Category Archives: exams

What Teenagers Say Is Worrying Them The Most (And It’s Not Social Media)

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I often think about how tough it must be to be a teenager right now. Between the pressures of school life and the inability to get away from it all thanks to the 24/7 nature of social media, it sounds pretty exhausting.

But what is it actually like? And what’s keeping the nation’s teenagers up at night? A 2025 survey by BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Bitesize shed some light.

The online poll of 2,000 kids aged 13-18 explored the issues shaping teenagers’ lives – from mental health and safety to the rise of AI.

What is the biggest worry for teens?

Getting kids to open up about what’s worrying them can be like drawing blood from a stone for plenty of parents. But the survey offered some insights into what teens worry about most.

Over two-thirds (69%) of all participants reported feeling anxious at least some of the time, with pressure around exams and grades being the biggest worry.

Its survey of 1,000 15- to 18-year-olds taking GCSE or A-Levels found 63% said it was hard to cope in the lead-up to, and during, these exams. Of these, 13% had suicidal thoughts and 13% self-harmed. More than half (56%) had trouble sleeping.

Among those struggling, 61% experienced anxiety and 40% worsening mental health, while 30% skipped meals and one in four (26%) had panic attacks.

The research also found exams were more than twice as likely to have a significant negative impact on mental health than social media.

May – which is when school exam season starts for most – is the peak season for children to call Childline about exam stress. Between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026; the free, confidential service for kids delivered 1,679 counselling sessions where exam or revision stress was mentioned.

The majority of concerns about exam stress were from children aged 12-18 years old, however younger students are also impacted, with 11% of contacts coming from children aged 11 and under.

One young person, aged 16, said: “If I’m not revising for exams, I feel this panic in my chest, but the panic also stops me focusing on the revision when I try and do it.”

Another 16-year-old girl said they have plans for their future, but have completely lost motivation to revise. “I have no idea why, my friends are trying to help get me back on track but I’m so overwhelmed,” they said.

What else did the BBC’s teen survey find?

It found 65% of teens feel overwhelmed at least some of the time and almost three-quarters (74%) of girls feel anxious at least some of the time.

Another eye-opening finding was just how much time teens are spending on their phones: more than a third (38%) spend five hours or more a day, while one in 20 spend eight hours or more.

When they are online, more than half reported having seen sexist and racist content. Two in five (44%) said they have seen extremely violent content.

In real life, 44% worry about knife crime in their local area and almost one third (30%) of teenage girls have experienced sexual harassment in school.

Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly popular among the younger generation, with almost half (47%) using it to help with homework or coursework.

This is rising year-on-year – the figure was 36% in 2024 and 29% in 2023.

Despite the challenges teens face today, nearly eight in 10 (79%) are feeling positive about their future.

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‘Body Doubling’ Could Be The Secret To Helping Kids With ADHD Focus Better

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Body doubling – where a person with ADHD works nearby or alongside another person to keep them focused on the task at hand – isn’t a new technique, but ADHD experts are increasingly recommending it as a strategy to help support task completion.

While plenty of adults already use it to plough through their daily workload, parents are also trying it to support their kids with homework or revision – especially the more boring stuff that’s hard to make a start on.

I first came across the concept when psychotherapist Jessica VanderWier, of Nurtured First Parenting, shared some of the parenting strategies she would try in her own home if she had a child with ADHD.

In addition to being structured with how much (and what type of) screen time kids encounter, and offering lots of opportunities for movement, she noted that she would also try “body doubling” when kids feel stuck and unable to start a task.

“Body doubling is when you are present and doing something in the same space that your child needs to get a task done. Example: they’re doing homework and you’re beside them folding laundry,” she explained on Instagram.

“Your presence acts as an anchor and helps decrease procrastination and increase motivation to get something done.”

Why body doubling works

Dr Chris Abbott, chief medical officer at Care ADHD, tells HuffPost UK that while there’s been limited research into body doubling, many clinicians and families report that it can meaningfully help children with ADHD with focus and task completion.

“It’s best understood as a low-risk, practical strategy rather than a standalone treatment, and tends to work particularly well for tasks that are hard to start or sustain,” he adds.

The strategy builds on psychological principles such as accountability and social facilitation.

“Children often find it easier to stay on task when someone else is present. It also helps ‘externalise’ focus, reducing the burden on executive functions like task initiation and self-regulation, which are commonly affected by ADHD,” says Dr Abbott.

