teenage years, including information on behavioural problems, such as aggressive behaviour, and emotional problems involving symptoms of anxiety and depression. It also included information on children’s experience of school exclusion and truancy.</p>
<p>Our analyses revealed that mental health difficulties in primary school left children more vulnerable to exclusion and truancy later when entering secondary school. More specifically, increases in emotional problems heightened a child’s chances of being excluded in their early adolescent years, and their chances of being truant from school.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Young school children in uniform walking away from camera" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577416/original/file-20240222-28-5dkfbe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577416/original/file-20240222-28-5dkfbe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577416/original/file-20240222-28-5dkfbe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577416/original/file-20240222-28-5dkfbe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577416/original/file-20240222-28-5dkfbe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577416/original/file-20240222-28-5dkfbe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577416/original/file-20240222-28-5dkfbe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mental ill-health in primary school is linked to exclusion later on.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/group-diverse-kindergarten-students-walking-together-659275150">Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Primary school children with worsening behavioural problems were also more at risk of being excluded when they reached secondary school. But, we found no evidence that behavioural problems increased children’s probability of truancy.</p>
<p>In our study, we also discovered that truancy and exclusion may in turn be exacerbating mental health problems. We showed that some of these detrimental effects differed according to the child’s gender. And while some affected mental health only in the short-term, others had a longer lasting impact.</p>
<p>For example, boys – but not girls – who had been excluded in secondary school went on to have higher levels of depression and anxiety, with effects lasting even into late adolescence after they had left school. Both boys and girls who had been excluded also went on to have worse behavioural problems in early adolescence but not later in adolescence. Truants went on to have greater long-term emotional problems, and short-term their conduct problems were also higher.</p>
<h2>Changing the pattern</h2>
<p>Our study very clearly demonstrates a cycle of disadvantage, where children who were struggling with their mental health went on to be truant or be excluded, but at the same time truancy and being excluded further exacerbated their problems, sometimes into late adolescence.</p>
<p>This new knowledge emphasises the need for prevention and intervention for child mental health problems. This could reduce the number of vulnerable children missing out on educational opportunities and also reduce further damage to their mental health. </p>
<p>School-based social and emotional learning programmes may have an <a href="https://srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cdev.12864">important role to play</a> as these have shown success in reducing both behavioural and emotional problems. <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/41590/documents/205047/default/">Sports-based programmes</a> may be another promising avenue for keeping children connected to school. More awareness of child mental health is also vital, even as young as primary school age. Many children may <a href="https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mental-health-of-children-and-young-people-in-england/2017/2017">slip through the net</a>: they need better and early access to mental health services.</p>
<p>It is interesting that school exclusion was found to increase emotional symptoms in boys, but not in girls, in both early and late adolescence. These symptoms generally increase much more in girls during this <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0021-843X.112.2.179">developmental period</a>. Additional focus might be needed on finding alternatives to excluding boys from school.</p>
<p>It is particularly poignant that despite behavioural problems not leading to truancy, these types of problems increased following truancy. Children’s bond with their school seems key to reversing this trend. </p>
<p>Programmes that focus on transforming the school environment by developing student commitment to learning and creating a sense of belonging in the school, as these can <a href="https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/5/e031589">reduce truancy</a>, could make a significant difference here. And later mental health problems may also be avoided.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222194/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aase Villadsen receives funding from UK Economic and Social Research Council</span></em></p>Being excluded from school can have a life-long impact.Aase Villadsen, Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Education, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2233712024-02-29T13:17:22Z2024-02-29T13:17:22ZThe UK’s two-child limit on benefits is hurting the poorest families – poverty experts on why it should be abolished<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577376/original/file-20240222-18-unkhdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C998%2C666&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/please-give-me-some-chocolate-group-1299500284">Liderina/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Under the UK’s two-child limit, families on benefit receive a payment for each of their first two children, but no more for any additional children. </p>
<p>The limit results in families losing around <a href="https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/catastophic-caps/">£3,200 a year</a> for any third or subsequent child born after April 2017. For low-income households, that’s a huge amount. The policy affects over 400,000 families, according to estimates by think tank the <a href="https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/catastophic-caps/">Resolution Foundation</a>. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ijsw.12642">new research</a> shows that larger families have become poorer since the introduction of the two-child limit – and the poorest families are losing out the most. The policy breaks the link between need and social benefits: rather than helping those in greatest need, the it punishes them. </p>
<p>The two-child limit came into force in April 2017. A family claiming working-age means-tested benefits, such as the child tax benefit, housing benefit, or universal credit, who had a third or subsequent child born <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claiming-benefits-for-2-or-more-children">after April 6 2017</a> does not receive a child related payment for them. Larger families with children born before this date continue to receive the standard child addition. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2023/research/two-child-limit-and-benefit-cap-fail-to-meet-aims/">Research has found</a> that the two-child limit, along with the benefit cap (an upper limit on the amount of out-of-work benefits a family can receive) has put larger families under enormous pressure and harmed parents’ mental health. </p>
<p>Another brutal detail is known as the “rape clause”. The two-child limit allows for an exception in the event of non-consensual conception, but it requires victims to provide <a href="https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-9301/CBP-9301.pdf">third party evidence</a> – such as a criminal injuries compensation scheme award – and prove they are not living with the perpetrator. </p>
<h2>Losing out</h2>
<p>Our new <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ijsw.12642">research</a> used data from the Households Below Average Income dataset, a nationally representative source of information on household incomes. We compared data from 2015-16, before the two-child limit came into force, with 2019-20 (the pandemic disrupted later data collection). We also compared small families – those with one or two children – with larger families of three or more children. </p>
<p>We measured poverty using household disposable incomes after taxes and benefits, but before housing costs. Children in households with incomes below 60% of the national median were counted as poor. </p>
<p>When the two-child limit was announced in 2015, 27% of children in larger families lived in low-income households, based on this measure, compared with 17% of children in smaller families. By 2019-20, after the introduction of the two-child limit, the larger family poverty rate had gone up to 37%. It remained at 17% for smaller families. This was because larger families’ incomes fell rather than because poorer families had more children. </p>
<p>This cannot be solely attributed to the two-child limit. Poverty in larger families <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ijsw.12642">had been increasing</a> before it was introduced. But it means that the limit penalised families that were already vulnerable. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Worried couple, woman is pregnant" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577384/original/file-20240222-22-3jerkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577384/original/file-20240222-22-3jerkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577384/original/file-20240222-22-3jerkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577384/original/file-20240222-22-3jerkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577384/original/file-20240222-22-3jerkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577384/original/file-20240222-22-3jerkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577384/original/file-20240222-22-3jerkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The poorest families are losing out.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/married-man-woman-stressed-worried-postpartum-1940705395">christinarosepix/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We also looked at income differences between larger families with or without a child under three. The two-child limit came into force in 2017, meaning that in 2019-20 larger families with children aged under three would be affected by the policy. We found that larger families with a child under three had lower incomes on average in real terms in 2019-20 than in 2015-16. </p>
<p>And we found that poverty has worsened the most in the poorest larger families. Between 2015-16 and 2019-20, the large families who were poorer than 90% of families nationally saw their income fall by 18% in real terms. The larger families on middling incomes saw their income fall by 9%.</p>
<p>The income of the poorest small families – families not affected by the two child limit – also fell in real terms, but by much less: 2%. </p>
<h2>Unusual limits</h2>
<p>From an international perspective, the UK two-child limit policy is unusual. None of the other <a href="https://www.oecd.org/about/">developed countries</a> that are members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ijsw.12642">limit the number</a> of children eligible for means-tested family benefits to two children, and in many countries benefits increase with family size. </p>
<p><a href="https://sticerd.lse.ac.uk/dps/case/cp/casepaper228.pdf">Research</a> from the London School of Economics shows that only three European Union countries restrict their benefits by family size (Cyprus, Romania and Spain) but they do so at three or four children. </p>
<p>The rationale for the two-child limit was to reduce government deficit, but it <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/globalassets/documents/impact-assessments/IA15-006E.pdf">also sought</a> to encourage parents “to reflect carefully on their readiness to support an additional child”. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://endchildpoverty.org.uk/two_child_limit/">End Child Poverty Coalition</a> argues that scrapping the limit would be the most cost effective way of reducing child poverty, stating that for the estimated cost of £1.3 billion, a quarter of a million children would be lifted from poverty. If the Labour party is serious about <a href="https://labour.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Mission-breaking-down-barriers.pdf">breakding down the barriers to opportunity</a>, abolishing the two-child limit should be the first thing they do, should they come to power.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223371/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonathan Bradshaw receives funding from no one currently. He is a member of the Research Committee of the Child Poverty Action Group and an Emeritus Professor at the University of York.. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Yekaterina Chzhen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Rather than helping the families in greatest need, the policy punishes them.Yekaterina Chzhen, Assistant Professor in Sociology, Trinity College DublinJonathan Bradshaw, Professor of Social Policy, University of YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2238952024-02-28T13:12:00Z2024-02-28T13:12:00ZSleep and circadian rhythm problems linked with poor mental health – new research<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577905/original/file-20240226-17-7n74le.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=48%2C8%2C5435%2C3604&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The more severe sleep and circadian disruptions are, the worse a person's mood may be.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/woman-cant-sleep-night-because-her-172728239">Ground Picture/ Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every cell in the body has a circadian rhythm. This rhythm follows a near 24-hour cycle that is synchronised to day and night. These <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519507/#:%7E:text=The%20regulation%20of%20sleep%20is,light%20changes%20in%20our%20environment">circadian rhythms</a> are critical for health and wellbeing.</p>
<p>But our circadian rhythm can <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5142605/">become disrupted</a> when our lifestyle does not correspond with this natural day-and-night cycle – for example, if we work night shifts or experience jet lag. Factors such as ageing, genetics and certain medical conditions (such as <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37565922/">autoimmune diseases</a> and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6338075/">Alzheimer’s disease</a>) are also linked with long-term circadian rhythm disruptions.</p>
<p>Sleep and circadian rhythm disturbances can also predict the onset and relapse of certain <a href="https://cms.wellcome.org/sites/default/files/2022-07/MH-Sleep-Report-Wellcome-07.2022.pdf">mental health disorders</a> – including depression, anxiety, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7505194/">bipolar disorder and schizophrenia</a>. The more severe the sleep and circadian disruptions are, the worse a person’s mood, risk of relapse and mental health treatment outcomes are.</p>
<p>But despite evidence showing this link, why it exists remains largely unknown. This is what research conducted by myself and my colleagues sought to understand.</p>
<p>We found that sleep and circadian rhythm disruptions appear to <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2214756121">trigger or worsen a range of mental disorders</a> – including bipolar disorder and depression. We also uncovered some of the specific biological mechanisms which may underpin this link.</p>
<p>Our review assessed all research published in the past ten years on different mental disorders – including depression, anxiety and psychosis. We mainly focused on adolescents and young adults. </p>
<p>We found that the majority of young people diagnosed with a mental health condition also had sleep problems – such as insomnia (trouble falling asleep and staying asleep), delayed sleep timing and worsened daytime alertness. We also found that one-third of people with bipolar disorder (and other mental disorders) had a disrupted circadian rhythm, where they go to sleep and wake up later than usual.</p>
<p>Our study also pinpointed some of the mechanisms that may explain the link between sleep problems and mental health disorders. Among these mechanisms are an increased vulnerability at the genetic or molecular level to circadian rhythm disruption. </p>
<p>We also found that some participants experienced changes in their brain activity caused by chemical signalling problems that can affect sleep and mood levels. Inappropriate light exposure (such as getting too little natural daylight or too much artificial light at night) and eating too late in the evening or at night may also trigger sleep and circadian rhythm problems. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A young man uses his laptop at night while sitting on his bed." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577906/original/file-20240226-20-bm4d01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577906/original/file-20240226-20-bm4d01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577906/original/file-20240226-20-bm4d01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577906/original/file-20240226-20-bm4d01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577906/original/file-20240226-20-bm4d01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577906/original/file-20240226-20-bm4d01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577906/original/file-20240226-20-bm4d01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Getting too much artificial light at night may be one of the mechanisms behind circadian rhythm disruption.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-teen-front-laptop-computer-on-226752055">junpinzon/ Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Importantly, we showed that most studies to date have only looked at the effect of sleep on mood or the effects of circadian disruption on mood separately. Both were rarely studied in conjunction, as assessing sleep is far more common (and easier) than assessing circadian rhythms. This is one of the current key research limitations that needs to be addressed in future studies. </p>
