‘Nearly a quarter’ of 14-year-old girls self harm in the UK, report shows

"Nearly a quarter" of 14-year-old girls in the UK self harm, a new report has shown.

22 percent of teenage girls told The Children's Society charity that they had self harmed in the past year. Nine percent of boys reported the same. Overall, one in six young people said that they had self harmed at that age. The charity estimates that almost 110,000 children aged 14 might have self harmed in the UK during the same 12-month period. This includes 76,000 girls and 33,000 boys. Sky News reports that campaigners said that the UK government needs to do more to support the mental health of young people. Chief executive at The Children's Society, Matthew Reed, said: "It is deeply worrying that so many children are unhappy to the extent that they are self-harming."

"Worries about how they look are a big issue, especially for girls, but this report shows other factors such as how they feel about their sexuality and gender stereotypes may be linked to their unhappiness."

11,000 young people were include in the overall study, published in the Good Childhood Report today. The report claimed that many young people in the UK feel pressured when it comes to gender stereotypes and sexuality. Reed said it is "vital" that the protection of children's mental health becomes paramount. "It's vital that children's well-being is taken more seriously," he said, "and that much more is done to tackle the root causes of their unhappiness and support their mental health."

"Schools can play an important part in this and that is why we want the government to make it a requirement for all secondary schools to offer access to a counsellor, regularly monitor children's well-being and have their mental health provision assessed as part of Ofsted inspections."