UK failing LGBT+ teens on mental health - campaigners

By Rachel Savage

 

A group of school children hold flags near Windsor Castle on the day before the wedding of Britain's Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in Windsor, Britain, May 18, 2018. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj

 

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Britain needs to do more to help LGBT+ teenagers, campaigners said on Friday, after government data showed more than one in three struggle with mental health problems.

 

Nearly 35 percent of lesbian, gay and bisexual 14 to 19-year-olds in England had a mental disorder, compared to 13 percent of heterosexual adolescents, according to official data released on Thursday.

 

The research showed the mental health of all young people is worsening in England, and campaigners said there was a particular need for more support for children struggling with their sexuality.

 

"Even if children are referred for specialist mental health treatment there is a slim chance they will receive it, which is totally unacceptable," the NSPCC, a children's charity, said in an emailed statement.

 

"We hear from children and young people every day who are targeted because of their sexuality. The abuse and negative stereotyping can be so cruel they have self-harmed or been made to feel isolated and withdrawn from society."

 

Campaigners also blamed homophobic bullying and called on the government to reform education.

 

The number of children bullied because of their sexuality in Britain fell by almost a third between 2007 and 2017, according to a report published by the pressure group Stonewall.

 

However, nearly half of LGBT+ pupils experienced homophobic or transphobic bullying at school. Seven out of 10 lesbian, gay or bisexual children had thought about killing themselves.

 

The problem is even worse for transgender pupils, who are also more likely to attempt suicide and self-harm, according to the Stonewall research.

 

"When bullying is not addressed – it can have a deeply damaging and long-lasting impact on young people," Stonewall's head of policy Laura Russell told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by email.

 

"Children should be taught that LGBT people are no different from anyone else, and that anti-LGBT behaviour should be called out where safe and appropriate to do so."

 

Ros Sewell, a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy who has worked with children and young people, agreed there was not enough counselling in schools.

 

"When people are going through these issues and discovering, 'what am I, who am I,' there's no one to go and talk about that to," she said.

 

The government study found almost a quarter of all girls aged 17 to 19 had a "mental disorder", which includes hyperactivity and behavioural problems, compared to one in 10 boys.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-11-24

 

 

"Campaigners also blamed homophobic bullying and called on the government to reform education."

 

 This is pretty much the whole point of schools. To socialize the children and allow social norms to prevail, and those whose behavior lies outside the norms are subjected to peer pressure to lead them back on the straight and narrow. To just dub any peer pressure as homophobic bullying is inaccurate. I notice a very worrying trend these days of school admins and older pupils encouraging young children to consider sex changes and encouraging kids to be LGTB which at such a young age could be construed as a "fashionable" choice. No surprise that so many kids are suffering from extreme confusion/mental illness.

1 hour ago, TopDeadSenter said:

 

"Campaigners also blamed homophobic bullying and called on the government to reform education."

 

 This is pretty much the whole point of schools. To socialize the children and allow social norms to prevail, and those whose behavior lies outside the norms are subjected to peer pressure to lead them back on the straight and narrow. To just dub any peer pressure as homophobic bullying is inaccurate. I notice a very worrying trend these days of school admins and older pupils encouraging young children to consider sex changes and encouraging kids to be LGTB which at such a young age could be construed as a "fashionable" choice. No surprise that so many kids are suffering from extreme confusion/mental illness.

Arguably the most I’ll-informed hogwash I’ve read for a long time.

 

That you start your diatribe with ‘this is pretty much the whole point of schools’ is surely sick irony.

Funny that ,not many kids seemed "worried" about this sort of thing when we were young in school , but then we did not have all these different minorities harping on about how normal it is to be like them then ,we had other things to worry about .

Hardly surprising that children are mentally ill with all this complete rubbish they are subjected to now and being told to make choices they are supremely unready to for years...then have their delusions indulged and encouraged by older lunatics. Will not work out well. 

21 minutes ago, bert bloggs said:

Funny that ,not many kids seemed "worried" about this sort of thing when we were young in school , but then we did not have all these different minorities harping on about how normal it is to be like them then ,we had other things to worry about .

Either there were no LGBT kids when you were young, or there were and you were not aware of the fact.

 

Times have moved on and past you.

 

It happens.

Of course they suffer from mental health problems, some of them are mentally ill

3 hours ago, rooster59 said:

However, nearly half of LGBT+ pupils experienced homophobic or transphobic bullying at school. Seven out of 10 lesbian, gay or bisexual children had thought about killing themselves.

 

The problem is even worse for transgender pupils, who are also more likely to attempt suicide and self-harm, according to the Stonewall research.

 

I'll be honest and admit that, at times, I can feel uncomfortable dealing with gay, etc. people.  Yet, some of the nicest people I have ever met were homosexual, and I enjoyed their company.  So, I realize that this may be due to how social pressures affected me starting back during childhood.      

