Pupils’ lessons on cyber-bullying and online stress
‘A minefield of challenges’
TEENAGERS will be given resilience lessons in school to help them cope with the pressures of modern life.
Classes to teach 11 to 16-yearolds how to deal with issues such as body image, online and social media stress and cyberbullying could soon be rolled out to all secondary schools.
Teachers will screen YouTube videos and clips from popular ‘vloggers’ in class to encourage digital- obsessed teenagers to engage with the topics. Pupils will also learn about bullying generally, as well as relationships, exam stress, alcohol use and smoking.
Public Health England (PHE) revealed the plans, which aim to give young people ‘crucial life skills to boost their resilience and improve their mental health’, at its annual conference at Warwick University yesterday.
The lessons will be taught during personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) classes, where young people also learn about issues such as healthy relationships, sexual consent and online safety.
The Government has announced plans to make these classes mandatory in secondary schools and is consulting on the proposal. Previously only sex education has been compulsory, although many staterun schools hold PSHE classes.
The resilience lessons, part of a programme called Rise Above for Schools, are designed to teach students coping strategies for dealing with everyday issues they face in the increasingly digital world.
Health leaders said they felt compelled to make the move after a survey of 5,335 children aged 11, 13 and 15, carried out by HSBC in 2014, revealed that one in three teenagers thought their body was ‘too fat’ and one in five had experienced cyberbullying.
Duncan Selbie, chief executive of PHE, said young people had asked for the help when they were consulted. He said after the conference: ‘Young people say it is necesit sary – the single biggest need they have is good mental health.
‘They want advice and support about how they manage stressful points in their life. And they want it presented in a way that works for them. It’s a really important part of how they become an adult.’
He criticised the notion that younger people today were part of a ‘snowflake’ generation who found more difficult to cope with life. ‘I have three teenage sons and they have a much tougher time than I ever did,’ he added. ‘The pressure on them to succeed, the examination schedule, the whole worry over “how will I get on in a career?”.
‘The world is shifting at a rate of knots and it is moving faster than it ever has done before. I think they’re being really authentic and I think it’s really good they are able to say it – that’s the first step to being able to deal with it.’
Professor John Newton, director of health improvement at PHE, said teaching children how to cope in school would make them more resilient into adulthood and in the workplace. He added: ‘As natives of the social media world, young people have to navigate a minefield of challenges while enjoying the benefits of technology.’