LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Almost half of British teenagers who are LGBT or questioning their sexuality have self-harmed, according to a study released on Wednesday that found they have significantly lower life satisfaction than their peers.
Homophobic bullying and “highly gendered” environments were adding to pressure on young people struggling with their sexuality, according to the report from The Children’s Society.
“There’s still an awful lot of stigma,” Richard Crellin, policy and research manager at the charity, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “There are still too many schools where being called gay is an insult, where there isn’t an inclusive atmosphere, and young people might feel like they need to hide their sexuality because they might be bullied by staff or by pupils.”
Although Britain is one of a handful of countries where LGBT people have equal constitutional rights, activists say young people often face intense pressure over their sexuality.
The Children’s Society report found a wide gulf between the happiness of teenagers who experienced same-sex attractions and those who did not, in an analysis of data collected from about 19,000 14-year-olds in 2015.
More than a quarter of LGBT or questioning teenagers were found to have low life satisfaction, compared just over ten percent among all respondents. Almost 40 percent had high depressive symptoms. Just over 15 percent of all the children surveyed said they had self-harmed in the previous year, a figure that rose to nearly half among those who reported same-sex attractions.
Foreward
Matthew Reed Chief Executive, Children’s Society
In the 13 years since our national children’s well-being research programme was established, The Children’s Society has asked over 65,000 children how their lives are going. This authoritative programme gives us profound and unique insights into how children feel about their lives.
This seventh Good Childhood Report – produced in partnership with the University of York – gives the latest national picture of children’s subjective well-being and trends over a number of years.
Children’s happiness with their lives had risen steadily in the 15 years from 1995 to 2010. But this progress has now been reversed and children’s well-being is now as low as it was two decades ago.
The 2018 report identifies other disparities: for example girls are unhappier with their lives, more likely to have depression, and twice as likely to self-harm as boys.
And shockingly, children attracted to the same or both genders have markedly lower well-being and higher rates of depression than other children – with almost half of these young people self-harming.
Our evidence shows that traditional gender stereotypes are still common and can be harmful to children’s well-being. The report highlights examples of young people struggling to t in with society’s expectations of them, for example the damaging effects to girls’ well-being of being bombarded by comments about their appearance at school.
With children facing overwhelming and sometimes con icting pressures about how they should look, who they should like and how they should behave, it should come as no surprise that many are struggling to have a happy childhood.
Our report makes challenging reading for parents, teachers and other professionals who aspire for children to have a happy childhood – but it also points to ways to boost young people’s well-being.
For example, our new evidence underlines that strong family relationships make the biggest difference to young people’s well-being, as children who feel closer and argue less often with their parents are far happier. Healthy interactions at school, and with friends outside school, also help to enhance children’s well-being.
The reality is that we all need to do more to make sure every child feels happy and included at home, school and in our communities. Together we can help young people feel valued, cherished and loved for who they really are. Because no child should feel alone.