New research shows the benefit of bullying interventions in schools

Study explores the long-term social and economic impact of effective bullying interventions implemented in primary schools.

MQ: Transforming Mental Health have published a report which finds that the implementation of evidence-based school bullying interventions could prevent over 24,000 cases of bullying each year.  This would significantly improve the mental health of thousands of young people, and save the UK economy £348 million per year group. This represents a  return on investment for £146 for every £1 invested in implementing a proven model.

The economic model uses data from the 1958 Birth Cohort on outcomes associated with childhood bullying to estimate the potential short- and long-term benefits of effective anti-bullying interventions in schools.

The report highlights that with such clear evidence pointing to the link between bullying and mental illness, it’s vital that schools receive support from both the government and public funding to rollout evidence-based schemes to tackle it.

Full report: The Economic Case for Prevention in Young People’s Mental Health: Bullying Personal Social Services Research Unit (PSSRU) | London School of Economics and Political Science | MQ: Transforming Mental Health

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Body dissatisfaction causing long lasting consequences for young people

Body dissatisfaction can start as young as six and lead to depression, anxiety and eating issues | Youth Select Committee

The Youth Select Committee, a British Youth Council initiative, is supported by the House of Commons and has 11 members aged from 13 to 18. This week, the committee is launching its report, A Body Confident Future which looks at the issue of body image, an issue highlighted as an area of concern in a recent poll of thousands of young people.

The Committee’s key recommendations include:

• Government sponsorship of an annual ‘National Body Confidence Week’ which would be supported by all relevant departments.
• Introduction of minimum standards for social media companies in relation to content moderation, to be enforced in the forthcoming digital charter.
• Measures to improve the diversity of advertising campaigns.
• Adequate funding for schools so that pupils are supported in their wider wellbeing, including on issues related to body dissatisfaction.
• Greater focus on body image in online resources aimed at young people, teachers and parents.

Full detail at British Youth Council

See also: BBC News: Young people out of love with their own bodies, says report

Funding of children and young people’s services

Turning the tide: reversing the move to late intervention spending in children and young people’s services. | The National Children’s Bureau | The Children’s Society |  Action for Children

This report looks at current funding and spending across children and young people’s services.  It finds councils no longer have the resources to fund early intervention services and suggests that this is likely to increase demand for more costly ‘late’ interventions.

Image source: http://www.ncb.org.uk

The report looks at current funding and spend right across children and young people’s services, and  provides an estimate of how much councils are receiving for children and young people’s services and where this is being allocated.