<h2>Circadian misalignment</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/adolescent-mental-health">One in seven</a> ten to 19-year-olds experience a mental disorder worldwide. <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/adolescent-mental-health">Depression and anxiety</a> are among the leading causes of illness and disability among adolescents, with suicide being the fourth leading cause of death among 15 to 29-year-olds. Moreover, not addressing adolescent mental disorders can cause these problems to extend into adulthood.</p>
<p>Adolescence is not only a particularly vulnerable time for developing mental disorders – it’s also a time when <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10136689/#:%7E:text=Indeed%2C%20insomnia%20during%20adolescence%20is,particular%20life%20period%20%5B17%5D">sleep and circadian rhythms change</a>. Adolescents often sleep later, due to a delay in their circadian rhythm caused by their development, but have to wake up early due to school. As a consequence, they often experience shorter sleep than needed, which can further <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s44159-022-00074-8#:%7E:text=A%20meta%2Danalytic%20review%20of,depression%2C%20negative%20affect%20and%20anxiety">worsen their mental health</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/investigating-insomnia-our-research-shows-how-chronic-sleep-problems-can-lead-to-a-spiralling-decline-in-mental-health-224131">Investigating insomnia: our research shows how chronic sleep problems can lead to a spiralling decline in mental health</a>
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<p>Our review highlights how important it is to pay attention to circadian rhythm disruptions in young people – especially when it comes to risk of certain mental health problems. Our review also highlights the need to consider sleep and circadian problems when someone experiences mental health problems. By addressing such problems, it may be possible to improve one’s mental health and quality of life.</p>
<h2>Sleep and circadian interventions</h2>
<p>At the moment, treatments for sleep problems (such as insomnia) involve <a href="https://academic.oup.com/sleep/article/43/9/zsaa034/5777024">cognitive behavioural therapy</a> and <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(23)00683-9/fulltext">sleep restriction</a>. These focus on improving sleep – while mental health problems due to circadian rhythm disruption are not directly addressed.</p>
<p>Our review highlighted treatments that may help improve mood and sleep quality and align circadian rhythms. This included timing medication intake, exposure to natural daylight (and reducing nighttime light) as well as eating and being physically active during the day. More research will be needed, however, to better understand the benefits of these treatments in real-world settings.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223895/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Chellappa does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Depression, bipolar disorder and anxiety have all been linked to problems with sleep and a disrupted circadian rhythm.Sarah Chellappa, Associate Professor, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, University of SouthamptonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2240052024-02-21T17:27:56Z2024-02-21T17:27:56ZWhy bans on smartphones or social media for teenagers could do more harm than good<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576823/original/file-20240220-28-d27av6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=820%2C220%2C5062%2C3465&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/college-friends-wearing-bags-using-mobile-1470997292">Jacob Lund/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/feb/11/our-kids-are-suffering-calls-for-ban-on-social-media-to-protect-under-16s">growing calls</a> for young people under the age of 16 to be banned from having smartphones or access to social media. The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/feb/17/thousands-join-uk-parents-calling-for-smartphone-free-childhood">Smartphone Free Childhood</a> WhatsApp group aims to normalise young people not having smartphones until “at least” 14 years old. Esther Ghey, mother of the murdered teenager Brianna Ghey, is campaigning for a <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/brianna-ghey-mother-social-media-app-ban-phones-laura-kuenssberg-cheshire-b1136880.html">ban on social media apps</a> for under-16s. </p>
<p>The concerns centre on the sort of content that young people can access (which can be harmful and illegal) and how interactions on these devices could lead to upsetting experiences. </p>
<p>However, as an expert in young people’s use of digital media, I am not convinced that bans at an arbitrary age will make young people safer or happier – or that they are supported by evidence around young people’s use of digital technology. </p>
<p>In general, most young people have a positive relationship with digital technology. I worked with <a href="https://www.swgfl.org.uk/">South West Grid for Learning</a>, a charity specialising in education around online harm, to produce <a href="https://swgfl.org.uk/research/what-causes-upset-online/">a report</a> in 2018 based upon a survey of over 8,000 young people. The results showed that just over two thirds of the respondents had never experienced anything upsetting online. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/news-events/no-evidence-linking-facebook-adoption-and-negative-well-being-oxford-study/">Large-scale research</a> on the relationship between social media and emotional wellbeing concluded there is little evidence that social media leads to psychological harm.</p>
<p>Sadly, there are times when young people do experience upsetting digital content or harm as a result of interactions online. However, they may also experience upsetting or harmful experiences on the football pitch, at a birthday party or playing Pokémon card games with their peers. </p>
<p>It would be more unusual (although not <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-56568473">entirely unheard of</a>) for adults to be making calls to ban children from activities like these. Instead, our default position is “if you are upset by something that has happened, talk to an adult”. Yet when it comes to digital technology, there seems to be a constant return to calls for bans.</p>
<p>We know from attempts at prevention of other areas of social harms, such as <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED477795">underage sex</a> or access to <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=A_mrAgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1">drugs</a> or <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0955395913001230">alcohol</a>, that bans do not eliminate these behaviours. However, <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Sexting-and-Revenge-Pornography-Legislative-and-Social-Dimensions-of-a/Phippen-Brennan/p/book/9780367672294">we do know</a> that bans will mean young people will not trust adults’ reactions if they are upset by something and want to seek help. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Mother and daughter looking at phone" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577026/original/file-20240221-28-isu7eg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577026/original/file-20240221-28-isu7eg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577026/original/file-20240221-28-isu7eg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577026/original/file-20240221-28-isu7eg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577026/original/file-20240221-28-isu7eg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577026/original/file-20240221-28-isu7eg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577026/original/file-20240221-28-isu7eg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Teenagers need to know they can talk to adults about their lives online.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/mother-helps-her-teenage-daughter-complete-2190609043">Studio Romantic/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I recall delivering an assembly to a group of year six children (aged ten and 11) one Safer Internet Day a few years ago. A boy in the audience told me he had a YouTube channel where he shared video game walkthroughs with his friends. </p>
<p>I asked if he’d ever received nasty comments on his platform and if he’d talked to any staff about it at his school. He said he had, but he would never tell a teacher because “they’ll tell me off for having a YouTube channel”. </p>
<p>This was confirmed after the assembly by the headteacher, who said they told young people not to do things on YouTube because it was dangerous. I suggested that empowering what was generally a positive experience might result in the young man being more confident to talk about negative comments – but was met with confusion and repetition of “they shouldn’t be on there”.</p>
<h2>Need for trust</h2>
<p><a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-88634-9">Young people tell us</a> that two particularly important things they need in tackling upsetting experiences online are effective education and adults they can trust to talk to and be confident of receiving support from. A 15 year old experiencing abuse as a result of social media interactions would likely not be confident to disclose if they knew the first response would be, “You shouldn’t be on there, it’s your own fault.”</p>
<p>There is sufficient research to suggest that banning under-16s having mobile phones and using social media would not be successful. Research into widespread <a href="https://assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/wpuploads/2023/07/CCO-Pornography-and-Young-People-1.pdf">youth access to pornography</a> from the Children’s Commissioner for England, for instance, illustrates the failures of years of <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/175418/Bailey_Review.pdf">attempts to stop children accessing this content</a>, despite the legal age to view pornography being 18. </p>
<p>The prevalence of hand-me-down phones and the second hand market makes it extremely difficult to be confident that every mobile phone contract accurately reflects the age of the user. It is a <a href="https://rasg.org.uk/faqs/">significant enough challenge</a> for retailers selling alcohol to verify age face to face.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/50/enacted">Online Safety Act</a> is bringing in online <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/news-centre/2023/implementing-the-online-safety-act-protecting-children">age verification systems</a> for access to adult content. But it would seem, from the guidance by communications regulator <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/272601/guidance-part-5-annexe-2.pdf">Ofcom</a>, that the goal is to show that platforms have demonstrated a duty of care, rather than being a perfect solution. And we know that <a href="https://www.yoti.com/blog/yoti-age-estimation-white-paper/">age assurance</a> (using algorithms to estimate someone’s age) is less accurate for under-13s than older ages. </p>
<p>By putting up barriers and bans, we erode trust between those who could be harmed and those who can help them. While these suggestions come with the best of intentions, sadly they are doomed to fail. What we should be calling for is better understanding from adults, and better education for young people instead.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224005/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andy Phippen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Children need to know they can talk to adults about problems online – and a ban may affect this.Andy Phippen, Professor of IT Ethics and Digital Rights, Bournemouth UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2222332024-02-21T13:24:18Z2024-02-21T13:24:18ZYoung people are lukewarm about Biden – and giving them more information doesn’t move the needle much<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576872/original/file-20240220-16-qvln0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Young voters in Ann Arbor, Mich., fill out applications to cast their ballot in the midterm elections in November 2022. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/zachary-rose-fills-out-an-application-to-cast-his-ballot-news-photo/1244584443?adppopup=true">Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Recent polling for the November 2024 election shows that President Joe Biden is struggling with young voters, who have traditionally supported Democrats. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/12/19/us/elections/times-siena-poll-registered-voter-crosstabs.html">December 2023 poll</a> showed that 49% of young people supported former President Donald Trump, while just 43% of 18- to 29-year-olds said they preferred Biden. </p>
<p>Biden is even struggling with young people who identify as Democrats. A <a href="https://iop.harvard.edu/youth-poll/46th-edition-fall-2023">Fall 2023 Harvard Kennedy School</a> poll shows that just 62% of Democrats aged 18 to 29 years old said they would vote for Biden in 2024. </p>
<p>Many Democrats are <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4138154-democrats-worry-young-people-souring-on-party/">increasingly anxious</a> that young voters who <a href="https://www.cnn.com/election/2020/exit-polls/president/national-results">supported Biden in 2020</a> will boycott the general election in 2024, support a third-party candidate or <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/24034416/young-voters-biden-trump-gen-z-polling-israel-gaza-economy-2024-election">vote for Trump</a>. </p>
<p>Polls this far from Election Day are <a href="https://gking.harvard.edu/files/abs/variable-abs.shtml">notoriously variable</a> and not reliable for predicting election results. Furthermore, some political pundits are asking whether young voters <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/27/upshot/poll-biden-young-voters.html">will return to the Biden coalition</a> once the campaign season heats up and they learn more about the two candidates. </p>
<p>As scholars of <a href="https://neilobrian.com">public opinion</a> and the <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=J4Vp11wAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra">U.S. presidency</a>, we are deeply interested in the prospect of young voters, particularly Democrats, defecting from the Biden coalition. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576870/original/file-20240220-28-6gi2uw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A young, white woman with brown hair wearing shorts and a beige cardigan walks past a bulletin board with flyers on it for vioting." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576870/original/file-20240220-28-6gi2uw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576870/original/file-20240220-28-6gi2uw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576870/original/file-20240220-28-6gi2uw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576870/original/file-20240220-28-6gi2uw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576870/original/file-20240220-28-6gi2uw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576870/original/file-20240220-28-6gi2uw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576870/original/file-20240220-28-6gi2uw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An Emory University student in Atlanta walks past voting information in October 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/young-woman-walks-past-voting-information-flyers-on-the-news-photo/1244204334?adppopup=true">Elijah Nouvelage/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Mixed evidence on young voters’ support for Biden</h2>
<p>About <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2015/04/07/a-deep-dive-into-party-affiliation/">51% of young voters</a>, aged 18 to 29 years old, identify as Democrats. This compares with 35% of these voters who identify as Republicans. In 2020, young voters in this age group made up an <a href="https://circle.tufts.edu/latest-research/election-week-2020#when-and-how-young-people-voted">estimated 17%</a> of the electorate. </p>
<p>In a close election, securing the youth vote will be paramount in order for Biden to win reelection.</p>
<p>We wanted to understand how young voters might change their election pick preferences if they learn more about different topics, such as the economy, likely to feature in this election season. </p>
<p>We recruited 1,418 respondents from across the country to participate in an online survey experiment in December 2023, including 860 people who identify as Democrats.</p>
<p>In this experiment, we exposed respondents to different messages that the Biden campaign might employ, to see if young Democrats could be persuaded back to Biden.</p>
<p>A quarter of the respondents saw information about how <a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-inflation-reduction-climate-anniversary-9950f7e814ac71e89eee3f452ab17f71">inflation and</a> <a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-unemployment-jobs-inflation-interest-rates-b1c21252024d697765d047a60f41e900">unemployment decreased</a> during the Biden administration. </p>
<p>Another quarter of respondents were given information about Trump’s norm-violating behavior, such as <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-capitol-riot-probe-turns-focus-trump-allies-extremist-groups-2022-07-12/">encouraging an insurrection</a> at the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021.</p>
