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A teacher goes to the Surgery
I went in for my 'flu jab as usual in October. I didn't expect to see half the pupils in my GCSE group in there. There must have been six or seven of them dotted around in twos and threes. Sarah was horrified when she saw me. I was careful just to nod at them and sit down with one of those mindless magazines that kept you from looking around too much. But I noticed quite a bit: Sarah was red as a beetroot and was obviously being comforted by an older sister, they were so much alike. I hope they weren't here for what I thought was the reason. Dan was nursing his football injury, embarrassed by the sling around his arm. Was Peter here to renew his asthma inhaler prescription? Perhaps he was getting something for the skin rash I had watched developing over the last month. He looked weary from all the unmerciful teasing of his so-called friends. Siobhan was a regular here and I knew from being her year-tutor that she was here to see the nurse to keep an eye on her eating disorder that was breaking the hearts of both her parents. The others were simple chest infections, aggravated by smoking, they had coughed and spluttered through my lessons all week.
I was actually getting interested in the magazine when Sarah came and sat next to me. "Sir" she said conspiratorially, "you won't tell my mum you've seen me here will you?" Her eyes were pleading. I said that I wouldn't say a word and she looked relieved. Then she told me that she was here to get referred to a drug programme because of LSD use. And I had assumed she was pregnant!
Conceptions of 13-15 year olds have hardly risen at all since 1971
25% of 14-18 year olds have used LSD
The average teenager visits the doctor 2-3 times a year.
23% of 16-year-old girls are on a diet.
Teenage Boys are twice as likely to die in accidents than girls.
35% of 15-19s visit a doctor for asthma or respiratory problems
Suicide rates for 15-24 year old males have fallen since 1992 and are unchanged for females.
Source: Key Data on Adolescence. Coleman 1999 |
