"Many thanks for a major contribution to the health of children in the UK and elsewhere over many years and putting in place the continuation of the Unit." Tribute from a Director of Public Health to John Balding, presented at his retirement lunch, May 2005
Vulnerable pupils
Vulnerable pupils
We often look to see how groups of vulnerable young people are doing relative to their peers in our data sets.
We were recently prompted to look at young people who are young carers, who have special educational needs, who are attending PRUs, and who are in Special Schools. The numbers from PRUs and Special Schools who completed any of our questionnaires are small, and they may not have answered the same set of questions, so this analysis is rather patchy.
We looked in particular at their use of substances: tobacco, alcohol and other drugs. The questions we asked of young people about these topics included:
23. Smoking: Which statement describes you best?Answer ValueI have never tried smoking 0I have tried smoking once or twice 1I used to smoke, but I don't now 2I smoke occasionally (less than once a week) 3I smoke regularly but would like to give it up 4I smoke regularly and don't want to give it up 5
35. Have you ever had an alcoholic drink (a whole drink, not just a sip)?Answer ValueYes 1No 0
17. If you ever drink alcohol, do your parents/carers know?Answer ValueI never drink alcohol 0My parents/carers always know 1My parents/carers usually know 2My parents/carers sometimes know 3My parents/carers never know 4
13. Have you had an alcoholic drink (more than just a sip) in the last 7 days?Answer ValueNo 0Yes 1
25. Have you taken any drugs to get high (not medicines, tobacco or alcohol)?Answer ValueNo 0Yes 1
26. This question is about your EXPERIENCE of these drugs (not prescribed to you by a doctor)[A list of drugs is given here]Value Answer0 I have never taken this drug1 I have taken during the last month2 I have taken during the last year3 I took this drug more than one year ago
All | Year 8 | Year 10 | PRUS | Young carer | SPECIAL SCHOOLS | SEN | ||||||
Yes | No | Not sure | Yes | Yes | No | Not sure | Yes | |||||
Ever smoked | 20% | 10% | 31% | 57% | 22% | 28% | 35% | 21% | 16% | 23% | 23% | |
TOTAL | Valid N | 27,925 | 15,324 | 12,601 | 30 | 11,141 | 1,217 | 799 | 34 | 11,097 | 1,127 | 998 |
All | Year 8 | Year 10 | PRUS | Young carer | SPECIAL SCHOOLS | SEN | ||||||
Yes | No | Not sure | Yes | Yes | No | Not sure | Yes | |||||
Regular smoker | 3% | 1% | 5% | 20% | 3% | 6% | 8% | 9% | 2% | 4% | 5% | |
TOTAL | Valid N | 27,925 | 15,324 | 12,601 | 30 | 11,141 | 1,217 | 799 | 34 | 11,097 | 1,127 | 998 |
All | Year 8 | Year 10 | PRUS | Young carer | SPECIAL SCHOOLS | SEN | ||||||
Yes | No | Not sure | Yes | Yes | No | Not sure | ||||||
Ever alcohol | 30% | 21% | 41% | 44% | 28% | 25% | 28% | . | 33% | 38% | ||
TOTAL | Valid N | 15,193 | 8,116 | 7,077 | 27 | 9,127 | 1,161 | 655 | 1,309 | 190 | ||
All | Year 8 | Year 10 | PRUS | Young carer | SPECIAL SCHOOLS | SEN | ||||||
Yes | No | Not sure | Yes | Yes | No | Not sure | Yes | |||||
Ever alcohol 2 (from parent supervision question) | 20% | 14% | 27% | 32% | 20% | 21% | 23% | 10% | 16% | 17% | 17% | |
TOTAL | Valid N | 42,734 | 23,840 | 18,894 | 65 | 22,279 | 2,798 | 1,621 | 66 | 14,260 | 1,568 | 1,268 |
All | Year 8 | Year 10 | PRUS | Young carer | SPECIAL SCHOOLS | SEN | ||||||
Yes | No | Not sure | Yes | Yes | No | Not sure | Yes | |||||
Alcohol last week | 13% | 7% | 22% | 17% | 15% | 13% | 18% | 5% | 11% | 13% | 17% | |
TOTAL | Valid N | 27,791 | 15,570 | 12,221 | 48 | 14,935 | 2,219 | 1,206 | 21 | 5,513 | 413 | 466 |
All | Year 8 | Year 10 | PRUS | Young carer | SPECIAL SCHOOLS | SEN | ||||||
Yes | No | Not sure | Yes | Yes | No | Not sure | Yes | |||||
Never taken | 94% | 98% | 88% | 80% | 94% | 93% | 91% | 85% | 94% | 91% | 92% | |
During the last month | 3% | 1% | 6% | 10% | 3% | 4% | 5% | 9% | 3% | 5% | 4% | |
During the last year (not in the last month) | 2% | 1% | 3% | 4% | 2% | 2% | 2% | 2% | 3% | 3% | ||
More than one year ago (not in the last year) | 1% | 0% | 1% | 2% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 6% | 1% | 1% | 1% | |
[Incomplete] | 0% | 0% | 0% | 4% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | ||||
[Taken drugs to get high, no detail provided] | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 1% | 0% | 0% | ||||
TOTAL | Valid N | 35,634 | 19,977 | 15,657 | 50 | 19,350 | 2,480 | 1,428 | 34 | 9,577 | 867 | 919 |
Overall, we can see a higher likelihood of substance experimentation or use if the young people are flagged as being vulnerable in any of the ways we looked at. For example, young people who say they are young carers are more likely to be current or recent users of tobacco, alcohol and other drugs.
But the picture is not absolutely flat: for alcohol, we that some criteria show a difference but not others. Also, some of the differences are small, and achieve statistical significance (not shown) only because of the large sample numbers involved (all the differences for the Young Carers and SEN Pupils groups are statistically significant at p<0.001).
Lastly, we haven't tried to take account of confounding variables like poverty; it may be the poverty is associated with a greater likelihood of being a smoker and of being a young carer, and that's what is causing the apparent association.