<p>The next quarter of respondents were given information about Biden’s and Trump’s positions on abortion, and whether the U.S. should accept immigrants from the Gaza Strip. </p>
<p>The final group of respondents received no information about a particular topic.</p>
<p>In our research, which has yet to be published, we found mixed evidence that undecided young Democrats would be persuaded to vote for Biden based on any new information we shared with them. </p>
<p>Among the people we polled who were given no information, 66% of 18-year-old to 34-year-old Democrats said they would vote for Biden. This roughly tracks with national polling. </p>
<p>Would learning about the strength of the economy boost Biden’s support? </p>
<p>About 69% of young Democrats who read about dropping inflation and unemployment rates said they would vote for Biden, compared with 31% who said they would vote for Trump or another candidate. This reflects a modest increase in support for Biden, compared to people who had no information on this topic. </p>
<p>We then tested whether providing information to voters about the candidates’ policy positions would change support for Biden. </p>
<p>It is possible that voters are just unaware of the candidates’ positions on issues <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/16/upshot/kamala-harris-biden-voters-polls.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article">and, after getting more information</a>, will change their views. </p>
<p>We found that 71% of respondents who learned about Biden’s and Trump’s policy positions on abortion and Palestinian refugees from Gaza said they would vote for Biden, compared with the 66% who did not read any new information on these topics before deciding their pick. </p>
<p>Finally, we gave people information about Trump’s norm-violating behavior. This actually marginally decreased support for Biden, dropping from the 66% among people who did not have any of this information given to them in the survey to 63% among people who did. This change, though, lacked what social scientists call statistical significance – meaning that we cannot say this difference is not just attributable to chance alone. </p>
<p>Overall, we found that giving young Democrats access to three different pieces of information generally led to small increases in whether they said they would vote for Biden or not. </p>
<p>Next, we asked respondents “How enthusiastic would you say you are about voting for president in next year’s election?” and how likely they are to vote in the upcoming presidential election. We found that the three different pieces of information each led to a small increase in reported vote intention among young Democrats, but didn’t, on average, increase their enthusiasm about voting. In other words, if young voters feel compelled to vote, they may do so, but without enthusiasm.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576873/original/file-20240220-20-e11nih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Young people sit around a table, and two young people, both wearing white T-shirts, stand near a screen that says 'Canvass training'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576873/original/file-20240220-20-e11nih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576873/original/file-20240220-20-e11nih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576873/original/file-20240220-20-e11nih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576873/original/file-20240220-20-e11nih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576873/original/file-20240220-20-e11nih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576873/original/file-20240220-20-e11nih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576873/original/file-20240220-20-e11nih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Abortion rights canvassers gather for a canvass training in Columbus, Ohio, in November 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/pro-choice-canvassers-gather-for-a-canvass-training-meeting-news-photo/1766360809?adppopup=true">Megan Jelinger/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The power of persuasion</h2>
<p>Taken together, these results show little movement among young Democrats. This is particularly striking when compared to older Democrats in our sample. </p>
<p>When presented with information about the strength of the economy, the candidates’ divergent policy positions or Trump’s norm-violating behavior, support for Biden among likely voters who were 55 years old or older and identified as Democrats increased from 73% to around 90%.</p>
<p>These results suggest an uphill battle for the Biden campaign to bring back young voters. Young voters, even if they identify as Democrats, are perhaps less attached to a party, or democratic institutions more generally, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/12/18/democracy-young-people-voters-trump/">than older voters</a>. This means campaign messages about democratic norms might be less persuasive among younger voters. </p>
<p>On the other hand, there are reasons to expect young voters might return to Biden: The economy is doing well, which <a href="https://news.northeastern.edu/2023/11/06/presidential-election-predictions-polls/">tends to help incumbents</a>. </p>
<p>Furthermore, partisanship, particularly in this polarizing environment, remains a powerful influence, and may still exert a pull on young Democrats over the campaign.</p>
<p>Democrats, after all, successfully ran on an anti-Trump campaign in the <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2023/07/12/voter-turnout-2018-2022/">2022 midterm elections</a>, <a href="https://morningconsult.com/exit-polling-live-updates/?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTTJGbU9EZ3dNalZtTURZMiIsInQiOiJTOTZTRHBrN0lNWG9IVisxUXhEdUdtcUxYaENlS2tIYlJ1YTZyTzhkNjBQM2o0dWVwZlVad3lxaTk1N0FtelwvMkJDOTdsYWtmVDU5eVVDQjhjcjJLUDBocGFaWjRRalVaXC9paTE1dGhzSmxrYWtjUnlXWEk2cVlDc0xPS1FQZ0RPIn0%3D#section-100">2020 general election</a> and the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/06/us/politics/midterm-elections-results.html">2018 midterm elections</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222233/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>While young voters say they would be more likely to vote for Biden after they learn more about the economy and other topics, they did not appear affected by Donald Trump’s norm-defying behavior.Neil O'Brian, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of OregonChandler James, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of OregonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2225322024-02-19T18:27:03Z2024-02-19T18:27:03ZGen Z boys’ attitudes to feminism are more nuanced than negative<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575604/original/file-20240214-18-jfr8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C16%2C5599%2C3715&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/three-teenagers-sat-together-128632589">Phovoir/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Young men are more likely than older men to think that feminism has done more harm than good, according to a <a href="https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/masculinity-and-womens-equality-study-finds-emerging-gender-divide-young-peoples-attitudes#:%7E:text=Among%20those%20aged%2016%20to,in%2011%20(9%25)%20women">new survey</a>, suggesting a backward step in attitudes to gender equality. Young women aged 16-29 are also slightly more likely than women aged 30-59 to say that feminism has done more harm than good. </p>
<p>The survey, conducted by King’s College London and Ipsos, also found a growing divergence in attitudes towards feminism, masculinity and gender equality between young men and young women. </p>
<p>On the surface, the findings chime with our experiences of conducting research directly with young people on these topics and delivering relationships and sex education in schools. But in both our work and the survey data, the reality is more nuanced than these headline findings suggest. </p>
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<p>Most of the survey sample — including the younger age groups — do not sit at the more divided extremes of the response options. While 16% of men aged 16-29 thought feminism had done more harm than good, more than double this proportion, 36%, thought it had done more good than harm. </p>
<h2>Who’s a feminist?</h2>
<p>In our recent experience of <a href="https://www.surrey.ac.uk/news/teaching-sex-education-digital-age-dealing-influence-pornography">working in schools</a> delivering and evaluating an educational session designed to address harmful sexual behaviour in schools, we asked the young people how many would identify themselves as a feminist. In response, there were often just two or three hands raised, often accompanied by an odd snide comment from one of the boys. </p>
<p>Both boys and girls seem disinclined to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14681811.2020.1802242">endorse feminism</a>, with this <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-47006912">perhaps counter-intuitive</a> tendency among young women having been seen for some time. </p>
<p>But when we probe a little deeper and ask if they believe in equality between genders or what they understand by feminism, a different picture emerges.</p>
<p>The young people we work with often have a firm understanding of the inequality that exists between men and women. They typically endorse the idea that people should not be restricted or disadvantaged by their gender, but that possible disadvantage as a result of gender is nuanced and flows in both directions: both boys and girls are affected by gender stereotypes and pressures.</p>
<p>The girls in the room are quick to point out the double standards which, they feel, means they are judged more harshly and experience more social shaming connected to their bodies and sexual behaviour than boys. They talk about the <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Sex-Ed-for-Grown-Ups-How-to-Talk-to-Children-and-Young-People-about-Sex/Hunt/p/book/9780367641337">effect of gender inequality</a> on their ability to make free choices and to feel safe in their day-to-day lives. Unwanted attention, sexual harassment and feeling unsafe are still a rite of passage for teenage girls.</p>
<p>The boys, meanwhile, with the demands of masculinity thrust upon them, rarely consider themselves <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-022-01335-9">powerful or privileged</a>. They are often insecure in their bodies, embarrassed and out of their depth – especially in their intimate and sexual relationships where they are expected to take control.</p>
<p>We have found that young people have a straightforward desire <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-022-01335-9">for authentic and healthy relationships</a> be that with their same- or opposite-sex peers. They find it difficult to translate these aspirations into reality, however, as they navigate existing social and cultural expectations and pressures surrounding gender and relationships. </p>
<p>Boys and young men, in particular, are pulled between ideas of traditional masculinity and demands to be emotionally self-aware and sensitive. </p>
<h2>The role of adults</h2>
<p>When thinking about young people’s attitudes to feminism, we need to acknowledge that it is older generations who write the social scripts for boys and girls. It is older generations who frame sex, still, as something boys do to girls – as one of us found when interviewing teachers about how they educate <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-022-01335-9">boys about consent</a>. </p>
<p>And it is older adults – such as the 37-year-old social media influencer Andrew Tate – who preach that feminism has gone too far. Media coverage of the King’s College and Ipsos Mori survey <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2024/feb/01/gen-z-boys-and-men-more-likely-than-baby-boomers-to-believe-feminism-harmful-says-poll">has emphasised</a> the finding that <a href="https://www.marieclaire.co.uk/news/reports/andrew-tate-feminism-gen-z">one in five</a> young men we surveyed approved of him. But this means that only a minority of boys and young men who said they had heard of Tate had a positive view of him. </p>
<p>More than half of the young men said they found Tate’s views offensive. This finding reflects what we are encountering in our research work: a dwindling <a href="https://yougov.co.uk/society/articles/45735-how-many-britons-agree-andrew-tates-views-women">interest in Tate</a> among young people.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14681811.2020.1802242">our experience</a>, most young people are open-minded, inclusive and tolerant. They are critical thinkers when allowed to think for themselves rather than being fed easy answers by the adults around them or, as seemed to be the case in this survey, asked to select between options framed as competing interests between men and women. </p>
<p>Our research underscores the need for a youth-centric approach to tackling issues relating to gender and relationships with young people that does not tell them what to think, but more how to think in ways that respond to their concerns. The adults in young people’s lives – parents, teachers and others – should think about, and talk to them about, why influencers like Tate gain traction. </p>
<p>Young people need support, based on open and constructive dialogue, to navigate gender and relationships in an ethical, mutual and positive, rather than risk-averse and divisive, way.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222532/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emily Setty receives funding from ESRC and Leverhulme/British Academy Trust.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonny Hunt receives funding from ESRC and is a partner of the Sex Education Forum.</span></em></p>We have found that young people have a straightforward desire for authentic and healthy relationships.Emily Setty, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, University of SurreyJonny Hunt, Senior Lecturer in Applied Social Science, University of BedfordshireLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2199542024-02-15T13:33:39Z2024-02-15T13:33:39Z‘It is hijacking my brain’ – a team of experts found ways to help young people addicted to social media to cut the craving<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571020/original/file-20240124-29-hrfn7d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=44%2C0%2C4975%2C3180&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Some young people spend hours a day on social media.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/side-view-of-milenial-men-and-women-using-royalty-free-image/1467270207?phrase=social+media+addiction+young+people+negative">ViewApart/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many people have compared the <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/facebook-addictive-as-cigarettes-former-executive-says/">addictive nature of social media to cigarettes</a>. Checking your likes, they say, is the new smoke break. Others say the unease over social media is just the next round of <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/archive/2023/06/stop-comparing-social-media-to-big-tobacco/674267/">moral panic about new technologies</a>. </p>
<p>We are a pair <a href="https://www.colorado.edu/atlas/annie-margaret">of researchers</a> <a href="https://dl.acm.org/profile/99659691909/publications?Role=author">who investigate</a> how social media affects the mental health of young people. More than 75% of teens check their phone hourly, and half say they feel like <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/press-releases/new-report-finds-teens-feel-addicted-to-their-phones-causing-tension-at-home">they’re addicted to their devices</a>. </p>
<p>Here are some of the things they’ve told us:</p>
<p>“TikTok has me in a chokehold.” </p>
<p>“I would 1,000% say I am addicted.”</p>
<p>“I feel completely aware that it is hijacking my brain, but I can’t put it down. This leaves me feeling ashamed.”</p>
<p>Maybe you’ve had similar feelings yourself, no matter your age. Although it’s true social technologies offer clear benefits – unlike smoking – many people still feel uncomfortable with how much time they spend online and often wonder if they’re addicted.</p>
<p>Years of investigation have led our team to this conclusion: Perhaps a better approach is to view your media consumption as a diet. Just as there are many ways to have a healthy diet, there are also a variety of ways to develop healthy and personalized social media habits. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Having an online presence is becoming a replacement for an in-person presence.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>The search for answers</h2>
<p>A deluge of research on social media usage that began in the early 2010s shows negative impacts in areas related to <a href="https://theconversation.com/mounting-research-documents-the-harmful-effects-of-social-media-use-on-mental-health-including-body-image-and-development-of-eating-disorders-206170">body image, eating disorders</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2020.04.002">social comparison</a>. </p>
<p>Conversely, other studies point to the mental health benefits of social media, including <a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/features/social-media-positive-mental-health/">social well-being</a>, <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2018/11/28/teens-social-media-habits-and-experiences/">strong friendships and exposure to diverse perspectives</a>.</p>
<p>Still other studies <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0293467">show conflicting results</a>. In fact, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.08.017">inconclusive or mixed results</a> seem to be a recurring pattern when researching this subject.</p>
