If you picked up The Observer this past weekend you may have seen a frightening report on the pressures being felt by girls in Britain nowadays. What is frightening is that it paints a picture of a group in society in the midst of a struggle, a group overlooked. Over the past decade the media has increasingly portrayed a growing gap between the sexes academically. We presume girls perform better in school and tertiary studies and have more opportunities now then ever before and many may be surprised to see evidence that girls growing up may very well be in crisis.
To put this in perspective, let us look at some of the evidence outlined by Amelia Hill:
- A 19-year-long study by Helen Sweeting, published in the journal of Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, found that young girls had become the most depressed section of the population. Over one third of girls felt they were under constant strain and 44% reported mental disorders.
- Government research into 42,073 children between the ages of 10 and 15 stated that teenage girls were a vulnerable demographic, urgently in need of help.
- The UK has one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancy in the OECD only behind hat of Mexico, Turkey and the United States. British girls are also more likely to display signs of “risky hehaviour” such as drinking and smoking than other countries.
So what is the underlying cause of this behaviour and mental distress? Is it the combination of academic performance pressure, and physical and behavioural attributes strived for due to celebrity culture? Have your say and tell us what you think may be the cause.
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