Background to the Research

• The Young Persons' Behaviour and Attitudes survey is carried out on behalf of a consortium of government departments and public bodies. Its aim is to gather information about the lives of young people in NI in relation to issues relevant to them such as school, nutrition, sports, smoking, alcohol, solvents, drugs, policing, personal safety, sexual experience and knowledge, relationships and the environment.
  

Research Approach

• The Central Survey Unit of the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency carried out the survey in October and November 2000. 6300 pupils (aged 11-16 years) from 62 post-primary schools in NI completed the survey.
  

Main Findings

School and Achievement

• 93% of pupils believe school is a place where the things they learn are important to them; 94% believe they learn things that are useful to them; and 90% believe the things that they learn will help them in later life.
• 72% of pupils find school boring, and 21% have skipped classes or school this term.
• Most pupils reported that their parents are supportive regarding school matters. 76% say their parents are always ready to help them with school problems; 66% say their parents are willing to speak to their teachers; and 89% say their parents always encourage them to do well at school.
• There were mixed opinions about parental expectations of the pupils' performance at school. 34% of pupils 'strongly agree' or 'agree' that their parents expect too much of them; 35% neither agree nor disagree; and 32% 'strongly disagree' or 'disagree' with the statement. However, 78% of pupils said that they 'strongly agree' or 'agree' that their parents are satisfied with their school work. Only 7% of the pupils 'strongly disageed' or 'disagreed' that their parents were satisfied.
• Most pupils (91%) attach importance to achieving good grades, and 67% feel that their teachers think their school performance compares well to that of their classmates.
• 84% of pupils feel some pressure due to the school work they have to do, and many (61%) report that they have difficulty falling asleep at night due to thinking about school. 74% worry to some extent about answering questions or speaking out in class.
• 62% of pupils think they will be going to university or a further education college when they leave school; one fifth do not know what they will be doing. ore

Nutrition

• Almost two-thirds (65%) of pupils eat sweets, chocolate bars or biscuits at least once a day, 64% drink fizzy drinks or squashes that contain sugar and 31% eat chips or other fried potatoes.
• 55% of pupils eat fruit at least once a day, and 38% eat vegetables and salads.
• Most pupils (81%) eat breakfast on most or all school days and 81% usually have breakfast at weekends.
• 51% of pupils eat school dinners, 19% buy school cafeteria snacks for lunch and 33% bring a packed lunch to school.
• 85% of pupils think there is usually a good choice available in the canteen at least some of the time and 51% would like to see more healthy foods available. The majority of pupils (92%) are aware of the benefits of healthy eating, and 90% have been taught about it.
• Of the female pupils surveyed, 19% say they are on a diet to lose weight, compared to 7% of male pupils, and 73% of girls would like to change something about their bodies, compared to 50% of boys.

Sports

• Most pupils enjoy physical activity (87%) and 89% enjoy their PE classes. 81% exercise apart from their PE lessons; 40% of pupils stay behind after school for sports; 22% say that they exercise every day outside school hours, 21% say they exercise 4-6 times a week outside school hours, 30% do this 2-3 times per week, 16 % once a week, 3% once a month, and 7% said they do this less than once a month or never. 47% said they are member of a sports club outside of school.
• 61% of pupils stated that they are more physically active during the school holidays than they are at school.

Smoking

• 35% of pupils have smoked tobacco, with most smoking for the first time at the age of 12. On this first occasion, 65% of pupils said they were given the cigarette by a friend or other person their own age, and 55% said that they were outside when this happened, for example, a park, a street or an entry.
• Nearly a third of pupils who have tried smoking currently smoke at least once a week, and 43% of these smoke 20 cigarettes or less a week.
• Most pupils have unfavourable views of smoking; 95% disagree that smokers have more fun than those who don't smoke, 90% disagree that smokers are more likely to have boyfriends or girlfriends, 89% disagree that smoking makes you look more grown up and 88% disagree that smoking helps you make friends more easily.
• Nearly all pupils believe that smoking can cause lung cancer (99%); 95% believe it can harm the health of non-smokers; and 93% believe that stopping is difficult.