Dr Kripalani, lead psychiatrist at The ADHD Centre, says body doubling is
“an incredibly effective tool”.

“Since the ADHD brain often struggles to ‘self-start’ or maintain focus on tasks that aren’t naturally stimulating, having another person present serves as a gentle physical anchor,” he explains.

Teaching kids this tool from a young age can be “transformative” because it prevents a child from internalising a “failure identity”, adds Dr Kripalani.

“Instead of feeling isolated in their struggle, the child experiences a daunting task as a shared journey, which lowers the emotional barrier to entry and helps them find their focus.”

It can also help buffer against rejection sensitivity dysphoria (RSD), which can cause extremely intense negative feelings and severe emotional pain, and is often associated with ADHD.

“Many children experience a form of paralysis born from the fear of being criticised or doing something wrong,” says the psychiatrist.

“A supportive, non-judgmental body double provides a safety net that lowers cortisol levels and keeps the prefrontal cortex ‘online’ for learning.”

Other expert-backed tips for revision and focus

  • Break revision into short, timed blocks of 10-25 minutes with regular breaks.

  • Offer ‘micro rewards’ – rather than waiting for a big reward at the end of the week, give a child a small dopamine hit, like five minutes of a favourite activity for every 20 minutes of work, to keep the momentum going.

  • Use body doubling, in person or via video, for harder or less engaging subjects.

  • Be specific about goals – you could say ‘complete five questions’ rather than ‘revise maths’.

  • Alternate subjects or task types to maintain interest and avoid fatigue.

  • Build in movement breaks (physical activity) to help reset attention.

  • Noise-cancelling headphones and fidget tools can help channel restlessness.

  • Reduce distractions e.g. have a clear workspace and limit devices unless they’re needed for studying.

  • Use active techniques such as practice questions, flashcards and teaching someone else rather than passive reading. Gamifying the more tedious aspects of study with ‘beat the clock’ challenges or colourful mind maps can help the info “stick”.

  • Create a consistent routine, but keep it flexible enough to avoid overwhelm.

  • Prioritise sleep, nutrition, and downtime – these have a direct impact on attention and memory.

  • Praise their efforts – by saying, “I love how you stayed at your desk even when that question was tricky,” rather than just “you’re smart,” we build resilience against rejection sensitivity by valuing effort over perfection.
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‘I Love Normal Cheaters Now’ – Professors Share How AI Is Changing Student Assessment

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A couple of months ago, Dr Jonathan Fine – a lecturer in German Studies – shared an X post that made me laugh, then wince.

“I love normal cheaters now,” the academic wrote. “A student admitted to getting help from a person on an assignment, and I didn’t even penalise him because I was just so happy it wasn’t AI.”

It’s a sentiment I’ve seen echoed by other professors since.

And in a recent TikTok, Dr Steven Buckley, a lecturer in Media Digital Sociology who also helps his university to assess cases of academic misconduct, shared that he’d seen a dissertation with what appeared to be “hallucinated” references.

We spoke to Dr Fine and Dr Buckley about their experiences.

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I love normal cheaters now. A student admitted to getting help from a person on an assignment, and I didn’t even penalize him because I was just so happy it wasn’t AI.

— Jonathan Fine (@jonathanbfine) April 25, 2025

Dr Fine says he’s been “paranoid” about machine learning for a long time

Dr Fine, who teaches in a language not native to most of his students, says he doesn’t think his experiences are typical of those teaching the humanities.

“I teach German, so I’ve been paranoid about machine translation ever since I started teaching,” he said.

“That’s always been my default attitude when reading student writing, so AI hasn’t been a major change for me or a big loss of trust in the students.”

Still, he says, “I don’t allow students to use AI, and I tell them at the beginning of class how awkward the conversation is when they’re caught, but they use it anyway.”

He assigns a lot of in-class writing, which means it’s clear when AI has been used by a student. The lecturer says it reads very differently from their usual work.

“When I catch a student using AI, I try to use it as a teaching moment,” he told HuffPost UK.

“I talk to the students about how my job is to help them improve, but I really can’t help a computer. If students were to reoffend, then I’d have to escalate the situation as a violation of academic policies.”

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— Jonathan Fine (@jonathanbfine) June 19, 2025

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Every justification I come across for the widespread academic use of artificial intelligence presupposes an ideal student user that does not exist. https://t.co/5TF4YNaYpe

— Jonathan Fine (@jonathanbfine) June 19, 2025