Stress of school and social media leads to rise in girls’ unhappiness

EXAM stress and social media mean twice as many girls are unhappy compared with a decade ago, a Girlguiding survey has found.

Almost 30 per cent of young women aged 17 to 21 say they are not happy, up from 11 per cent in 2009.

Anxiety around exams was cited as a leading cause of stress, with 69 per cent of 11- to 21-year-olds saying exams and tests were the main cause among girls their age, and 59 per cent saying pressure from social media was to blame.

Girls were significantly less likely to be socialising in person with their friends, with the proportion of 11- to 16-year-olds who said they spent time at each others’ houses falling from 69 per cent to 21 per cent during the last decade.

Over the same period there was an 11 per cent rise in girls saying they socialised

with friends on social media. The charity said there was more openness about mental health, and girls were more likely to speak up about issues that affected them or that they cared about.

More than one in three said they had

done this, compared with 28 per cent in 2011, though only 60 per cent said their voices had been heard and made a difference.

Amanda Medler, Girlguiding’s chief guide, said: “The message could not be clearer from girls and young women about the seriousness of the issues they’re facing daily and the negative

impact on their lives. It’s not good enough that girls are unhappier and more of them are experiencing problems with their mental health than in previous years.”

Izzy, 17, a member of Girlguiding’s advocate panel, said: “The research from the last 10 years doesn’t paint a great picture for girls and young women, but it’s reassuring to see some positive signs.

“Girls feeling more able to talk openly about mental health makes me optimistic for the future,”

The report also highlighted the growing issue of online abuse, with one in four saying they had been threatened on social media, and almost one in 10 over-13s saying photographs of a sexual nature had been sent around their schools or workplaces.

However they were more likely to report it than in the past, with the proportion of 11- to 21-year-olds saying they would flag abuse to the social media website doubling to 46 per cent.