NZ Youth (statistics)
CRIME
- 31% of NZ boys appear in court before their 25th birthday. (Church 2003)
- 45% of NZ boys reported adolescent-limited delinquency such as vandalism, carrying hidden weapons, arson, running away, truancy, selling drugs, buying alcohol underage, fighting in public places, shop lifting, burglary and buying and selling stolen goods. (Moffit and Harrington 1996)
- NZ total offence rate grew 102% from 1970 to 2002 (NZ Police) Since 1999-2000, violence has risen by 32 per cent, robberies by 55 per cent, grievous assaults by 70 per cent and sex crimes by 15 per cent.
- Internationally, from 1982 to 2002 total crime grew 100% juvenile crime grew 200% (UN/WHO)
MENTAL HEALTH
Nearly two out of three adolescents at age 18 have one or more diagnosable mental health disorder, including:
- 13.3% depressive episode
- 11.1% social phobia
- 10.4% alcohol dependence
- 5.2% cannabis dependence
- 10.4 % suicide ideation (Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development study 1972–2004)
- The estimated projected lifetime risk of any mental disorder at age 75 years was 46.6% with the median age of onset being 18 years. (NZ Mental Health Survey 2006)
- In 2003, among 15–24 year-olds 23.8 percent of all deaths were attributed to suicide (MOH 2006)
- In 2001, 107 young people aged 15-24, died from suicide. 79% of them were males. In 2002, there were 931 recorded hospitalisations of young people for attempted suicide. 72% of them were females.
- Troubled teenagers flooded counselling helplines in 2006 with more than 700,000 calls to disclose problems such as sexual abuse, bullying, violence, depression and self-harm.
PREGNANCY
- A 1998 Christchurch Health and Development Study reported that by age 21, 26% of young women have been pregnant at least once (30% of them more than once) and that 14% became parents.
- NZ has the second highest level of teenage pregnancies in OECD countries.
SEXUAL ABUSE
An international survey has found one in four New Zealand girls is sexually abused before the age of 15, the highest rate of any country examined. (2007 Auckland University Study)
PHYSICAL HEALTH
- The NZ Children's Nutrition Survey 2002 - covering children aged 5 to 14 - found that 21.3 per cent were overweight and 9.8 per cent were obese. Among adults, 35% were overweight and 21 per cent obese. The adult obesity rate has more than doubled since 1977.
- New Zealand ranks sixth fattest among Western nations
- A study of preschoolers, published in the NZ Medical Journal, found that 93% are going short on breads and cereals, topping up instead with high-energy products such as chips, muesli bars and cordial.
- One in seven children aged 5-14 go to school without breakfast. (MoH 2007)
- The current UK guidelines recommend an hour of exercise - but a recent study found only one in 10 children of school age achieve that limit. (BBC News)
VIOLENCE
- 30% of secondary school students reported being bullied at school in the past 12 months – 7% at least once per week.. (Minedu 2001)
- Education Ministry figures show a 41 per cent increase in girls being stood down, suspended or kicked out of school for assaults between 2002 and 2006. (Dominion 24/5/08)
- One in seven primary teachers reported one or more physical attacks in 2006. (PPTA)
- The Education Ministry's "traumatic incidents teams" responded to 1101 serious cases in the past decade, including suicides, murders, sexual misconduct and serious crime.
- In the year to June 2003, 7361 children under the age of 17 were assessed by CYF as abused or neglected, a rate of 7.2 per 1000 children. (CYF 2003)
ALCOHOL
- Alac statistics (2006) show about 125,000 teenagers (over 40%) under 17 fell into the category of binge drinkers with 50,000 drinking at least once a week – "with the intention of getting drunk”.
- The survey showed that during the past four weeks 69 percent of 18-to-19-year-old females and 68 percent of males drank to excess.
- More than a quarter of both females and males said they drank until they blacked-out with one in 10 saying they had been assaulted physically or sexually through alcohol-related behaviour in the past four weeks.
Alac estimates for 2005:
- New Zealanders drank 28.69 million litres of alcohol last year.
- 9.14 litres of pure alcohol for every person 15 years and over.
- 785,000 adults drink regularly every day. (approx 28% of all adults)
- 635,000 adults binge drink once a week. (approx 23% of all adults)
- 1.2 million drinkers accept binge drinking.
- 450,000 New Zealanders were binge drinking on their last drinking occasion.
- Public health sector costs for alcohol harm is $655 million a year.
- Crime and related costs $240 million.
- Social Welfare $200 million.
- Other government spending $330 million.
- A survey of more than 1000 25-year-olds found one in three admitted to an alcohol problem and one in 20 was alcohol-dependent or had an addiction where liquor ruled their lives and they needed it to function. Only 7% of those sought treatment. (Otago University's Christchurch School of Medicine 2007)
WHAT WE CURRENTLY DO ABOUT IT
- By the time children see professionals they normally have severe behaviour difficulties rather than children just with behavioural problems. 80% of special educational activities are deficit/ rehabilitation oriented.
- 5% of children are classified as having severe behavioural difficulties, but only a quarter of those are receiving support.
- Interventions at age 15 are only 20% effective. (all above: Church 2003)
- Demand for the 0800 What's Up youth telephone service has more than doubled in the last five years and in 2006, counsellors were able to answer only 30 per cent of over 600,000 calls for help.