 

Anyway, while I can understand feeling uncomfortable with it esp. if one was socialized in a certain way, I just don't get why some straight people have a need to taunt or cause some other harm to someone merely due to the other's sexuality.  Why should they care if they are different in that way?  

 

Also, I would assume that many gay people already have or have had to struggle with tough personal issues arising from their sexuality.  Geez, give them a break.  Besides, as I understand it, they are born that way.  We all have our own personal issues.  One may be surprised by how much they have in common with someone even though their sexuality is different.  

  

I hope that people would choose to treat decently and respectfully their fellow humans rather than to cause pain and harm to others merely because they are different from them.

 

  

Sadly you could argue the same for many of the old, the sick, people working two part-time jobs to exist, the homeless, ex-servicemen and the long term unemployed. The list is endless as recent govts have decided to help themselves and the corporate and banking rich, leaving the rest with vastly reduced resources. Its called austerity and has been govt policy for several years.

Why does it become the taxpayer's problem ?

4 hours ago, bert bloggs said:

Funny that ,not many kids seemed "worried" about this sort of thing when we were young in school , but then we did not have all these different minorities harping on about how normal it is to be like them then ,we had other things to worry about .

'When we were young in school', U.S., 1950's, repression was so complete that no one would dare admit to his/her truth.  The one kid in my class who was unavoidably aware of his sexuality was harassed and bullied on an almost daily basis.  Not too surprising that you didn't notice.

1 hour ago, lannalad said:

'When we were young in school', U.S., 1950's, repression was so complete that no one would dare admit to his/her truth.  The one kid in my class who was unavoidably aware of his sexuality was harassed and bullied on an almost daily basis.  Not too surprising that you didn't notice.

When i was in school my cousin was older than me and had left ,he was gay,or as my dad said ,"he wears suede shoes you know" but to be honest nobody really seemed to care ,he just got on with things and did not feel it necessary to wave a rainbow flag or dress in a silly costume or parade down the street. The other boy who was in our school ,seemed to like being with the girls all the time ,and not because he fancied them ,but nobody bullied him ,in fact he was quite well liked .

its not what people want or think they are that bothers people ,its the fact it has to be stuffed down out throats all the time and constantly put into tv shows how "normal" it is to get married to another man and adopt children . etc etc . we dont want to know ,just live your life your way quietly

I soon as I saw the title of this thread I knew it was going to be a load of lefty/PC hogwash. I couldn't get further than the first few posts before giving up. Cheeze, any excuse to invent a syndrome or disorder to force a kid to become one of the minorities. Lefties, snowflakes etc are very dangerous people and as time passes, their voices seem to be getting louder. We also appear to have more than our fair share in the expat population of Thailand.

5 hours ago, bert bloggs said:

Funny that ,not many kids seemed "worried" about this sort of thing when we were young in school , but then we did not have all these different minorities harping on about how normal it is to be like them then ,we had other things to worry about .

People that were bullied "worried" about it. 

4 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

People that were bullied "worried" about it. 

Sorry to disappoint you Jing ,but in my school no one was bullied , it was not even something that came up , when i was younger i was in a public school and "certain things" went on among some boys , we all just laughed at it and got on with playing cricket etc .???? i could not care less then or now what people want to do to each other ,just get on and keep it to yourself ,

i am sure many of us straight people have a few things we like to get up to with someone of the opposite sex ,we dont shout it to all and sundry and try to indoctorinate our kids how "normal" it is .

2 minutes ago, bert bloggs said:

Sorry to disappoint you Jing ,but in my school no one was bullied , it was not even something that came up , when i was younger i was in a public school and "certain things" went on among some boys , we all just laughed at it and got on with playing cricket etc .???? i could not care less then or now what people want to do to each other ,just get on and keep it to yourself ,

i am sure many of us straight people have a few things we like to get up to with someone of the opposite sex ,we dont shout it to all and sundry and try to indoctorinate our kids how "normal" it is .

What a clueless response. Straight people are shouting about it all the time. You don't even see that. Hilarious. 

What a clueless response. Straight people are shouting about it all the time. You don't even see that. Hilarious. 

What are they shouting about? Hetrosexual pride marches ,black and white flags for straight people? Hetrosexual pride day? Hetrosexual and proud badges? Come on do tell

Sent from my SM-A720F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

2 minutes ago, ivor bigun said:

What are they shouting about? Hetrosexual pride marches ,black and white flags for straight people? Hetrosexual pride day? Hetrosexual and proud badges? Come on do tell

Sent from my SM-A720F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

Another one that doesn't see the obvious. Amazing. The entire world is a Straight Pride Parade, every day. When there have been literal Straight Pride Parades as happened in Uganda they have nothing to do with straight pride. Instead they're about fomenting hatred against gay people, even supporting their mass murder. 

13 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

What a clueless response. Straight people are shouting about it all the time. You don't even see that. Hilarious. 