<p>The inconsistencies in these studies highlight the very hard problem of characterizing healthy interaction between two complex systems – social media technologies and human behavioral psychology. </p>
<p>One issue is that the stress, anxiety and challenges to self-esteem experienced by users may vary from moment to moment, depending on what they are viewing. Consider that not all time spent on social media is equal. For example, messaging distant friends for one hour a day will likely leave you feeling more fulfilled than spending 30 minutes a day <a href="https://www.health.com/mind-body/what-is-doomscrolling">doomscrolling</a>, which refers to an excessive amount of time consuming negative media.</p>
<p>That’s why researchers are trying to distinguish between the active and passive use of social media. “Active use” refers to social exchanges, like sending messages or posting content, while “passive use” is strictly the consumption of social media content without participation, contribution or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/sipr.12033">engagement with others</a>. </p>
<p>But even this distinction is too simplistic and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448211065425">has come under scrutiny</a>. Some active behaviors, such as trolling on Reddit, are likely unhealthy for everyone involved. And some passive behaviors, like consuming educational videos, are beneficial. </p>
<p>Because healthy media consumption varies considerably from person to person, our research takes a different approach and focuses on users developing personal agency with respect to their media consumption. </p>
<h2>A four-week intervention</h2>
<p>More than 500 college students with a wide range of social media habits have participated in our <a href="https://www.postinternetproject.org/prism">ongoing study</a>. The students begin by reflecting on their current relationship with social media and then set goals for the changes they want to make. This might include spending less time mindlessly scrolling, curating their feed on an app or not sleeping with the phone in the bedroom. </p>
<p>For four weeks, participants report their success in adhering to their goals. They also reflect on their feelings and experiences through journaling and completing standard psychological surveys that capture <a href="https://hub.salford.ac.uk/psytech/2021/08/10/bergen-social-media-addiction-scale/">social media addiction</a> and other mental health outcomes. </p>
<p>Our initial analysis indicates that the four-week intervention significantly reduces social media addiction for those who started with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0169839">problematic</a> or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.2021.00025">clinical</a> levels of <a href="https://hub.salford.ac.uk/psytech/2021/08/10/bergen-social-media-addiction-scale/">social media addiction</a>. </p>
<p>Problematic social media addiction is associated with a host of negative effects including moodiness, anxiety and an excessive amount of time and energy spent on or thinking about social media. People with clinical social media addiction levels experience those same effects but to a great degree, with their habit patterns around social media resembling that of an addict.</p>
<p>Those with problematic social media addiction scores at the start of the intervention showed a mean reduction of 26%, and scores for participants who began with clinical social media addiction scores fell by 35%. These reductions brought both groups into a healthy range of social media use by the conclusion of the intervention. </p>
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<p>At the end of the four weeks, participants reported positive changes in their relationships with social media with statements like the following:</p>
<p>“I feel as though my connections have strengthened with my friends because when I now communicate with them, it is to have an actual conversation, rather than to pass the time responding to Snapchats.”</p>
<p>“I find (social media) a lot less appealing in a lot of ways and haven’t really felt the urge to post something in a long time. I think I am … using it for fun or connectedness instead of distraction.”</p>
<p>“This challenge has positively changed how I view social media, and social approval.”</p>
<h2>Positive change takes time</h2>
<p>Much like any behavior change, adopting healthier media consumption habits requires time, dedication and self-reflection. While our research focuses on college students, we believe a similar four-week process focused on agency and reflection can lead to profound improvements in overall well-being <a href="https://www.postinternetproject.org/prism">for people of all ages</a>.</p>
<p>That said, there are <a href="https://www.commonsense.org/education/digital-citizenship">practical steps you can take right now</a> to reduce your dependence on social media. This includes turning off notifications, removing or limiting apps that you find harmful, curating your social media feed by unfollowing certain accounts, <a href="https://www.theverge.com/23637672/grayscale-iphone-android-pixel-samsung-galaxy-how-to">setting your phone to grayscale to reduce the appeal</a>, and reserving phone-free time. You can get started right now by taking a free, psychologically validated survey to <a href="https://hub.salford.ac.uk/psytech/2021/08/10/bergen-social-media-addiction-scale/">assess your level of addiction</a>. </p>
<p>If you can’t eat gluten, you probably don’t keep wheat-based bread in the kitchen. A truly healthy diet requires learning which foods make you feel your best and finding joy in eating certain foods in moderation. Similarly, our research shows that spending some time setting goals and engaging in self-reflection can change your relationship with social media – for the better.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219954/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Annie Margaret founded a non-profit called Post-Internet Project that aims to empower youth, educators, parents, and communities with a holistic understanding of the digital landscape, fostering emotional resilience, mindfulness, and compassionate leadership in the face of evolving technologies.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicholas Hunkins is a data science consultant with Post-Internet Project, a non-profit organization founded by Annie Margaret that focuses on empowering youth to develop intentional engagement with modern technologies.</span></em></p>You can free yourself from some of the time you spend online in as little as four weeks.Annie Margaret, Teaching Assistant Professor of Creative Technology & Design, ATLAS Institute, University of Colorado BoulderNicholas Hunkins, Researcher in Data Science, University of Colorado BoulderLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2225672024-02-15T13:16:03Z2024-02-15T13:16:03ZMost people would be equally satisfied with having one child as with two or three – new research<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575046/original/file-20240212-18-cr3m9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2650%2C1918&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/diverse-culture-families-playing-children-on-644803663">Tint Media/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Picture your ideal family. Do you have children? How many?</p>
<p>It’s fairly well established that when asked about their ideal family, people <a href="https://uk.style.yahoo.com/parents-happiest-with-this-number-of-children-130657574.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAALSMoZY_favqh1RLJg3osUVkZY4Rcc-gZ73Db3kMC4q4wHFgjNXJeTMPDGEwWCJfcYMawoqwwsnmEprKNbIpz1qN6Dh3gSvg3SLmTlvez2ll1oiAXxQics4EvK5c5M4Kw73OjCf2ADaZ_uO3NxJkkhniFfs20KNzuUuLll_4-5Mi">tend to say</a> that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/american-families-ideal-number-of-kids-cost-raising-child-expensive-2023-11?r=US&IR=T">two children</a> is the best number to have. But this regularity has come about from asking the simple question: “Ideally, how many children would you like to have?”. </p>
<p>But if two children really was the best number to have, surely most people would have two – but they don’t. In South Korea, the average number of children is less than one per woman. In the US it’s 1.64. </p>
<p>A huge number of studies have tried to figure out why this is – why there’s a gap between the number of children people say they want, and how many they have. But it turns out we may have been asking the wrong questions. </p>
<p>When you take a different approach and ask people to rate different options of family life, you get a far more accurate idea of what people are happy with. <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2311847121">My research</a> with colleagues has done just this. I found that people still valued parenthood. But they valued having one child just as highly as having two or three. </p>
<h2>Family values</h2>
<p>A family isn’t just about the number of children. There are a whole range of other things to consider when thinking about what your ideal family might look like. Are you married, cohabiting, or a single parent? Who does the washing up and changes the nappies? What does the work-life balance in your family look like? </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Family of three in kitchen" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575047/original/file-20240212-20-gm8rij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575047/original/file-20240212-20-gm8rij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575047/original/file-20240212-20-gm8rij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575047/original/file-20240212-20-gm8rij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575047/original/file-20240212-20-gm8rij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575047/original/file-20240212-20-gm8rij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575047/original/file-20240212-20-gm8rij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We found that number of children mattered less than you might expect.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/happy-young-family-three-home-kitchen-45888763">michaeljung/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When you bring in factors like this, the ideal number of children starts to change. </p>
<p>We carried out research with around 10,000 people in a range of countries: the US, Norway, Italy, Spain, Japan, China, South Korea and Singapore. We showed each person in the study six scenarios with descriptions of different families. Half of the respondents were shown scenarios that included families with no children as well as with children, and the other half saw scenarios that included families with one, two or three children. </p>
<p>These scenarios had further varying factors, such as traditional or egalitarian gender roles and the amount of contact with extended family. In some, family members communicated well, and not in others. We asked the people in our study to rate these different scenarios on a scale from one to ten.</p>
<p>The findings are clear. Looking at all the responses, overall people do feel that a family with no children is not ideal. Parenthood still matters. But there is no discernable difference in how people rated the families with one, two or three children. </p>
<p>The only outlier is China, where people viewed having three children somewhat negatively: understandable after decades of policies curbing fertility. Nowhere in our study was having just one child viewed more negatively. </p>
<h2>Importance of communicating</h2>
<p>What does come out very strongly is the role of communication, both within the nuclear family but also with grandparents. This characteristic is the most important feature of the ideal family of today.</p>
<p>If you think about it, this finding is not all too unexpected. Good communication means strong emotional support – and that is what most people would like to receive from a family. If communication breaks down, then why bother with having a family if you can get the necessary support elsewhere through friends and other social networks?</p>
<p>Other features matter too – obviously. Respondents viewed low income negatively (apart from in Norway). More egalitarian gender roles and good work-life balance are important. But our findings, which are remarkably similar across different countries, show that good communication matters the most in people’s vision for good family life – more than the number of children they might have.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222567/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Arnstein Aassve receives funding from Horizon Europe. </span></em></p>We found no discernable difference in how people rated family scenarios with one, two or three children.Arnstein Aassve, Professor in Demography, Bocconi UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2221872024-02-14T12:21:03Z2024-02-14T12:21:03ZSchool absence rates have rocketed – the whole educational experience needs to change<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574414/original/file-20240208-22-ypx67.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C166%2C7940%2C5130&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/schoolchildren-classmates-kids-pupils-students-going-2037583226">Inside Creative House/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>More than <a href="https://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/newsroom/severe-absence-from-school">140,000 pupils</a> in the UK are absent from from school more than 50% of the time: more than double the number from before the pandemic. </p>
<p>Not being in school matters – and not only because pupils miss out on learning. Teachers play an important role monitoring the welfare of their students, and if young people are on the streets rather than at school they are also <a href="https://www.scie.org.uk/safeguarding/children/education/missing">more at risk of harm and exploitation</a>.</p>
<p>Absence rates have prompted <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/203/education-committee/news/198876/school-absence-crisis-education-committee-publishes-govts-response-to-report/">increasing concern</a> from the government. Up until now, measures to tackle absence have focused on <a href="https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2023/05/11/fines-for-parents-for-taking-children-out-of-school-what-you-need-to-know/">blaming parents and issuing fines</a>: more than a third of a million so far. </p>
<p>More recently, the government has acknowledged the role played by inadequate support for special needs and disability as well as the impact of mental health on pupil attendance. They have responded by increasing the number of “<a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6569af115936bb000d31682f/Expectations_for_schools_joining_attendance_hubs.pdf">attendance hubs</a>”: collaborative groups led by senior teachers in schools that have good attendance with the aim of sharing effective strategies with others. </p>
<p>But very little attention has been paid to what is actually happening in schools. Education needs to be more aligned with healthy child development, children’s interests, and the importance of relationships for wellbeing. </p>
<p>Children and teenagers are naturally curious and keen to discover the world around them. They want to be active participants in their own learning. And <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-90-481-9667-8_3">self-determination</a> – being able to make your own decisions rather than being controlled by others – is one of the major pillars of wellbeing. </p>
<h2>Exam factories</h2>
<p>But pupils in many schools have very little in the way of agency. They are told what to do and how to do it. Teachers feel pressure to <a href="https://theconversation.com/most-secondary-schools-dont-have-to-teach-the-national-curriculum-it-should-be-revised-and-restored-or-discarded-214806">“teach to the test”</a>, leaving pupils few options to follow their interests, let alone passions. As teenagers get older, the more <a href="https://innovateinstructionignitelearning.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Bored-Out-of-Their-Minds-Harvard-Graduate-School-of-Education-1.pdf">bored and disengaged</a> they may become in school.</p>
<p>One way of getting students back to school and engaged in learning is to give them more of a voice and increased choice in what they learn. Schools need a broader curriculum that promotes learning about the world because it is fascinating, not just to pass exams. But this will not happen while exam results and league tables dominate education.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Mother trying to encourage daughter to walk to school" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574438/original/file-20240208-28-wtqcii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574438/original/file-20240208-28-wtqcii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574438/original/file-20240208-28-wtqcii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574438/original/file-20240208-28-wtqcii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574438/original/file-20240208-28-wtqcii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574438/original/file-20240208-28-wtqcii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574438/original/file-20240208-28-wtqcii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many children are reluctant to go to school.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/unhappy-girl-holding-moms-hand-doesnt-1595176540">Ground Picture/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>What’s more, schools appear to be <a href="https://cypmhc.org.uk/school-behaviour-policies-are-ineffective-in-creating-change-according-to-findings-from-a-new-survey/">increasingly resorting</a> to punitive approaches to <a href="https://cypmhc.org.uk/publications/behaviour-and-mental-health-in-schools-report/">manage student behaviour</a>. </p>
