Nearly a quarter of girls aged 14 self harm

[HavingALittleBabyToolshed]

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-45329030]]

“A survey of 11,000 children found 22% of the girls and 9% of the boys said they had hurt themselves on purpose in the year prior to the questionnaire.”

This just breaks my heart. I dabbled with a little bit of self harm when I was about 16-17 but I cut it out pretty quickly. It makes me so sad to think of so many young people (22% of girls!) going through this.

22% of 14 year old girls is staggering.

Hopefully clicky

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-45329030

www.theguardian.com/society/2018/aug/29/quarter-of-14-year-old-girls-in-uk-have-self-harmed-report-finds?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

The Children’s Society report suggested that both boys and girls can be harmed by gender stereotypes and the pressure to live up to them. Children said they felt under pressure from friends to be good-looking, but those who felt boys should be tough and girls should have nice clothes were least happy with life.

And what are schools and other services pushing with this current agenda? Gender stereotypes FFS.

Having

Yes. I think it's really no coincidence that girls are self-harming to this extent in the climate of:

Academic pressure
Allied with the pornification of girls and women
Allied with the absolute obsession with perfect looks and adhering to sterotypical idea of femininity

It's a pressure cooker

And I see daughters of friends of mine, who are really good at expressing their feminist ideas and standing up at school against being made to wear skirts, then tripping of to Pride with their pink hair, little realising how little of a fuck Pride gives about them and their female bodies and their female experience

What I found interesting about this is this bit:

A separate survey of 10- to 17-year-olds and their parents across 2,000 households, also included in The Children's Society report, found the children were unhappiest with school and their appearance.
This research also suggests that boys and girls are often harmed by gender stereotypes.
Those who felt boys should be tough and girls should have nice clothes were least happy with life.

That last sentence speaks volumes. Children who feel that they don’t meet gender stereotypes are unhappy.

We need feminism now more than ever given this.
We also need to look very closely at toxic masculinity.

Figure would be higher than a quarter of girls if they included binding in the definition of self harm.

Seriously how are people not adding up 2+2 correctly in the face of so much evidence???

And now those kids are being told that all their problems will magically disappear if they simply change gender.

And now those kids are being told that all their problems will magically disappear if they simply change gender.

It's the ultimate self harm really isn't it

I wonder what counts as self harm for this survey? I pick at the skin around my nails (it has a name, I forget) and it's true I do it more when anxious (or bored) . It technically counts as self harming but I don't really do myself any harm and I don't consider myself unhappy or anxious generally.

My daughter falls into this category.

Am following for advice about management - so far all we have is kindness, giving her combs instead of blades and talking/space as required. Lots of guesswork - she says she doesn't know why she does it.

Sadly I think 1/4 is an underestimate, I’d’ve put it at 1/3, or perhaps I just live in an area where it’s particularly rife and school/parents deal with it via denial and yes, yes to PP who asked if binding was included in this figure

Yes - gender transition - NHS funded self harm.

Has self harming always been a problem?
I don’t recall it from when I was young in the 70s and 80s but perhaps it just wasn’t talked about.

My personal observations are that once pro-ana websites started being shut down/tackled self harm (cutting) increased. Once this has started to be addressed binding/F2M has increased.

I went to school in the 90’s and there’s was some self harm then but nothing on the scale I’ve witnessed as my own children went through secondary.

I also think social media has massively driven the current MH crisis and therefore the self harm epidemic

That is a staggering figure - but I'm unsurprised. Members of my family have been affected by this, and it's heartbreaking. One of my close female relatives has scars - bad scarring that will never go.

I think the pressure on young women (all young people in fact) is so intense, and can be intensified by social media. I was quite vulnerable and isolated as a young teen, and immersed myself in books, films and music as a result. I dread to think how certain websites would have impacted on me at that age.

I also read something yesterday about Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg etc not letting their kids spend a lot of time on-line. Something like "They fill their houses with books, while we buy our children their electronic devices, and let them on their websites (making them rich...)" I don't know how valid that is, but it made me think.

Personally I think there is a sex difference too. I think so many young people are feeling the pressure - but boys are more likely to lash out, and be violent to others, girls are more likely to self-harm.

Interesting about the skin picking. I thought the same thing.

I pick the skin around my nails. When I’m really anxious the skin on my feet too to the extent it’s hurts to walk!

I wonder if this counts. I have done it for years.

I wonder what the definition of self harm is

It also breaks my heart and I think life is so hard for young women these days

I am shocked that people are shocked at these findings. Self harm is endemic in our schools and has been for a least a decade

As a teacher I am not surprised, but very angry that there is so little support for girls. The disappearance of single sex organisations such as Guides is an issue, as I believe it is very important for girls to have friendships outside of school and be able to speak to older teenage girls or young women, in a safe space. Schools are not providing that, and are reinforcing the idea that sexual harassment is 'just what boys do'. Porn culture has a lot to answer for, and it should be condemned in the strongest terms. Out of curiosity, I wonder if girls fare better emotionally in single-sex schools? Are there studies on this?

Another who is not surprised. I think social media has resulted in us collectively eroding boundaries for children.
Back on the day there was an understanding of 'age inappropriate' materials and young children who had accessed porn / sexual activity when young were routinely referred under child protection guidelines.
Now children access porn and age inappropriate ideas / materials routinely via their phones. And the government funds groups promoting adult concepts like 'changing sex' and regressive sexual stereotypes to children far too young to appreciate the nuances and related issues. Childhood has become the recruiting ground for porn soaked men to find their future targets while everyone stands by watching and enabling.

Posted too soon,,,
It is unsurprising that girls resort to self harm when we are failing to protect or safeguard them from toxic influences.

Another one who would like to know what the definition of self-harming is.

I'm sure confusion around sexuality can lead to self harming but agree there are lots of other causes. Most of the cases I see are children who have suffered abuse or neglect (but that's because most of the children I work with have suffered abuse or neglect)