Most children do positive activities.

4 out of 5 children regularly do positive activities.

84% of 13-17-year-olds regularly participate in at least one type of positive activity. The most common activity is team sports (42%), followed by individual sports (35%). Only 20% participate in arts activities. 87% would like to try at least one activity they’re not currently doing.

Children affected by violence are more likely to take part…

90% of children who’ve perpetrated violence and 88% of victims of violence regularly do at least one activity, compared to 83% of children who’ve been neither victims nor perpetrators.

…but what they do is different.

Children who’ve been victims of and perpetrated violence are less likely to do team sports (e.g. 37% of perpetrators vs 43% of children who haven’t perpetrated) but more likely to do volunteering (13% of perpetrators vs 10% of non-perpetrators), wilderness activities (17% of perpetrators vs 8% of non-perpetrators) and combat sports (18% of perpetrators vs 9% of non-perpetrators).

Vulnerable children are the most likely to attend youth clubs.

2 in 5 children regularly attend youth clubs.

40% of 13-17-year-olds participate in some sort of youth club at least once a month. The most common are school-based (17%), followed by ones in youth or community centres (12%) and clubs that are part of religious organisations (11%). 7% attend youth clubs online.

Most children directly affected by violence attend youth clubs.

60% of victims and 65% of perpetrators attend a youth club – 2× the rate among those who haven’t been victims or perpetrators (31%). Victims and perpetrators of violence are particularly more likely to attend clubs in youth centres (e.g. 23% of perpetrators vs 10% of non-perpetrators), at religious organisations (20% of perpetrators vs 10% of non-perpetrators) and online (16% of perpetrators vs 5% of non-perpetrators). Most children who attend youth clubs think they’re safe. 93% of children who attend youth clubs at school think they’re safe vs 75% of those who don’t attend. For youth clubs in community centres and online, this gap widens – 77% of children attending clubs in youth centres think they’re safe vs 56% of those who don’t attend. And 71% of children attending online youth clubs think they’re safe vs 45% who don’t attend.

Most children, including those most affected by violence, have a trusted adult outside the home.

3 in 5 children have an adult at school who they trust.

82% of children have at least one adult outside their family they go to for support. Teachers and school staff are the most likely to be considered trusted adults (58%), followed by sports coaches (18%) and doctors and other health professionals (12%). 1 in 10 children (9%) say they have a mentor.

Children affected by violence are just as likely to have a trusted adult…

84% of victims and 86% of perpetrators of violence have a trusted adult who’s not a family member, compared to 82% of all children. Teachers are the most commonly cited source of support by around half of victims (49%) and perpetrators (48%) – although this is less than the average (58%).

…but are more likely to be supported by adults outside of school.

23% of victims and 27% of perpetrators have a sports coach they trust vs 18% of all children. 16% of victims and 19% of perpetrators have a mentor vs 9% of all children. 14% of both victims and perpetrators have a social worker vs 7% of all children. 10% of victims and 11% of perpetrators have a youth worker vs 6% of all children.

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