Quarter of 14-year-old girls admit to 'self-harming’

A new report examining the state of children's wellbeing in the UK has found that nearly a quarter of girls in the UK have self-harmed.

The Children's Society report, which is based on the responses of 11,000 children in the UK, claims that 22 per cent of girls and nine per cent of boys have hurt themselves on purpose in the year prior to the questionnaire, with the rates of self-harm worse among those who were attracted to people of the same or both genders.

The charity estimates that 109,000 children aged 14 may have self-harmed across the UK during the 12-month period in 2015, likely to be close to 76,000 girls and 33,000 boys.

The NSPCC says common reasons for self-harming include: depression, bullying, pressure at school, emotional abuse, grieving and having relationship problems with family or friends.

Matthew Reed, chief executive at The Children's Society, said: "It is deeply worrying that so many children are unhappy to the extent that they are self-harming. Worries about how they look are a big issue, especially for girls, but this report shows other factors such as how they feel about their sexuality and gender stereotypes may be linked to their unhappiness."