Hundreds of Telford teenagers may be self-harming, says report

A survey of 15 schools and colleges from around the Telford & Wrekin area has revealed that one fifth of youngsters in secondary schools in the borough have had thoughts about self-harm or have actually done it.

The figures, released by Healthwatch Telford & Wrekin, show how boys and girls are struggling with exams, homework and their teachers and what they're doing to deal with the stress.

Girls were almost twice as likely to self harm as boys, while more than a third of transgender students said they had considered or actually carried out self-harm.

Some spoke to their friends about their problems, while others said that they ate to make themselves feel better.

Television, video games and sleep were other ways that the teenagers said they used to relax.

The survey also points to many students in Telford being stressed by their education, their personal life and their own expectations of themselves.

The students were asked how they would rate their own levels of distress at the time of taking the survey.

The report found: "When asked to rate levels of distress on a scale of one to 10, the average score for all respondents was 4.6.

"Responses from female respondents (5.2) indicated that they were more distressed than males (4.0)."

Transgender students were the most distressed, with the average coming in at 6.0.

Teenagers were most concerned about homework, exams and teachers, while girls and transgender respondents were far more likely to find stress from their friends than their male schoolmates.

In total, more than one fifth of respondents were stressed by body image. In female respondents this was almost one third and among transgender respondents almost half.

Social media – including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram – was a greater cause of stress amongst transgender respondents than all other respondent categories.

There was a number of places teenagers would look for help.

The report said: "Most respondents indicated that they would look for help from parents, with more than half also seeking help from friends.

"There was further evidence of a gender divide with females the most likely to seek help from friends and males most likely to look for help from parents."

Less than a quarter would turn to a teacher or tutor, while only 13 per cent would turn to the internet.

Overall, four-fifths of all respondents were white. Less than half the transgender respondents described themselves as white.

Some 83.6 per cent of all respondents indicated that their sexual orientation was heterosexual.

Respondents were also asked which subcultures they most identified with. Among the results were emo, goth, nerd and gamer. None and normal also scored well.