Bullying woes for teens

More than half of the borough’s 15-year-olds have experienced bullying in some form, a new survey has revealed.

The What About YOUth? 2014 report, by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), is the first survey of its kind looking at data on health, diet, physical activity, smoking, drinking, emotional wellbeing, drugs and bullying of teenagers across the country.

In the Borough of Rochdale, 53 per cent of those surveyed said they had been bullied in the past couple of months, slightly less that the average across England of 55 per cent.

Over two-thirds rated their life satisfaction as high or very high, while 13 per cent rated it as low, in line with the national averages.

Participants were also asked about their body image perception, with 52.3 per cent saying they were “about the right size”.

The survey also looked at alcohol consumption, with with five per cent saying they drank at least once a week, lower than the country average of six per cent.

Over six per cent class themselves as a regular smoker while almost one in 10 said they had tried cannabis.

The survey was commissioned by the Department of Health.

The number of people taking part in the survey varied for each question, with the average being around 800.