<p>Students may face discipline for not having the right equipment, being late, talking out of turn or in the corridor and uniform infringements. At <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-66734164">St Ivo’s Academy</a> in Cambridgeshire parents have set up their <a href="https://stivoparentsforum.org/">own forum</a> to express concerns, especially about how discipline is affecting their children’s mental health.</p>
<p>Anxiety, depression and other negative emotions impede learning. Young people need to feel safe to focus well. Many do not. The organisation <a href="https://notfineinschool.co.uk/">Not Fine in School</a> supports families whose children are experiencing “barriers” to attendance. Their Facebook group has 37,000 members. It illustrates the many ways pupils can be scared, confused, embarrassed and sometimes panic-stricken in school. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://notfineinschool.co.uk/home/f/learning-from-lived-experience">one mother writes</a> on the Not Fine in School site: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>These past three years have been the hardest thing I have ever had to go through. Watching my vibrant, charismatic, full of life child, become a shadow of himself has been heartbreaking.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Instead, schools should be promoting the positive. Among other things, this means welcoming students, being kind, showing interest and taking account of their context. </p>
<h2>Doing things differently</h2>
<p>Conversations with children should identify and acknowledge the qualities they are developing and the progress they are making, rather than pointing out deficits and negatives. It also means students feeling they belong, that they <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31407358/">matter</a>, and that they are valued and included. </p>
<p>Positive emotions and mental health are strengthened by <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2012-32884-000">free play and playfulness</a>. However, experiences that might enhance this in state schools, such as art, music, drama, dance and opportunities to have fun together, are <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nickmorrison/2019/04/09/how-the-arts-are-being-squeezed-out-of-schools/?sh=2191b75baaf4">under threat</a> in state schools. </p>
<p>It does not have to be this way. <a href="https://globalestonian.com/en/news/knowledge-and-skills-estonian-children-rank-first-europe-and-among-best-world">Estonia</a> has one of the best education systems in Europe: teachers have high autonomy in how they lead classes and children feel happy and safe in school. The school system in England <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/times-education-commission-how-estonia-does-it-lessons-from-europe-s-best-school-system-qm7xt7n9s">could learn</a> from the independence headteachers are granted to set the curriculum, a focus on wellbeing and no schedule of school inspections. </p>
<p>When policies and practices in state education aim to bring out the best in every child and prepare them to be active citizens of the future, maybe kids will actually want to come to school. </p>
<p>When <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/student-resilience-and-wellbeing/resources/scoping-study-approaches-student-wellbeing-final-report">wellbeing is at the core</a> of a school’s endeavours, children will have better mental health and resilience, greater engagement with their learning and better results.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222187/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sue Roffey is affiliated with several advisory boards for mental health and wellbeing in schools and is a member of the Labour Party . </span></em></p>Education needs to be more aligned with healthy child development, children’s interests, and the importance of relationships for wellbeing.Sue Roffey, Honorary Associate Professor, Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2217922024-02-07T17:30:33Z2024-02-07T17:30:33ZHow an online tool allows parents and therapists to work together to help children with anxiety<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573481/original/file-20240205-17-j9mgs5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3994%2C2664&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/serious-mother-talking-sad-upset-preschooler-2324629879">fizkes/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A recent report from the charity <a href="https://www.youngminds.org.uk/">YoungMinds</a> found that over <a href="https://www.youngminds.org.uk/about-us/media-centre/press-releases/yearly-referrals-to-young-people-s-mental-health-services-have-risen-by-53-since-2019/">1.2 million</a> children and young people aged 18 and under were referred to mental health services in England in 2022. This is more than double the number in 2019. </p>
<p>When the number of young people needing help is so great, services become overstretched and there are enormous challenges in providing timely support.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(23)00429-7/fulltext">Our research</a> has explored ways of getting help to more children more quickly. We focused on children with anxiety problems because they are extremely common, often <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-021-01161-7">first occur in childhood</a> and their negative impact can <a href="https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jcv2.12149">persist into adulthood</a>.</p>
<p>We looked at how effective it would be for parents to apply cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) strategies with their child, learning how to do so by using an online platform with phone support from a therapist. We found that this parent-led CBT had the same results for children as routine (mostly CBT) treatment, while also saving costs by substantially reducing therapists’ treatment delivery time.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-impact-of-childhood-and-teenage-anxiety-disorders-on-later-life-new-research-203370">The impact of childhood and teenage anxiety disorders on later life – new research</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<h2>Finding time</h2>
<p>CBT is an effective talking therapy for child anxiety disorders. Children are helped to develop new ways of thinking by testing out their fears <a href="https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD013162.pub2/full">in a supported way</a>. A traditional CBT course involves ten to 20 hours of time with a therapist, which can create a real challenge both for busy services and busy families.</p>
<p>In our approach, a therapist supports a parent, who then applies CBT skills and strategies in their child’s daily life. This requires less contact time with a therapist than traditional forms of CBT.</p>
<p><a href="https://formative.jmir.org/2022/4/e29846/">We’ve developed</a> an online platform to help parents apply CBT strategies with their child, with remote therapist support. The platform features a parent portal where parents or carers work through seven online modules. Parents are encouraged to have a go at the strategies that they learn through the modules with their child.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Man talking on the phone" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573485/original/file-20240205-17-pzhgyr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573485/original/file-20240205-17-pzhgyr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573485/original/file-20240205-17-pzhgyr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573485/original/file-20240205-17-pzhgyr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573485/original/file-20240205-17-pzhgyr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573485/original/file-20240205-17-pzhgyr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573485/original/file-20240205-17-pzhgyr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Parents have weekly calls with a therapist.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/confused-discontented-arabic-guy-talking-on-2147120699">Prostock-studio/Shutterstock</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>They then have a weekly call, of about 20 minutes, with a therapist after each module. During these telephone appointments, the therapist helps them to plan how best to apply the approach with their child and to address any problems they may have encountered.</p>
<p>To make the treatment easy to understand and accessible, modules provide content in a range of formats, such as text, videos and quizzes. Information is shared with the therapist, who can view progress via a clinician portal.</p>
<p>We carried out a study with 444 families to find out whether this approach means support can be delivered more quickly to more children than current NHS treatment approaches – while continuing to achieve good outcomes. </p>
<p>This began in March 2020, when the first COVID lockdown started in the UK. There was an immediate and sudden need for remotely delivered interventions, together with an increased need for mental health support. </p>
<h2>Working with families</h2>
<p>The families we invited to join our study had children aged from five to 12 years who were experiencing anxiety problems, and had approached either NHS child and adolescent mental health services, local authorities, or charities for help. </p>
<p>Half of the children and their families were randomly assigned to receive our online treatment. The rest were assigned the traditional treatment offered by the mental health services that they approached for help.</p>
<p>We asked parents to complete a series of online questionnaires to know how they and their children were doing during the treatment period, and up to 26 weeks after they started the trial. The questionnaires included clinical measures, including measures of anxiety problems and quality of life. </p>
<p>They also asked about other things, such as whether the child or parent used other health care services beyond the treatment for child anxiety problems. The children themselves filled in some questionnaires too. </p>
<p>We found that clinical treatment results were very similar for both the new online and the routine treatment. Both performed equally well in terms of measures such as whether child anxiety problems interfered with school, social, and family life; whether anxiety symptoms reduced; and whether the child had other emotional and behavioural problems that commonly occur alongside anxiety.</p>
<p>However, the average time that the therapists spent delivering the treatment was substantially lower for our online approach (182 minutes) than for routine treatment (307 minutes). This frees up therapist time – meaning more children could be treated more quickly.</p>
<p>Parents and clinicians also told us that they found the online platform easy to use and the approach overcome many potential barriers to accessing mental health support for children.</p>
<p>We also conducted an economic evaluation to compare the health and the cost impacts of this approach and routine NHS treatments, and found that the online approach was likely to be good value for money. </p>
<p>In other words, helping parents to apply CBT strategies with their child, using the online platform with therapist support, brought about promising savings, without compromising outcomes for child anxiety problems.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221792/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mara Violato receives wider funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), Oxford and Thames Valley NIHR Applied Research Collaboration, and Oxford Health NIHR Biomedical Research Centre. This work was funded by a Department for Health and Social Care and United Kingdom Research and Innovation Research Grant, the NIHR Research Policy Research Programme, Oxford and Thames Valley NIHR Applied Research Collaboration, and Oxford Health NIHR Biomedical Research Centre. The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the NHS, NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cathy Creswell consults for KoaHealth, however does not receive any personal income from this. She receives royalties from books published by LittleBrown and Guilford Press. This work was funded by a Department for Health and Social Care and United Kingdom Research and Innovation Research Grant,the National Institute for Health and Care (NIHR) Research Policy Research Programme, Oxford and Thames Valley NIHR Applied Research Collaboration, and Oxford Health NIHR Biomedical Research Centre. She also currently receives wider funding from the National Institute for Health and Care (NIHR), Oxford and Thames Valley NIHR Applied Research Collaboration, and Oxford Health NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, and The Paul Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shuye Yu receives wider funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and Oxford Health NIHR Biomedical Research Centre. This work was funded by a Department for Health and Social Care and United Kingdom Research and Innovation Research Grant, the NIHR Research Policy Research Programme, Oxford and Thames Valley NIHR Applied Research Collaboration, and Oxford Health NIHR Biomedical Research Centre. The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the NHS, NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.</span></em></p>We helped parents use strategies from cognitive behavioural therapy with their child.Mara Violato, Associate Professor, Health Economics, University of OxfordCathy Creswell, Professor of Developmental Clinical Psychology, University of OxfordShuye Yu, Research scientist, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2216782024-02-06T16:01:53Z2024-02-06T16:01:53ZCurious Kids: why do you get interest payments when you have a bank account?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572800/original/file-20240201-21-e9sm7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=27%2C0%2C6079%2C3442&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/preteen-girl-using-credit-bank-card-2248721489">Andrii Iemelianenko/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><strong>Why do you get money back when you have a bank account? – Grace, aged nine, Belfast, Northern Ireland</strong></p>
<p>A bank is a place where people go to either borrow money or save the extra money they have. If you’ve got money to save, there’s a reason why it’s better to put it in a bank account than to keep it in a money box under your bed. In a bank account, your money will increase, because the bank will add what’s <a href="https://www.halifax.co.uk/savings/help-guidance/saving-explained/what-are-interest-rates.html#:%7E:text=Basically%2C%20it%20is%20how%20much,annual%20percentage%20of%20the%20loan.">known as interest</a> to it. </p>
<p>When you put your money in a bank, the bank gets to use your money. It might lend it to other people or businesses who need it. This doesn’t mean your money is gone: when you want to take it out of the bank, they will pay it back to you. The interest your bank pays you is a reward for letting it use your money. </p>
<p>So, let’s say you put a £100 deposit in a bank, and the bank promised to give you 5% interest every year as a reward. At the end of the year the bank would pay you £5 reward and so now the total amount you have in the bank is £105. </p>
<p>If you don’t take any money out, the following year you would get 5% on £105. At the end of that year, you’d have £110.25. You’re earning interest on your interest as well as the amount you put in the bank. This is called <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z37pqhv/revision/3">compound interest</a>. </p>
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<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282267/original/file-20190702-126345-1np1y7m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/282267/original/file-20190702-126345-1np1y7m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282267/original/file-20190702-126345-1np1y7m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282267/original/file-20190702-126345-1np1y7m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282267/original/file-20190702-126345-1np1y7m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282267/original/file-20190702-126345-1np1y7m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/282267/original/file-20190702-126345-1np1y7m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption"></span>
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<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/curious-kids-36782">Curious Kids</a> is a series by <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk">The Conversation</a> that gives children the chance to have their questions about the world answered by experts. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to <a href="mailto:curiouskids@theconversation.com">curiouskids@theconversation.com</a> and make sure you include the asker’s first name, age and town or city. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we’ll do our very best.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>This is how money in a bank account keeps on growing every year. It’s like a snowball effect – the more money you have, the more interest you get, and the more your money grows. This is one way people can make their savings grow over time, and it’s a neat way to encourage people to save their money in the bank.</p>
<h2>Borrowing and lending</h2>
<p>You may wonder where the bank gets the extra money to reward you for letting it use your money. People may need to borrow money from a bank to buy a house or a car and businesses may want to borrow to invest in machinery or equipment – and banks <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z9b6nbk/revision/4">charge interest</a> to those it lends money to. </p>