Alcohol

• 56% of pupils have tried alcohol, with most drinking for the first time at 12 years of age. The majority were given the alcohol by their friends, the first and last times they drank. For most pupils this happened at a pub, party, rave, disco, club, or concert the first and last times they drank.
• 43% of pupils have been drunk on more than one occasion.
• The common types of alcohol drunk are spirit based mixers (45% drink these at least every month), followed by alcopops (37%), spirits (30%), and beer/lager/stout (26%).
• The reasons given for why pupils drink are: to celebrate (86%), because they like the taste (83%), to find out what it is like (60%), to feel relaxed (59%) and to cheer themselves up (59%).

Solvents

• One fifth of pupils have been offered solvents on at least one occasion, with most being offered them for the first time at the age of 12.
• Small numbers of pupils report that they have used the following solvents to get high at least once: butane gas/lighter refills (6%), aerosols (8%), glue (6%), and tippex/correcting fluid (7%). 2% have tried other solvents such as petrol, permanent parker or nail varnish. The majority of pupils were 12 years old when they tried solvents for the first time.

Drugs

• 28% of pupils have been offered drugs, the most common being cannabis, (this drug is considered the easiest to obtain). 49% of these pupils were offered drugs for the first time by a friend or other person their own age, and 46% said they were outside (in a park, street, entry, etc) when this happened. Most pupils were 14 years old when they were first offered drugs. 4% of pupils have offered drugs to someone else.
• 17% of pupils have used or tried drugs, mainly cannabis. Of these, 17% say they have been in trouble with their parent(s) or family, 14% with local people, 10% with school authorities, 6% with police, and 22% with friends because of having tried or used drugs.
• Only 32% of pupils claim they know a lot about the effects or risks of taking drugs. 73% of pupils have had drug education at school, and 22% have had drug education at a youth club or community centre.

Policing

• 65% of pupils have spoken to, or been spoken to by, a police officer in NI, mainly through attending a talk in school related to drugs or road safety etc.
• 37% have been really pleased and 38% have been really annoyed about the way that a police officer in NI behaved towards them or someone they know, or about how the police handled a matter in which they were involved.
• Less than half (46%) think the police in NI treat young people quite fairly or very fairly, and 46% are quite or very satisfied with the way the police do their job.
• 15% of pupils have been arrested or cautioned by the police in NI, mostly for vandalism, underage drinking or disorderly behaviour.
• 7% of pupils say they would be interested in joining the police in NI when they finish their education.

Personal Safety

• 47% of pupils have had something stolen from them and 43% claim they have been victims of bullying.
• Crimes that pupils worry about are: being caught in a bomb explosion (67%), having their home broken into (66%), having things stolen from their home (63%).
• Pupils feel they are most likely to be subject to name calling (32%), or assault (21%) because of their religion, or to have things stolen from them (21%).
• 21% of pupils think that the area where they live is unsafe, mainly due to gangs of people looking for trouble, vandals, and/or sectarian name-calling.
• 42% of pupils are worried about going to their nearest town centre at night because of the fear of being assaulted or because of drug addicts/pushers.

Sexual Experience andKnowledge

• 77% of pupils have had a girlfriend or boyfriend.
• 11% have had sexual intercourse, with the majority being 14 years old the first time. On this occasion, 74% used some form of contraception, the most common being a condom.
• 62% said they would find it easy to get contraceptives and most would get them from shops, chemists, bars, public toilets etc.

Relationships

• In general, 43% of pupils feel very happy about their life at present, and 47% never feel lonely.
• 30% think their parents are as easy going as their friends' parents concerning permission to go out at night etc. 21% find it easy to talk to one or both of their parents about sexual matters.
• Four fifths of pupils have three or more close friends and 85% have no difficulty in making new friends.

The Environment

• 58% of pupils are worried about litter and rubbish and 36% are worried about recycling. 65% think they can make a difference to litter and rubbish through their own actions and 59% believe they can make a difference to recycling. 41% always get rid of their rubbish carefully.
• Most pupils (63%) never urge others to use public transport instead of a car, nor to cycle or walk (56%).

Travelling to School

• Over half of pupils use public transport to travel to school (50% by bus and 1% by train), and from school to home (56% by bus and 1% by train). Of these, 41% get left to the bus or train by car, and 30% get picked up by car.
• A quarter of pupils travel less than one mile to school, and of these, 46% do not walk or cycle. Reasons given for this include not having enough time in the morning and because it's too far.