Transforming Learning Through Online Storytelling: : 'Making the News' Evaluation Report

This report presents the findings from an independent evaluation undertaken by the University of Hertfordshire of the ‘Making The News project’ as it functioned within the East of England Broadband Network region (E2BN). Making the News represents a set of simple tools that allow teachers and students to rapidly produce ‘news’ stories and publish them on line. It was developed by the Centre for New Media at the Open University in conjunction with E2BNFinal Published versio

Associations between physical activity in adolescence and health behaviours, well-being, family and social relations.

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis Group in International Journal of Health Promotion and Education on 16 September 2014, available online at: https://doi.org/10.1080/14635240.2014.923287Across Europe and North America, few young people meet the recommended levels of physical activity (PA) of 1 hour of moderate to vigorous PA per day. However, the lives of young people cannot simply be polarised as either completely sedentary or active. Drawing on findings from the World Health Organization Health Behaviour in School-aged Children cross sectional international study, this paper examines the domains of adolescent life associated with young people's participation in overall PA, including health behaviours, social relationships and family activities. Consideration is also given to gender differences. Information in England was collected from 4404 students aged 11, 13 and 15 years, using anonymised self-completed questionnaires. Physical aspects of lifestyle were determined using internationally validated items for measuring PA that met international guidelines for activity and the frequency and duration of vigorous exercise undertaken during leisure activities. Separate analyses were conducted for boys and girls. Levels of PA and vigorous exercise were compared using the chi-squared test for trend. The findings draw attention to the value for the health and well-being of young people participating in some form of PA, even if they do not meet the recommended levels. Medium levels of PA appear to be associated with high levels of life satisfaction, self-rated health and an improved sense of body image. Significant health gains are likely to be made for adolescents in encouraging sedentary young people to undertake some form of PAPeer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Do grandparents matter? : The impact of Grandparenting on the wellbeing of children

This timely and important report shows the immense value of grandparents in 21st century family life. It reveals a unique relationship that exists between the older generation and the youngest: a relationship of love and trust that enables the children to use their grandparents as confidantes and counsellors as well as playmates and cookery instructors. The report shows that children value the non-critical support, emotional advice and guidance that grandparents offer and enjoy the quality time their grandparents give them. It also found that the relationship has benefits for grandparents adding to their raison d’être and contributing to their health and longevity. The report also notes the change in the nature of family relationships in Britain throughout the 20th century, from the extended family to the nuclear family to the current variety of relationships, formal and informal, in which both the elderly and the young suffer neglect. With today’s increased incidence of divorce and family breakdown, grandparents can sometimes provide the only stable family relationship in a child’s life, and yet grandparents often lose contact with their grandchildren during or after a divorce or relationship breakup and have no legal rights through the Family Court to continue offering loving care and support to their grandchildren. The report concludes that there is need for much greater understanding of the role and function of grandparents in family life today.Final Published versio

Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC): World Health Organization Collaborative Cross National Study: Findings from the 2018 HBSC study for England

This report presents data from the 2018 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study in England. HBSC is an international study conducted in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO). The study captures data on young people’s health, health behaviours and social environment. In 2018, 3398 young people in England took part in the study. This report presents prevalence statistics and trends data spanning 2002-2018

Prevalence and Social Inequality in Youth Loneliness in the UK

From MDPI via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: accepted 2021-10-01, pub-electronic 2021-10-03Publication status: PublishedUsing data from the English arm of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study, we examined the prevalence of loneliness for school-aged adolescents and how it is linked to social inequalities. The HBSC study collects data from 11-, 13-, and 15-year-olds, and is repeated every four years, allowing the exploration of prevalence rates of loneliness pre COVID-19 pandemic for comparison. We also explored whether loneliness was associated with socio-economic status (SES) and linked to academic attainment and health complaints. The total sample was 14,077 from 156 schools in England. Findings revealed a stable prevalence rate of 8.2% for loneliness from 2006 to 2014. We also found, across all survey years, (1) those aged 15 years were significantly lonelier than younger peers, (2) those who reported lower SES were lonelier than their more well-off peers, and (3) higher loneliness was associated with being ‘”below average” academically and reporting more health complaints. Conclusions: These prevalence data enable researchers, policymakers, and others to make comparisons with prevalence rates during the COVID-19 pandemic to explore whether there have been increases in loneliness among school-aged adolescents. Loneliness was consistently related to social inequalities, suggesting that targeted interventions that include whole systems changes are needed

The Mitigating Role of Ecological Health Assets in Adolescent Cyberbullying Victimization

Over the last decade cyberbullying has emerged as a public health concern among young people. Cyberbullying refers to intentional harmful behaviours and communication carried out repeatedly using electronic media. Considerable research has demonstrated the detrimental and long-lasting effects of cyberbullying involvement. This paper draws on a social-ecological perspective to identify protective health assets from across the multiple environmental domains of the adolescent that may mitigate against experiencing cyberbullying. Data were collected from 5335 students aged 11, 13 and 15 years who participated in the 2014 World Health Organization Health Behaviour in School-aged Children Study for England. Protective health assets were identified at the family (family communication), school (school sense of belonging and teacher support) and neighbourhood (neighbourhood sense of belonging) levels. In particular the findings draw attention to the protective role fathers can play in supporting young people