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8 Facts About Young People


Most of us are connected to at least one young person in our lives. Now if that young person is not represented in any of the statistics below, we should be very thankful because for a number of young people, they will be able to identify with one or more of the following statistics:


  1. 52% of homeless people seeking help are under 25 and half of these are due to relationship breakdown with parents

  2. 9 out of 10 people started smoking by the age of 18 in the United States

  3. In the UK, it is estimated that each year 207,000 children start smoking

  4. One in ten children between age 1 and 10 have a mental health disorder

  5. NSPCC report that they held almost 26,000 counselling sessions with children, due to bullying last year

  6. NSPCC also report that the top three concerns of children who contacted them last year were about:

  • Family relationships

  • Low self-esteem/unhappiness

  • Abuse.

7. ChildLine provided almost 35,000 counselling sessions about suicide from young people last year.


8. Among 15 year olds, 42% have been offered cannabis. The percentage of 15 year olds who took drugs last year, were reported to have taken cannabis alone.

I don’t know about you, but the above facts are quite disturbing to me. One thing that is very clear is that a lot of young people need help. Yes, there are great organisations out there providing support, however, I cannot help but wonder how a nation like ours, local communities like ours and families like ours, have got to the stage where a great number of our young do not feel supported.

What can we do?

The saying is ‘charity begins at home’, so let us start by supporting young people around us locally. One of the great ways of providing support is by mentoring young people. Become a mentor; there is so much you have to offer and you just might be that difference in someone else's life. If you belong to an organisation, charity, church or school, think about including mentoring as part of your agenda. If help is required to set up a mentoring programme or to become a mentor, please leave a message below or contact us.


Sources:

1http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/uncategorised/summary/facts-about-young-people/sty-facts-about-young-people.html

2CDC - Fact Sheet - Youth and Tobacco Use - Smoking ...

www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/youth.../tobacco_use/3http://ash.org.uk/files/documents/ASH_108.pdf4Office for National Statistics and Mental Health in Children and Young People in GB5https://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/child-abuse-and-neglect/bullying-and-cyberbullying/bullying-cyberbullying-statistics/6https://www.nspcc.org.uk/services-and-resources/research-and-resources/on-the-edge-childline-spotlight/7Sources: HSCIC Smoking Drinking and Drug use among young people www.hscic.gov.uk/pubs/sdd13 Statistics on Drugs Misuse: England, 2014 www.hscic.gov.uk/pubs/statdrugs14

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