<p>When households and businesses borrow money, they have to pay back the whole amount – plus a little extra. So, the money that the borrowers pay back to the banks in interest is the same money that the bank uses to pay you and other savers. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Mother and child at ATM" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572806/original/file-20240201-27-4gipkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572806/original/file-20240201-27-4gipkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572806/original/file-20240201-27-4gipkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572806/original/file-20240201-27-4gipkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572806/original/file-20240201-27-4gipkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572806/original/file-20240201-27-4gipkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572806/original/file-20240201-27-4gipkc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">It’s a good idea to keep your savings in a bank account.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/mother-daughter-withdrawing-money-form-cash-737201143">LumineImages/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>The bank has to decide how much interest it should pay those who save with the bank, and how much it should charge those who borrow from it. The bank is a business, and it needs to make profits, so it charges a higher interest to those who borrow money compared to the interest it pays to people who save with it. </p>
<p>For example a bank may want to charge a person who wants to borrow money to buy a house a 6% interest rate, while paying only 4% interest to a person who saves their money with the bank. This means there’s money left over. The bank uses the extra money to pay to keep itself running, and whatever is left the bank keeps as profits. </p>
<p>Banks play an important role in our financial system by acting as a middle man between savers and borrowers. The interest rates charged to borrowers and paid to lenders form the foundation of a bank’s operations.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221678/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shampa Roy-Mukherjee does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The interest your bank pays you is a reward for letting it use your money.Shampa Roy-Mukherjee, Vice Dean and Associate Professor in Economics, University of East LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2205552024-01-31T12:02:04Z2024-01-31T12:02:04ZYoung dads are painted as feckless or absent – but they’re working to change perceptions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/571500/original/file-20240125-19-svrgu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=38%2C23%2C4414%2C3385&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">shutterstock</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-caucasian-bearded-father-carrying-newborn-1718826880">Anna Kraynova/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For young dads – those aged 25 or younger – sharing the news of their fatherhood may be more likely to bring raised eyebrows than congratulations. </p>
<p>Young dads are <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-020-01172-8">often portrayed</a> as irresponsible, <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-myth-of-the-fatherless-society-73166">absent</a> or as “deadbeat dads”. <a href="https://fyff.co.uk/files/9ab001a7fa237900e5ddfead9e654f16aa2babf2.pdf">But our research</a> has found that even when pregnancies are unplanned, the children of young fathers are far from unwanted. </p>
<p>Becoming a father for the first time can be a <a href="https://followingfathers.leeds.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/79/2015/10/Brieifing-Paper-1-web.pdf">transformative experience</a>, but young dads don’t always get the support they need to be the fathers they want to be for their children. </p>
<p>This is a problem because we know that positively involved and engaged fathers <a href="https://www.irp.wisc.edu/links-between-involved-fathers-and-positive-effects-on-children/">have a positive influence</a> on their children’s longer-term social, emotional and educational development. There can also be progress for gender equality when women and men can co-parent effectively together. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://followingyoungfathersfurther.org/">research</a> has involved talking to and working with young dads to explore how they can be better supported. We have found that they want to be included in the support offered to their partners and that they <a href="https://fyff.co.uk/files/efecbf9ed5d6526e209ba6af988649530945dc69.pdf">value supportive relationships</a> with health and other professionals that are free of judgement and based on care, compassion and understanding.</p>
<h2>Trying to be involved</h2>
<p>Effective support is so important because of some of the disadvantages young dads experience. Being an involved dad can be more straightforward for fathers who have supportive family networks, adequate housing and secure routes to education and employment, as well as access to effective service support. </p>
<p>Yet, we know that young dads, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, often struggle to secure <a href="https://fyff.co.uk/files/cc95d4cb23e13a41df9e14c3d098b945613a6991.pdf">stable employment</a>, making it harder to provide economically for their children. If they are on zero-hour contracts or are self-employed they are less able to budget and plan, and they are not entitled to parental leave. </p>
<p>Social security payments are lower for those aged under 25, meaning young dads claiming universal credit are <a href="https://fyff.co.uk/files/16b25d4a6b11fbcc9e5e836f15a0a409dd3566ab.pdf">penalised for their age</a>. Access to secure housing is also difficult for young fathers, especially when they can’t rely on their parents or if they don’t live with their children. Sustaining positive relationships with the mothers of their children, their co-parents, can require living nearby, but housing options may be scarce. </p>
<p>The hurdles young fathers need to overcome often overshadow their strengths and capabilities as parents and their intentions to “be there” for their children as engaged dads. This can lead to issues with <a href="https://fyff.co.uk/files/832041e26557d03238246595eb4ef6350dc92e05.pdf">mental health</a> that either go unnoticed or can lead to challenging behaviour. </p>
<p>Another issue is that services that provide support with parenting, relationships and employment for young fathers are <a href="https://followingfathers.leeds.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/79/2016/06/Evidence-Report.pdf">few and far</a> between. </p>
<p>Mainstream health services also struggle to include young dads. Dads tell us they want to be included in support, but that this is predominantly aimed at mothers. Additionally, there are few resources for professionals to help them support dads or be more <a href="https://fyff.co.uk/files/efecbf9ed5d6526e209ba6af988649530945dc69.pdf">father-inclusive</a>.</p>
<p>Since January 2020, we have been working on the <a href="https://followingyoungfathersfurther.org/">Following Young Fathers Further</a> study, which aims to remedy this lack of support in a way that is led by young dads themselves. </p>
<h2>Collective support</h2>
<p>We have been working together with dads and professionals who provide specialist support to create resources that are designed to increase and improve support for all dads, but young dads especially. These include two new Young Dads Collectives – groups that bring young dads together with professionals from health, social care, education and beyond – <a href="https://followingfathers.leeds.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/79/2017/04/SYD-final-report.pdf">in Leeds</a> <a href="https://fyff.co.uk/files/1601d72e665f056bdd7f24d46bc3608d857a0c8d.pdf">and Grimsby</a>. </p>
<p>Young dads provide education and training for these professionals, sharing their experiences about being a dad and how services have treated them. The young dads have the chance to challenge the stereotypical views that may be held about them. Professionals are also asked to consider how to include dads in their support offers and why this is so important for mothers and children as well. One <a href="https://bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/view/journals/frs/aop/article-10.1332-204674321X16913136250482/article-10.1332-204674321X16913136250482.xml">father involved</a> in the Young Dads Collectives said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Buzzing, love being listened to. It’s not just the work with the professionals, it’s about meeting up with other dads when we do the planning. We all want other dads to have a better experience.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Since 2022, we have also been working on an e-learning platform called <a href="https://www.digidad.uk/">DigiDAD</a>, set up with young dads and professionals from a specialist support charity for young fathers in Gateshead called the <a href="https://www.neydl.uk/">North East Young Dads and Lads</a>. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1720855476093501541"}"></div></p>
<p>DigiDAD features videos, courses, podcasts and other learning content presented or voiced by young dads. Checked by researchers and other experts for accuracy, the content focuses on parenting skills, managing social care proceedings, dealing with mental health difficulties and relationship skills. </p>
<p>Like the Collectives, DigiDAD gives young dads a place to talk openly about shared challenges and to educate wider audiences about the value of supporting dads. </p>
<p>At the time of writing, DigiDAD content has been watched by <a href="https://www.neydl.uk/2023_annual_report/2/">over 30,000</a> YouTube viewers and accessed as far afield as Peru. </p>
<p>Our research work is proof that young dads themselves are working to change the narrative about young fatherhood. They are active in addressing the negative ideas and stereotypes that so often contribute to the stigma they both experience and internalise. And they are educating health professionals in order to reduce this stigma.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220555/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Professor Anna Tarrant receives funding from the UK Research & Innovation Future Leaders Fellowship scheme. She is the Chair of Trustees for the North East Young Dads and Lads. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Linzi Ladlow consults for the North East Young Dads and Lads.</span></em></p>Dads tell us they want to be included in support, but that this is predominantly aimed at mothers.Anna Tarrant, Professor of Sociology, University of LincolnLinzi Ladlow, Research Fellow in Family Research, University of LincolnLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2177412024-01-30T12:31:09Z2024-01-30T12:31:09ZHow teenagers navigate the nuances of social media – and what adults can learn from them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570957/original/file-20240123-29-i689xp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C10%2C6659%2C4456&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/cheerful-happy-gen-z-teen-girl-2118840425">fizkes/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For older generations, social media might feel like a specific and often new way of interacting – markedly different from meeting in person or talking on the phone. For most teenagers, though, it is part of an interconnected social landscape. They may not necessarily need to distinguish social connections as either online or offline. These can be fluid across digital and physical spaces.</p>
<p>But there are nuances to interacting on social media – and <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jcmc/article/27/4/zmac009/6649192">teens are often acutely aware</a> of them. Social media accounts are often characterised by what is known as <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1369118X.2014.888458">context collapse</a>. This means that there are multiple different types of audience in a single context. A post on Instagram or TikTok might be viewed by friends and other teenagers, but also teachers, parents or family members. </p>
<h2>Understanding audiences</h2>
<p>When posting online, teens will be negotiating these audiences, perhaps aiming a post at their friends, but making sure the content is still appropriate for other types of audience. </p>
<p>This, in some cases, might explain why teenagers (like many others) may be drawn towards more <a href="https://futureparty.com/gen-z-social-media-private-community/">protected or private channels</a>. These include Snapchat group chats, WhatsApp groups or close friends lists on Instagram. </p>
<p>Parents might think their teen is being secretive by using closed channels like this. But the social connections which can occur here are likely to be the most authentic and valuable in terms of building connections with friends. These smaller or more self-contained types of social connections may also encourage more <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2056305121990632">active types of social media use</a>, such as voice messages, replying to threads and video calls. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Young people taking a selfie" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570958/original/file-20240123-19-jfn161.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570958/original/file-20240123-19-jfn161.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570958/original/file-20240123-19-jfn161.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570958/original/file-20240123-19-jfn161.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570958/original/file-20240123-19-jfn161.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570958/original/file-20240123-19-jfn161.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570958/original/file-20240123-19-jfn161.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Teens know how to curate their social media presence.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/gen-z-friends-taking-selfie-diverse-2290987809">Lomb/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0276765">Psychological evidence</a> suggests that more active types of social media behaviour are related to greater perceptions of social belonging, when compared to more passive types of social media engagement, such as simply scrolling through a feed. These active kinds of social media use could support teens’ expression of their identity, and therefore, feelings of social support and belonging. </p>
<p>Social media can also present teens with opportunities for <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/0d12/7a9b52c62fc77b6ee37478e9bdbb796e88a7.pdf">experimentation and discovery</a>. For example, for those who identify as LBGTQ+, joining relevant social media groups can provide them with an opportunity to explore their own identity and gain <a href="https://www.jmir.org/2022/9/e38449/">social support from others</a>.</p>
<p>Beyond this, curating their own social media accounts can help teenagers build their identities. In many cases, the teen may be reclaiming ownership of their identity from how it might have been built and curated by their parents.</p>
<h2>Social cues</h2>
<p>On the other hand, the way social media makes the subtleties of friendships and peer relationships explicit can create difficulties. </p>
<p>Features and functions such as “remove friend” or “follow”, provide concrete markers on the boundaries of relationships or connections that don’t exist in the offline world. “Likes” and “reactions” from others <a href="https://www.cell.com/trends/cognitive-sciences/fulltext/S1364-6613(15)00228-4?_returnURL=http://linkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS1364661315002284%3Fshowall%3Dtrue&cc=y%3D">provide feedback</a> which can affect a teen’s perception of whether they are receiving social approval or validation. </p>
<p>An absence of these cues, or inactivity within social interactions, such as being “<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/dating-whatsapp-read-receipts-no-reply-b2422496.html">left on read</a>” or a post going unliked, might feed into perceptions of social disapproval or worse still, feelings of social rejection.</p>
<p>This may have particular significance for teenagers because peer relationships hold crucial importance in adolescence. Teenagers typically value the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0956797615569578">opinions and approval</a> of their friends and peers more than others, such as their parents or siblings. </p>
<p>What’s more, teenagers typically place particularly high value on <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959438816300824">social approval</a>. This means that they may be more sensitive to whether or not they have validation from their peers on social media. It might also explain why higher social media use in adolescence has been linked to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-29296-3">lower life satisfaction</a>.</p>
<p>In many ways, there are lessons we can learn from how teenagers use social media. In general, they appear to be much better equipped than their older counterparts to self-censor and curate the various aspects of their identities across different channels. This suggests they are much more socially aware and attuned to the way these are interpreted by various audiences. </p>
<p>Teenagers’ ability to move fluidly between online and offline environments may make them better than older adults at recognising that how they behave on social media may have direct social consequences in the real world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217741/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Linda Kaye does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Curating their own social media accounts can help teenagers build their identities.Linda Kaye, Associate Head of Psychology (Knowledge Exchange and Marketing), Edge Hill UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2209632024-01-23T13:59:14Z2024-01-23T13:59:14ZStudents with physical disabilities explain the challenges they face when they go to university<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570596/original/file-20240122-21-2f49o5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=975%2C10%2C5734%2C4456&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/portrait-disabled-student-wheelchair-choosing-books-1537798346">SeventyFour/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The number of UK students with a declared disability <a href="https://www.hesa.ac.uk/news/25-01-2022/sb262-higher-education-student-statistics">rose by 46%</a> over the five years between 2016-17 and 2020-21. Students with disabilities now make up <a href="https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/whos-in-he">over 15% of students</a>.</p>
