Surprising results from survey of Solihull schoolchildren

SOLIHULL schoolchildren are now less likely to smoke, drink or take illegal drugs than they were a decade ago.
A new survey of primary and secondary school pupils, which was presented to councillors last month, shows that on the whole students are living a more healthy lifestyle.
Over 90 per cent of the Year 8 students surveyed said they had never tried cigarettes, compared to two thirds in 2004.
Under age drinking is also well down according to the latest figures.
When questioned last year, only three per cent of Year 6 pupils had drunk alcohol in the past week. Ten years earlier, almost one in five admitted to having done so.
There has also been a marked decline in the number of secondary school children who admitted to having carried a weapon or other item for protection.
One area that may cause some concern for parents is the potential dangers that children are being exposed to online. In the 2014 study there were a number of questions about use of the internet and social media and some of the responses may well ring alarm bells.
Almost 30 per cent of pupils had seen pictures online that had upset them, around one in six had spoken to people they had never met and three per cent confessed they had received a chat message that had frightened them.
On the positive side, both schools and families are working hard to spread the message about staying safe online and an overwhelming majority of those who took part in the survey said that they had been taught to beware of the dangers of using sites such as Facebook.
The survey collated responses from over 8,700 six to 15-year-olds from 66 different schools across the borough.
Park Hall Academy, Grace Academy and John Henry Newman Catholic College were among the schools to take part in the study. The results were discussed in a special meeting held in Cooks Lane, Kingshurst and will be used to improve Solihull’s Healthy Schools programme.