Quite frankly anybody who makes a song and dance about their sexuality is a tool. There is nothing to be proud of in being straight , gay , black or white , they are simply the hands we were dealt.

Bigotry is best fought by accepting diversity and celebrating it as a whole , not by minorities ( or majorities ) promoting how different they are.

12 minutes ago, ivor bigun said:

talking about us in civalized countrys,now answer the question

You may have confused 'civilised' with 'decadent'.

Most countries where anything goes are about to fall into chaos.

Should anyone really be surprised that so many teens in Britain, the seventh wealthiest country on the planet, are suffering anxiety, depression and taking their own lives in unprecedented numbers? Just look at the way they are being conditioned by society.

 

Most are "educated" in a dreadful State system more interested in preaching the joys of gender fluidity and other "progressive" nonsense than equipping children with the skills needed to built a career.  Many of those who get to university face having to pay back huge cost of getting there - IF they can find work. 

 

Even the brightest graduate knows this is going to be a struggle as, year by year, robots and AI mop up millions of jobs and competition becomes ever fiercer.

 

As if all this weren't bad enough, along with the rest of us our chidlren are constantly brainwashed into believing that the entire planet is doomed to extinction due to overpopulation, dwindling resources and seemingly unstoppable global warming.

 

No wonder more of them than ever are queuing up to see a shrink. At times I'm tempted to join them. 

33 minutes ago, Krataiboy said:

Should anyone really be surprised that so many teens in Britain, the seventh wealthiest country on the planet, are suffering anxiety, depression and taking their own lives in unprecedented numbers? Just look at the way they are being conditioned by society.

Probably more to do with prospects, pensions, job security, housing, the nuclear family and 'austerity' than sexuality.

My Thai son has much better future prospects (and a better family life) in a 3rd world country than my other 3 sons back in the UK (living with their single mom).

Edited November 24, 20187 yr by BritManToo

Some troll posts have been removed.

6 hours ago, jesimps said:

I soon as I saw the title of this thread I knew it was going to be a load of lefty/PC hogwash. I couldn't get further than the first few posts before giving up. Cheeze, any excuse to invent a syndrome or disorder to force a kid to become one of the minorities. Lefties, snowflakes etc are very dangerous people and as time passes, their voices seem to be getting louder. We also appear to have more than our fair share in the expat population of Thailand.

‘Snowflake’, you say!

2 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Probably more to do with prospects, pensions, job security, housing, the nuclear family and 'austerity' than sexuality.

My Thai son has much better future prospects (and a better family life) in a 3rd world country than my other 3 sons back in the UK (living with their single mom).

Kid’s who are deserted by their fathers often have it tough.

 

Though to be fair it depends on the father, sometimes being deserted is an improvement.

Ahhhhh...I see now. Chomper Higgot, you are the poster than many talk about being perpetually confused with almost every post and I was wondering who it was...case closed now. Maybe TVF is too nuanced for you and maybe you would be better off here https://mlpforums.com so as to not pop your bubble too much.

Edited November 24, 20187 yr by Brigand

13 minutes ago, booty call said:

This is leftwing child abuse with kids being overtly invited and encouraged to be LGBT with instant inclusivity and celebration in this morass of twisted social engineering.  No one bats an eyelid.  About as sinister as it gets.  

It is exactly this type of attitude that causes people in the LGBT community  to have anxiety issues.

 One is not  encouraged  in to their sexuality , this is something one is born in to.

 If one does not like broccoli one might be "encouraged" and subsequently convinced to  try it but one could only be convinced to continue eating  the broccoli by force.

  Your attitude encourages people to deny their sexuality from fear of  ostracization, and force them to live compromised lives.

   I could sense a anxiety in my daughter as she entered her formative years but had no clue. When she came out to me, I was relieved. My response to her was these are my exact words "Honey your sexuality is none of my concern, all I want for you is to be Happy, Healthy and Wealthy, I rather you are gay and happy than pretending to be something you are not and unhappy.

She has being in a stable relationship with the same partner for three years , (love them both) they are  happy, healthy , and working on the wealthy part with my help.

 There is nothing more sad than a compromised life!!

4 minutes ago, sirineou said:

It is exactly this type of attitude that causes people in the LGBT community  to have anxiety issues.

It's the kids that are most definitely not of the rainbow persuasion that concerns me but they're encouraged to do so.

20 minutes ago, Brigand said:

Ahhhhh...I see now. Chomper Higgot, you are the poster than many talk about being perpetually confused with almost every post and I was wondering who it was...case closed now. Maybe TVF is too nuanced for you and maybe you would be better off here https://mlpforums.com so as to not pop your bubble too much.

For a person so many talk about being confused he sure has a lot of "likes",

  Instead of  ad hominem attacks , how about finding something wrong with what he said? as I did with your reply

1 minute ago, booty call said:

It's the kids that are most definitely not of the rainbow persuasion that concerns me but they're encouraged to do so.

exactly what is your concern?