<p>These disabilities include learning disabilities, mental health conditions and physical disabilities.</p>
<p>Making the transition to university is not always easy for these students. They face pressure to choose the right course, adapt to an increasing expectation of independence, and socially integrate and thrive as university students. </p>
<p>And higher education is not always set up in a way that makes it <a href="https://www.policyconnect.org.uk/research/arriving-thriving-learning-disabled-students-ensure-access-all">easily accessible</a> to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2018.1436041">students with disabilities</a>. Some have expressed concern that inclusive education in higher education is <a href="https://disabledstudents.co.uk/not-a-choice/">not prioritised</a>.</p>
<p>Using individual interviews, <a href="https://ijelt.dundee.ac.uk/articles/10.5334/ijelt.72#B39">our research</a> explored the experiences of seven students with a variety of physical needs as they started university. Our participants attended several different universities across the UK, with a few having experienced more than one institution. We asked them about how they decided where to go to university and about their personal experiences of being university students on their chosen course. </p>
<h2>Encountering barriers</h2>
<p>Before going to university, some of the students attended open days and found that their options for institutions – and so also for the academic courses offered by those institutions – were constrained because they felt some were not set up to accommodate their physical needs. One student claimed that a university “didn’t want to know me” because they used a wheelchair. They said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I’ve been on quite a few campuses that are not disabled friendly. The disabled access has been pretty poor.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The students also experienced challenges at the universities they chose to attend. These included poor wheelchair access in living spaces, inaccessible lecture theatres and consistently broken lifts. There were issues with both accommodation and learning spaces, affecting both their educational and social experiences. Telling us about their on-campus accommodation, one student said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I could barely get through the door [in my wheelchair] and then it was literally like… the bed and then a desk, and then that was it. And I was like, I can’t… I couldn’t even turn around. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Some of the students we talked to praised their university’s central student services team for the dedicated time they were given when they first arrived at university. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Woman in wheelchair in casual meeting" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570598/original/file-20240122-17-kt4zcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570598/original/file-20240122-17-kt4zcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570598/original/file-20240122-17-kt4zcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570598/original/file-20240122-17-kt4zcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570598/original/file-20240122-17-kt4zcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570598/original/file-20240122-17-kt4zcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570598/original/file-20240122-17-kt4zcp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The students praised their university’s central support services.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/businesswoman-wheelchair-having-business-meeting-team-2234404489">dotshock/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The students were given opportunities to discuss their individual needs and offered a range of reasonable adjustments that were formally documented on their individual support plan. This is a summary document which details the relevant support and adjustments which have been agreed to meet a student’s needs. It is prepared by the university’s disability advisor in collaboration with the student. </p>
<h2>Not involved</h2>
<p>However, on the courses they were studying, some of the students found they had to repeatedly tell lecturers about their disabilities and ask for adjustments as the lecturing team were unaware of their disability or had not prepared for their needs. </p>
<p>As a result, some students faced limitations in accessing specific optional modules, which constrained their curriculum choices. Some were excluded from participating in practical activities or excursions. One student said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>They didn’t make any effort to get me involved. I was sat there for an hour and a half just waiting for it to be over. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The students we interviewed were keen to identify practical solutions. One was for universities to offer open days specifically for disabled students. This would provide students with the confidence to fully explore the campus and identify potential issues, as well as provide a potential opportunity to meet and build connections with their peers. </p>
<p>In addition, the students thought that universities should consult with disabled students when assessing the accessibility of both the campus environment and the courses offered. One said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I think a lot of the issue is [that] a lot of … the systems have been created by able-bodied people, and so no one actually thinks to consult with us about what is actually helpful. So, there’s a lot of things in place that are useless, and there’s a lot of things that need to be in place that aren’t. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Giving students with disabilities a voice here would allow them to play a crucial decision-making role in areas that directly affect them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220963/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Issues included poor wheelchair access in living spaces, inaccessible lecture theatres and broken lifts.Rhiannon Packer, Senior Lecturer in Additional Learning Needs, Cardiff Metropolitan UniversityEmily Abbinett, Senior Lecturer, Cardiff Metropolitan UniversityPaul Smith, Principal Lecturer, Cardiff Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2207992024-01-19T13:03:14Z2024-01-19T13:03:14ZEmotional problems in young people were rising rapidly even before the pandemic<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569863/original/file-20240117-27-ejuhzp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=53%2C0%2C6000%2C3943&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Adolescence is an age when people are particularly vulnerable to mental health problems.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/depression-anxiety-concept-woman-fetal-position-773688718">Thomas Andre Fure/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It wasn’t just the virus that spread during the pandemic – anxiety, depression and other mental health concerns saw a worrying rise as well. But <a href="https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcpp.13924">new research</a> from my colleagues and I confirms there had already been a substantial increase in emotional problems among young people even before COVID-19. </p>
<p>Adolescence is an age when people are particularly <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(19)31013-X/fulltext">vulnerable</a> to mental health problems, which may then continue <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-023-02202-z">into adulthood</a>. Studies have highlighted concerning trends showing a <a href="https://www.jahonline.org/article/S1054-139X(21)00646-7/fulltext">steep rise</a> in mental health issues in recent decades. </p>
<p>However, the reasons most frequently given for this rise, such as changes in family life, school factors and social media, do not fully explain all <a href="https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-981-10-0753-8_9-1">the issues</a>. </p>
<p>We wanted to know if rates of emotional problems had increased in young people in Wales between 2013 and 2019 – and if any trends varied between groups of young people, such as boys and girls or richer or poorer families. We also wanted to determine whether changes in friendship quality and the prevalence of bullying over time mirrored any increase in adolescent emotional problems, and whether these factors could explain a part of this rise.</p>
<p>Good quality friendships are associated with <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0153715">better</a> self-esteem and mental health, whereas bullying is linked with <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30475016/">poorer</a> mental health.</p>
<p>We used data from secondary school children which is collected every two years via the <a href="https://www.shrn.org.uk/">School Health Research Network</a>. This is used to increase our understanding of risk factors for health, and to help schools and other organisations improve the lives of young people in Wales. </p>
<p>Students answered questions about emotional problems, including how often they felt low, irritable, nervous and had sleep difficulties. They also answered questions about friendship quality and bullying, both in person and online. In total, we looked at data from more than 200,000 students aged between 11 and 16 from three surveys of Welsh secondary schools in 2013, 2017 and 2019. </p>
<h2>Rise in emotional problems</h2>
<p>We found a substantial increase in emotional problems among young people in Wales between 2013 and 2019. The proportion of young people with high numbers of emotional problems rose from 23% to 38%. Our findings are in line with <a href="https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mental-health-of-children-and-young-people-in-england/2017/2017">increasing rates</a> of emotional disorders, <a href="https://www.health.org.uk/publications/reports/improving-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-services">referrals</a> to child and adolescent mental health services, and youth <a href="https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-021-03235-w">self-harm and suicide</a> during this period. </p>
<p>Our study highlights that existing mental health inequalities were getting worse even before 2020. This is a particularly concerning trend as it predates COVID, which is known to have <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9373888/">exacerbated</a> mental health problems. Girls and those from poorer families experienced steeper increases in emotional problems. </p>
<p>The reasons for this finding are complex. While our study doesn’t examine potential reasons, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/wps.21160#:%7E:text=These%20structural%20conditions%20include%20factors,to%20access%20acceptable%20and%20affordable">other research</a> suggests that being richer allows families to access better housing, adequate food, better healthcare and less stressors more generally. </p>
<p>There are several <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(16)30348-0/fulltext">possible reasons</a> for worse mental health among girls, including sex hormones, lower self-esteem, more interpersonal stressors, gender-based violence and – on a societal level – a lack of gender equality and discrimination. But not enough research has been conducted in this field.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A girl in the foreground looks at her phone while a group of girls behind her laugh." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569867/original/file-20240117-29-bx3ipk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569867/original/file-20240117-29-bx3ipk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569867/original/file-20240117-29-bx3ipk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569867/original/file-20240117-29-bx3ipk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569867/original/file-20240117-29-bx3ipk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569867/original/file-20240117-29-bx3ipk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569867/original/file-20240117-29-bx3ipk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Girls and those from poorer families experienced steeper increases in emotional problems.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/pre-teen-girl-being-bullied-by-636363332">Daisy Daisy/Shutterstock</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>The proportion of students experiencing bullying increased slightly between 2013 and 2019, and friendship quality decreased slightly. However, while we found a strong association between the quality of adolescent social relationships and emotional problems, social relationships such as friendship quality and bullying did not appear to explain these population-level increases in mental health problems. </p>
<h2>Mental health support</h2>
<p>Our findings highlight a growing need for mental health support for young people to address the steep increase in their emotional problems over the past decade, particularly among poorer families. Currently, <a href="https://endchildpoverty.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Local-child-poverty-indicators-report-2022_FINAL.pdf">one in three</a> Welsh children live below the poverty line. We need to pay particular attention to supporting these young people, and others <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00787-019-01305-9">across the UK</a>, who are at greater risk of emotional problems.</p>
<p>While social relationship measures didn’t follow the same steep trend as emotional symptoms, improving the quality of young people’s social relationships and reducing bullying are still important priorities. There is currently a move towards a <a href="https://www.gov.wales/framework-embedding-whole-school-approach-emotional-and-mental-wellbeing">whole school approach</a> in Wales, which involves providing a supportive context for healthy relationships in schools more generally. </p>
<p>The growing needs of young people with mental health issues are adding to our already <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8353214/">significantly strained</a> child and adolescent mental health services. Much more investment needs to be made to support our young and most vulnerable people. </p>
<p>Policy-makers, schools and practitioners should pay particular attention to this steep rise in emotional problems, particularly among girls and young people from less-affluent families.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220799/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca E Anthony receives funding from the Wolfson Foundation</span></em></p>New research looking at data from 200,000 children in Wales has found a substantial increase in mental health issues.Rebecca E Anthony, Research Associate at the Centre for Development, Evaluation, Complexity and Implementation in Public Health Improvement and Wolfson Centre for Young People's Mental Health, Cardiff UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2212192024-01-18T18:59:14Z2024-01-18T18:59:14ZCheck your ‘fun parts’: what a new sexual health campaign for young Aussies gets right and wrong<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569984/original/file-20240118-27-awurl6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C10%2C7008%2C4647&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-smiling-woman-wearing-glasses-holding-2250703231">insta_photos/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Australian government recently launched a new campaign, <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/sti">Beforeplay</a>, to promote better sexual health among young people.</p>
<p>Beforeplay is focused on encouraging people aged 20 to 34 to seek frequent STI tests, and to use barrier methods (such as condoms and dental dams) to protect against the transmission of STIs.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8CTkGukKcFo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A video from the Beforeplay campaign.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The national campaign began on January 14 and will run for nine weeks, with content <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/ministers/the-hon-mark-butler-mp/media/new-sexual-health-campaign-to-combat-rising-rates-of-stis">to appear</a> on social media and online, on dating apps such as Tinder and Grindr, and around universities, bars and clubs.</p>
<p>The campaign material includes <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/sti/prevention">links to information and resources</a> as well as three videos and several posters, carrying messages including “it’s the test part, before the best part” and “it’s checking your fun parts, before the fun starts”. </p>
<p>The campaign message is simple and direct. Getting tested, as well as using condoms and dental dams to prevent the spread of STIs, will create a more fun and safe sexual encounter. But does the campaign get everything right?</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sex-ed-needs-to-talk-about-pleasure-and-fun-safe-sex-depends-on-it-and-condom-use-rises-176572">Sex ed needs to talk about pleasure and fun. Safe sex depends on it and condom use rises</a>
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</p>
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<h2>Beforeplay aims to combat increasing rates of STIs</h2>
