The Department of Health conducted a poll to discover what causes distress to teenaged children in their lives, and one of the main worries among children was the possibility of their parents divorcing. Actually, 17% were concerned about the breakup of their parents, which does seem quite low, considering the number of marriages that end in divorce. Unless of course many of those who took part in the poll were either already from broken homes, or they just weren’t concerned about the prospect.

Another worry for teenage children is their parent’s health, and the fact that they can’t quit smoking. 46% of children are worried about the health of their parents who smoke.

37% of those polled were concerned about financial matters, with the country being in recession and job prospects being bleak, and 29% were worried about the old school problem of bullying.

Clive Bellmore