Mr. Ian Power:

Issues of bullying and of body image are perennial. They have been manifest in different ways for people of different ages, but the issue now is that it is very hard as a young person to self-realise and factualise fully who the person is as a person today. That is much more difficult than it was before. It is harder for young people to find their tribe and put their roots down in their community. This is multifactorial and there is no easy answer to all these things. Young people are more open to talking about their emotions, which is great, but they are still not being resourced with the coping skills to deal with those emotions that might be difficult.

Anxiety is the number one issue which comes through for young people who also text with us. Around 30% of all texters talk to us about anxiety. Another 20% talk to us about stress. This is because we have not equipped the young people with the skills to deal with those emotions. There is a great deal of evidence to suggest there are many things you can do to be protected around your mental health with which, perhaps, we have lost connection. These are things like nature, exercise and other things which we hear from young people.

The issues are probably perennial but the way in which they are experienced are probably much more nuanced, invasive and insidious, as has been described by Ms Murray. Previously it was body-shaming on the front of magazines. Now it is looking at Instagram today-----