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Below you will find some statistics about young British people, taken from newspaper surveys and the Office of National Statistics. We have added reactions to the statistics from a British teacher, who is also the parent of two teenage children. To read these, click on the link after each statistic.
Ideas for Classroom Use
The Statistics
HEALTH
29% of 15-year-old girls are regular smokers and 19% of boys
Weight – 47% of girls 16-19 are on a diet and 28% of boys of the same age are trying to gain weight
Illness – 1/5 of teenagers have a chronic disease of some kind (asthma the most common, and increasing at the fastest rate)
Teacher/Parent’s reaction
LEISURE ACTIVITIES
- Favourite activities of 16-24 yr.olds – 82% going to the pub; 77% going for a meal; 68% going clubbing (going to night clubs)
- Favourite activities of teenagers –
watching TV (favourite programmes Eastenders and Who wants to be a Millionaire); playing computer games; shopping for clothes
- Sport – three out of four boys aged 16-17 are involved in sports outside school, (mainly team sports with football the most popular); four out of ten girls of the same age take part (mainly swimming and keep-fit); participation falls off for both rapidly when they start to earn money and learn to drive.
- Teacher/Parent’s reaction
EDUCATION
- Staying on - three quarters of girls and 2/3 of boys stay on at school after compulsory education finishes at 16
- Results - the number of girls achieving two A-Levels has doubled to 25% since 1976, while boys have managed only a six per cent rise to 21%
- Subjects - most girls choose languages and literature, even though they matched boys with their GCSE grades in science and maths
- Teacher/Parent’s reaction
IDENTITY
(Sunday Times survey of 1,000 school pupils aged 13-16, 19 March 2000)
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