The results of the school health survey indicate that—despite challenges—the majority of children and the young in Vantaa feel good
According to the National Institute for Health and Welfare's (THL) school health survey, the majority of Vantaa children and the young are satisfied with their lives and like school attendance. The factors that support everyday wellbeing—such as sufficient sleep, physical exercise, and close friendships—have strengthened in Vantaa compared to the previous school health survey. Nevertheless, an increasing number of Vantaa students in basic education is subjected to bullying and harassment in school, or to discrimination and threat of violence in school or during leisure time. The results of the national school health survey, conducted at two-year intervals, were published in September 2023.
Eighty-four percent of Vantaa children and 65% of Vantaa youth are satisfied with their lives, according to a national school health survey that is conducted at 2-year intervals to students in basic education's 4th and 5th grades, as well as to the young studying in basic education grades 8 and 9, as well as to students in 1st and 2nd years in high school or vocational college. This year, 74% of Vantaa 4th- and 5th-graders answered the survey, 57% of 8th- and 9th-graders, 63% of 1st- and 2nd-year students in high school, as well as 27% of under-21-year-olds in vocational studies.
One of the positive findings is that almost every Vantaa child and young person has a weekly hobby according to the survey. In addition, there are less lonely young people in upper secondary education institutions and in junior high schools, as regards girls. This year, the school health survey charted, for the first time, the students’ empathy skills, and students in Vantaa junior high schools assessed their empathy skills on a slightly higher level than is the case in the whole country on an average. During the past few years, Vantaa has especially invested in supporting students’ emotional and interaction skills.
Bullying often remains unseen by adults
Bullying in school as well as the threat of violence and harassment in school or during leisure applies to an increasing number of students in Vantaa's elementary schools. Bullying has also become more common throughout the country. Eleven percent of 4th- and 5th-graders in Vantaa elementary schools and 8% of 8th- and 9th-graders in junior high schools say that they are bullied on a weekly basis. The majority of the students, that is, 60% of those in elementary school and 70% in junior high school, nevertheless, say that they had not been bullied even once during the school year.
Based on the results of the school health survey, bullying often remains unnoticed by adults. A little more than half (55%) of the 4th- 5th-graders involved in cases of bullying announced that they had reported the issue, whereas only 35% of the students in junior high schools had done so. It is, however, positive that junior high schoolers now tell adults about bullying more often than before and that this is more common in Vantaa than in the rest of Finland on an average. As regards students in elementary schools, telling about bullying has reduced both nationally and in Vantaa.
Bullying and the threat of violence in school or during leisure have increased both nationally and in Vantaa. The experiences of, especially, boys in junior high schools of the threat of physical violence have increased in Vantaa as well as in the rest of Finland. More than every fourth boy in grades 8-9 report physical violence or its threat in Vantaa. On the other hand, fewer students in upper secondary education than before have experienced sexual harassment or suggestions.
- The violence conducted and experienced by the young has long generated great concern both nationally and in Vantaa. Multiprofessional cooperation holds the keys to the solution, but homes as well play a significant role in putting a stop to this alarming situation. It is important that children and the young are surrounded by safe adults that help to provide timely support and take the measures required, says Markus Hammarström, security administrator at the City of Vantaa.
Vantaa actively develops operating procedures to prevent and intervene in bullying
According to the school health survey, the students’ experiences on the functioning of intervening in bullying vary. It is, nevertheless, positive that especially junior high schoolers more often than earlier feel that bullying has diminished or stopped after it has been reported. Vantaa actively develops operating procedures to prevent and intervene in bullying. Complicated or prolonged cases of bullying are settled under the supervision of an expert specialized in bullying, who began working at the City of Vantaa in the spring of 2023, and in cooperation with other experts and guardians. Vantaa Basic Education will pilot K-O activities intervening in bullying from the beginning of January 2024. The purpose of these activities is to more effectively engage families in investigating cases of bullying.
- When addressing cases of bullying, it is important to hear the experiences of all the parties concerned and to carefully chart the overall picture. Prolonged cases of bullying are complicated and settling them may take a fair amount of time. This requires tight cooperation between the students’ guardians and often also a multiprofessional approach. It is especially important to ensure systematic and long-enough monitoring of situations, says Hanna Rönnblom, a City of Vantaa expert specialized in intervening in bullying.
Junior high schoolers’ anxiety levels have increased, but upper secondary education is rising from the COVID-19 era
The previous school health survey was conducted in spring 2021, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. Even though especially junior high schoolers’ opinion on their wellbeing has weakened by many indicators, the change is not as drastic as in the previous survey when the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic were significant.
Junior high schoolers feel increasingly anxious, exhausted, and also consider their state of health to have deteriorated. Girls in particular are experiencing mental wellbeing challenges. A third of girls in grades 8 and 9 and more than every tenth of boys suffer from moderate or difficult anxiety.
Based on the survey, school fatigue is also most common among girls studying in junior high schools. Approximately a third of them say they are experiencing school fatigue. As far as students of the high-school age are concerned, school fatigue has slight fallen from the previous two-year level.
An increasing number of the young do not consume alcohol at all - positive development seen also in sleeping and physical exercise
An increasing number of the young do not consume alcohol at all. This is reported by almost half (47%) of those in vocational institutions, 44% of high schoolers, and 71% of 8th- and 9th-graders in junior high school. On the other hand, use of e-cigarettes has increased to a significant extent compared to the previous school health survey. Two years ago, 2% of 8th- and 9th-graders said they use e-cigarettes on a daily basis, whereas now the percentage is 10% of students in junior high schools, 8% of those in vocational institutions, and 5% of those in high schools.
Positive development has also taken place as regards physical exercise and sleeping. Compared to the previous school health survey, more Vantaa youth than before sleep longer than eight hours per night. Physical exercise, too, has taken a positive turn: Vantaa has fewer young people who seldom engage in physical activity and increasingly more of those who say they are physically active more than an hour each day.
Read more
Read more about the results of the City of Vantaa's school health survey on THL's online result service.