<p>A recent annual surveillance report on <a href="https://www.kirby.unsw.edu.au/research/reports/asr2023">STIs in Australia</a> found in 2022, young people made up the majority of chlamydia and syphilis diagnoses. </p>
<p>For chlamydia, 69% of diagnoses occurred among people between 15 and 29, with an almost even split between men and women. </p>
<p>For infectious syphilis, notification rates were highest among people aged 25 to 29 (58.1 cases per 100,000 people), 30 to 39 (55.7 per 100,000), and 20 to 24 (38.2 per 100,000). More than 80% of all syphilis infections were among men. </p>
<p>Although the report highlighted increasing rates of STIs (syphilis notifications, for example, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-19/australia-syphilis-cases-kirby-institute-report-/103237700">have tripled</a> over the past decade) testing rates were lower than usual. The authors suggested this may be an effect of the COVID pandemic, but highlights a need for more STI testing, particularly among young people. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A poster from Beforeplay with an image of a couple and the message 'It's checking your fun parts, before the fun starts'." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569973/original/file-20240118-25-h4ovvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569973/original/file-20240118-25-h4ovvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=901&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569973/original/file-20240118-25-h4ovvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=901&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569973/original/file-20240118-25-h4ovvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=901&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569973/original/file-20240118-25-h4ovvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1133&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569973/original/file-20240118-25-h4ovvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1133&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569973/original/file-20240118-25-h4ovvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1133&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">One of the posters from the campaign.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.health.gov.au/sti/resources">Australian Government, Department of Health and Aged Care</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Young people already know to get tested</h2>
<p>The Beforeplay campaign appears to be premised on the idea that young people lack knowledge about adequate STI testing and don’t feel barrier methods are important.</p>
<p>Research, however, suggests this isn’t the case. A recent <a href="https://www.latrobe.edu.au/arcshs/work/national-survey-of-secondary-students-and-sexual-health-2022">national survey</a> of Australian high school students found 94% of those surveyed felt condom use was important. Some 75% of respondents said condoms were available during their most recent sexual experience, but less than 49% used them.</p>
<p>Similar results were seen with STI testing – more than 72% of participants believed young people should be tested for STIs. But less than 13% thought it was a common practice among their age group. And only 26% believed STI testing was easily accessible.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/SH/SH22122">2023 study</a> of young adults in Australia aged 15 to 29 also showed STI testing and condom use remains low among this group.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/around-half-of-17-year-olds-have-had-sex-and-theyre-more-responsible-than-you-think-118337">Around half of 17-year-olds have had sex and they're more responsible than you think</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>There could be a variety of reasons young people may not use condoms. For example, research has shown <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-do-women-still-get-judged-so-harshly-for-having-casual-sex-160583">gendered norms</a> in heterosexual couples mean women continue to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6115298/">carry the burden</a> of contraceptive responsibility, including having to ask men to wear condoms. Men may refuse these requests or engage in <a href="https://theconversation.com/case-in-victoria-could-set-new-legal-precedent-for-stealthing-or-removing-condom-during-sex-118343">stealthing</a>, the removal of a condom during sex without consent. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, long-standing <a href="https://theconversation.com/sex-ed-needs-to-talk-about-pleasure-and-fun-safe-sex-depends-on-it-and-condom-use-rises-176572">social taboos</a> and shame surround young people engaging in sexual activity, which can make it difficult for them to access sexual health services for STI testing. This can be particularly significant for LGBTQA+ young people, those living in rural and remote areas, and young people from religious, cultural and ethnic backgrounds where sex outside marriage may be discouraged. </p>
<p>As access to sexual health clinics can be difficult, including links and resources for <a href="https://www.qld.gov.au/health/staying-healthy/sexual-health/chlamydia-test">at-home screening kits</a> where available could be effective in encouraging more people to test. </p>
<p>More clarity in the posters and videos as to how often the campaign is recommending testing – whether before every sexual encounter with a new partner, or just general frequent testing as good sexual health practice – would also be helpful.</p>
<h2>A diverse campaign?</h2>
<p>Beforeplay’s content depicts couples of different genders, orientations and ethnicities to promote inclusivity. </p>
<p>I would argue there is an undercurrent of <a href="https://theconversation.com/queerphobic-hate-is-on-the-rise-and-lgbtq-communities-in-canada-need-more-support-214932">queerphobia</a> and discomfort with queer sex in the campaign videos, despite the attempts for inclusion. </p>
<p>The two videos featuring a heterosexual couple show more physical intimacy and engagement, such as kissing and bodies touching. The video featuring the queer couple, however, only shows them holding hands, with their bodies appearing further apart. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/t0HP_sQuGuw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A video from the Beforeplay campaign.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In contrast, queer sexual health campaigns designed by and for queer people, such as <a href="https://www.thedramadownunder.info/">The Drama Downunder</a> and <a href="https://downandirty.org/warning/?redirect=%2F">Down an’ Dirty</a> (note, this one is not suitable for work) promote sexual intimacy between queer partners through sexualised imagery and intimate representation. </p>
<p>Content will also be adapted and translated for multicultural and First Nations audiences. However, there are already sexual health campaigns designed by and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. <a href="https://youngdeadlyfree.org.au/about-us/the-syphilis-campaign/">YoungDeadlyFree</a> and <a href="https://takeblaktion.playsafe.health.nsw.gov.au/">Take Blaktion</a> are just two of these. They meet the needs of their audience through community consultation, and use of local language, humour, cultural references, and representation.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/teaching-young-people-about-sex-is-too-important-to-get-wrong-here-are-5-videos-that-actually-hit-the-mark-159438">Teaching young people about sex is too important to get wrong. Here are 5 videos that actually hit the mark</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The focus on pleasure is a plus</h2>
<p>Despite these criticisms, the focus on pleasure and having a good time is a strong positive for this campaign when young people still sometimes experience shame and stigma around sex. </p>
<p>We know <a href="https://healthequitymatters.org.au/article/saved-lives-gay-community-australian-response-aids/">historic campaigns</a> around HIV/AIDs that were sex and pleasure-positive (as opposed to negative and fear-mongering) were much more effective in reducing the transmission of HIV among gay and bisexual men. </p>
<p>Advocating for STI testing and the use of appropriate protection while emphasising fun and enjoyment is a progressive step towards recognising and affirming young people’s sexual rights and agency.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221219/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrea Waling receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Commonwealth Department of Health. </span></em></p>A new campaign encourages young Australians to get tested for STIs more frequently and to take other measures to improve their sexual health.Andrea Waling, ARC DECRA Senior Research Fellow in Sex & Sexuality, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2205762024-01-17T17:49:46Z2024-01-17T17:49:46ZMentors, nurture rooms and mindfulness: what schools can do to improve pupils’ mental health<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569277/original/file-20240115-27-c32m3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6720%2C4466&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/african-american-young-male-teacher-talking-2155310567">wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mental-health-of-children-and-young-people-in-england/2023-wave-4-follow-up#:%7E:text=Key%20Facts,20%20to%2025%20year%20olds">Recent data shows</a> that around 20% of children and young people aged from eight to 25 years have a probable mental disorder. </p>
<p>This is an increase from the 10% recorded in 2017, when the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a823518e5274a2e87dc1b56/Transforming_children_and_young_people_s_mental_health_provision.pdf">UK government declared</a> the prevalence of mental ill health in children and young people to be “one of the burning injustices of our time”.</p>
<p>Lack of investment in mental health services, coupled with growing demand, has left many children and young people with <a href="https://www.health.org.uk/publications/reports/improving-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-services?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0PLkg4DQgwMVUrZoCR0jgA_cEAAYASAAEgLJAvD_BwE">limited or no support</a>. </p>
<p>The effects are being felt in schools. Ofsted’s 2023 <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ofsted-annual-report-202223-education-childrens-services-and-skills/the-annual-report-of-his-majestys-chief-inspector-of-education-childrens-services-and-skills-202223">annual report</a> includes concern about the rising use of part-time timetables in schools – which can be for children struggling with their mental health. Part-time attendance may involve only attending school on specified days or daily attendance but with a reduction in the number of hours pupils spend in school.</p>
<p>Schools are operating with already stretched resources. But they are an obvious route to supporting children’s mental health. Children and young people spend a significant proportion of their time in schools. </p>
<p>With the proper resources to help, schools could offer swift support – especially when many children and young people experience delays in accessing external support, particularly from child and adolescent mental health services. </p>
<p>A key way that schools could support children’s mental health is the introduction of a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/promoting-children-and-young-peoples-emotional-health-and-wellbeing">mental health curriculum</a>. This would aim to develop pupils’ mental health literacy by developing their knowledge of mental health issues and introducing them to strategies to manage their own mental health.</p>
<h2>Dedication to mental health</h2>
<p>My <a href="https://nasenjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-9604.12301">own research</a> with colleagues explored the impact of a mental health curriculum delivered by a sports community trust and school partnership, with 570 young people in schools across Cambridge.</p>
<p>The curriculum included sessions on stress, resilience, social media use and self-management strategies. A mental health curriculum was designed and delivered by sports coaches who were employed by the community trust and trained in mental health to students in secondary schools. Footballers from the local football club contributed by sharing their own lived experiences of mental ill-health. </p>
<p>Not only did students’ knowledge of mental health improve, but they also gained knowledge of strategies to help themselves cope with adversity and how to help others with mental ill health. </p>
<p>Another strand of the whole school approach relates to working in partnership with children and young people to improve mental health. We conducted <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JPMH-10-2018-0073/full/html">another study</a> in which older students acted as mentors in secondary schools. They designed and delivered weekly physical activity sessions to younger students with social, emotional and mental health needs. </p>
<p>We found that this improved levels of physical activity, which supported children’s mental health. The younger students gained coping skills and the programme also helped with their social skills, by leading to the development of supportive and trusting relationships between mentors and the students they were supporting. </p>
<p>Both studies illustrate that schools can play a role in supporting children and young people’s mental health – but that they require help and funding to do so.</p>
<h2>Space and time</h2>
<p><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a800636e5274a2e8ab4dbb5/Supporting_children_with_challenging_behaviour_through_a_nurture_group_approach.pdf">Nurture groups</a> are used in some schools to support children with social, emotional and mental health needs. They can take place in nurture rooms, which tend to be more informal spaces than standard classrooms and provide positive environments for children to develop social and emotional literacy and regulation skills. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="children sitting on floor with teacher" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569280/original/file-20240115-29-gr73c2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569280/original/file-20240115-29-gr73c2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569280/original/file-20240115-29-gr73c2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569280/original/file-20240115-29-gr73c2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569280/original/file-20240115-29-gr73c2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569280/original/file-20240115-29-gr73c2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569280/original/file-20240115-29-gr73c2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Schools need resources to help them dedicate time to mental health.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/multiethnic-group-elementary-school-kids-sitting-2183007907">zEdward_Indy/Shutterstock</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Nurture groups focus on helping children with their confidence, self-esteem and communication and with establishing positive relationships with others. These skills are explicitly taught and children have opportunities to practise the skills they learn. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://pureadmin.qub.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/200652726/1_s2.0_S0190740919309697_main.pdf">research study</a> involving 384 children aged five and six demonstrated improvements in social, emotional and behavioural outcomes, although there was no evidence that nurture groups led to improvements in academic outcomes. </p>
<p>Mindfulness is another practice that can take place in schools. The aim of mindfulness, as a practice, is to focus attention on the present rather than the past or the future, through guided participation. This could include focusing on breathing or a specific part of the body. </p>
<p>People can then use mindfulness by themselves to support their own mental health. Research with 216 secondary school students <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15427609.2013.818488">has demonstrated positive effects</a>, including improvements in emotional regulation and emotional clarity as well as a reduction in perceived stress.</p>
<p>However, it is important to remember that teachers are not mental health therapists. There are professional boundaries that apply to what they can and cannot do. In a 2023 documentary on young people and mental health, presenter Roman Kemp called for the government to <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001s1mm">commit funding</a> so that all schools can benefit from the expertise of an education mental health practitioner. </p>
<p>These practitioners are employed by the NHS. They are deployed into schools to provide help for children and young people with mental health needs. Increasing investment in this service would ensure that schools are better resourced and able to address mental health needs. </p>
<p>In addition, increased government funding would also enable all schools to appoint a suitably qualified designated member of staff to lead and manage the mental health provision across the school. This should be a protected role, free from other responsibilities. </p>
<p>Proper investment in mental health services is urgently required so that young people can get the support that they need in a timely manner.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220576/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonathan Glazzard does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Schools are operating with already stretched resources. But they are an obvious route to supporting children’s mental health.Jonathan Glazzard, Rosalind Hollis Professor of Education for Social Justice, University of HullLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.