Exams, technology and family breakups are driving children to suicide, say teachers

Teenagers who spend their evenings shut away in their rooms watching television become increasingly isolated and can struggle to find help, members of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers said.

Delegates at the union's annual conference in Torquay backed a motion "expressing deep concern at the increasing number of pupils across the UK who have committed suicide due to academic, social and peer pressure".

The warning comes amid nationwide concern over a spate of teenage suicides in Bridgend over the past year.

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ATL delegate John Harkin, from Oakgrove Integrated College in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, said: "Who could fail to be moved by the tragedies of Bridgend?

"Across the UK, in all of our communities, young lives are ending prematurely through what has been called 'the permanent solution to a temporary problem'.

"Every year in the UK, between 600 and 800 young people between the ages of 15 and 24 take their own lives, which is the equivalent of the population of a smallish secondary school.

"We must consider the impact of policies and practices, of changes to curriculum, examinations, peer pressure, social pressure and so on."

He went on: "Young people are now much more likely to have televisions in their bedrooms and all sorts of sophisticated technology, when earlier generations had far less.

"With the television in a bedroom comes isolation, and a loss of community, perhaps."

The union surveyed 800 teachers and found that three quarters believe children are under more stress now than a decade ago.

The pressures of preparing for tests and exams, as well as the stress of family break-ups, are behind a rise in self-harm, anorexia and bullying, the teachers said.

ATL general secretary Mary Bousted said: "The recent shocking spate of teenage suicide has focused attention on children's mental health and well-being.

"Our survey also shows an increasing number of cases of self-harm and eating disorders brought on by stress."

Ms Bousted said children and teenagers now faced "intolerable strain from an education system which cannot stand failure".

She added: "From an early age, children face the pressure to perform in tests to boost their schools' league tables.

"Then they take on parental demands to get into their choice of secondary school and later university.

"They are anxious to fit in with their peers, and then, when they don't fit in, are bullied via text, email and social networking sites."