THURSDAY, JUNE 2, 2011

THE DOMINION POST

A5

dompost.co.nz

NEWS

New Zealand is a temperate, peaceful, ethical and developed nation in which children should flourish, yet it is actually one in which they experience some of the highest rates of adolescent morbidity and mortality in the OECD. Sir Peter Gluckman YEAR 10 ONSLOW COLLEGE
Ryan Palmer, 14: Being a teenager is all about starting to push the boundaries a little bit trying to gure out who you are, what you like doing and want you want to do. But at the same time youve got to make sure that you dont overpush those boundaries and get yourself into a dangerous situation. Hannah Young, 14: A problem thats been ongoing is teenage depression and especially suicide. I dont think theres a lot of help for that sort of thing. I think [we need] education not only for students but for their parents as well, because sometimes their parents are not always going to know how to help them.

YEAR 13 WELLINGTON HIGH SCHOOL

Ethan Sagar, 17: agar, A big problem oblem would probably robably be drugs . . . s but it depends pends who takes them es really. Im from m Porirua I used to live in Elsdon and its around everywhere, like ere, down the road e there were houses ere that sell drugs and corner ner shops that hat sell booze ze to people e who are underage. e. Francesca Ancillotti, 17: Theres a lot of kids that do things because of their upbringing that makes makes k a huge difference to them. Family violence and all that sort of stuff is much more f of a problem than teenagers being crazy with alcohol and drugs. That should be much be more of a priority for the Government. Harrison Clare, 17: These days not everyone condes in their parents, so you cant really get good advice from them because you dont want to tell them what youve been up to. Theres technology that always gets brought up, but Facebook and internet bullying, I personally havent really seen anything like that. I think thats cited as a false source of problems.

It will take a generation to help Kiwi teens

Kate Newton
HEALTH

IT WILL take a generation to turn around the struggles facing adolescents, a comprehensive Government report says. The report from the prime ministers chief science adviser, Sir Peter Gluckman, says one in five young New Zealanders will experience problems as they grow up that will affect the rest of their lives. Prime Minister John Key has said he will throw the weight of his office behind improving mental health support for young

Sir Peter Gluckman: Theres no magic bullet here. Were going to have to take a long-term view.
people, which the report says is woefully deficient. Child abuse, alcohol, bullying and earlier sexual development are among issues singled out in the report, which was written by two dozen researchers and canvassed hundreds of New Zealand

and international studies. It finds many adolescents problems can be traced back to early childhood and recommends investment in atrisk children and their families while they are still very young. Most of the reports 11 recommendations are broad, but include: More mental health screening, prevention and treatment programmes specifically for adolescents, along with a boost in the number of people trained to work with young people. Tighter alcohol regulations, including raising excise tax and a purchase age of 21.

TROUBLED YOUTH
Among OECD countries, New Zealand has: The highest youth suicide rate. The fifth-highest teen pregnancy rate. The second-highest road fatality rate for 15- to 17-year-olds. A child abuse rate four to six times higher than the leading countries. And: A 2007 study found 34 per cent of high school pupils reported binge drinking in the previous four weeks. Three-quarters of young people with depression receive no help.
Creating new policy and programmes based on scientific evidence, not anecdote or advocacy. New Zealand is faced with a paradox, the report says. [This] is a temperate, peaceful, ethical and developed nation in which children should flourish, yet it is actu-

ally one in which they experience some of the highest rates of adolescent morbidity and mortality in the OECD. Changing that would require sustained effort over a decade or longer and had to avoid adversarial politics, Sir Peter said yesterday. Theres no magic bullet here. Were going to have to take a long-term view. Mr Key said teenage depression would be a priority. Im particularly interested in lending the weight of the office of [the] prime minister to issues of mental health for young people and suicide.

While were somewhere off from having an action plan, Ive asked my officials to start working with Peter Gluckman to come up with a series of recommendations. Any improvements would cost money, but it was a very worthy area. Mr Key commissioned the report in October 2009.

ONLINE

Go to dompost.co.nz to see Wellington high school pupils talking about the issues teenagers face.

Early childhood
Adolescents who are more likely to exhibit risky behaviour can often be identified while they are still young children, the report says. Children who will go on to exhibit a persistent pattern of antisocial behaviour can be distinguished from their peers as early as three years of age. It is now clear that early childhood is the critical period in which executive functions such as the fundamentals of self-control are established. It recommends the Government identify atrisk children while they are still very young, and invest in programmes to help both them and their parents. Well-designed home visit schemes where a health or social worker visits the family frequently are effective, as are pre-school centre programmes for children with behaviour problems.

Alcohol
Far tighter restrictions on alcohol are needed, the report says. Drink-driving accidents and binge-drinking are major contributors to the adolescent death toll, while many more teenagers suffer alcoholrelated injuries or illness. It endorses the Law Commissions recent report and recommendations, including raising the purchase age and increasing alcohol excise tax both of which the Government has rejected. Prime Minister John Key did not comment yesterday on whether the Government would revisit those recommendations.

Depression and other disorders

Up to 20 per cent of young people suffer from depression and other mental health disorders, but many do not get the help they need. New Zealand has a woefully deficient number of mental health services that are aimed specifically at young people, the report says. Furthermore, doctors, teachers, and parents are poorly trained to identify those young people who might be at risk. It urged the Government to invest in screening and support, saying threequarters of young people with depression got no treatment or help. When they do recognise there is something wrong, young people are often reluctant to seek help, particularly if this is from a mental health professional.

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THEY SAY
Neil MacLean, Chief Coroner: Weve been advocating for that [early childhood and mental health support] for years. . . The stark truth is that if we dont get it right with young people, thats $90,000 per person in prison. Hugh Norriss, Mental Health Foundation: We need to be looking at what you can do to stop problems in the first place. Our hope would be that . . . they dont just pull out things that might look good because theyll get short-term results. Peter Reynolds, Early Childhood Council: The chief science advisers report challenges the Government to act boldly, to go with the scientific evidence, and redirect funding to the early childhood sector.

Gay Keating, Public Health Association: Sir Peter is explicit . . . Early interventions reap long-term rewards that far outweigh any short-term costs, particularly for children from low-income or disadvantaged homes. We need political parties to do the right thing.

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