Understanding Children and Young People's Mental Health in Suffolk
Download (PDF 11.74 MB)Summary of report content
Healthwatch Suffolk undertook a large scale investigation into children and young people's mental health in Suffolk. From May 2018 to July 2018, an online survey was used to collect 7088 student's feedback from 11 schools and 1 college.
The report found that 68% of students are taught about mental health and wellbeing at school. Those who said their school did teach them about mental health and wellbeing had a higher wellbeing score. In terms of NHS service, students felt that it was most important that they felt safe and comfortable when accessing support, and that their information will not be shared without their permission. Exam pressure was the biggest cause of stress for both males and females and this increased as age increased. Females worry about their image far more than males, with more than half indicating they worry about it ‘most’ or ‘all’ of the time. Those who do not identify as male or female worry
about their body image the most, with 61% indicating they worry about it ‘most’ or ‘all’ of the time, especially if they have been. The highest incidence of bullying was in those who don’t identify as male or female, with almost a third (31%) saying they had been bullied online within
the last two months. Most young people (32%) said they spend three to four hours each day using a screen. Female average wellbeing scores consistently decrease with each increment of time spent using an electronic screen and with each increment of time spent on social media.
The recommendations made by Healthwatch Suffolk included that the mental health workforce within schools should be developed; stakeholders should work together to provide a systematic approach to upskilling children and young people on mental health and wellbeing across educational settings; that Healthwatch Suffolk are to evaluate the impact of previous programmes in schools and colleges and enhance learning.