Section:GDN 1N PaGe:7 Edition Date:190821 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 20/8/2019 20:27 cYanmaGentaYellowbl
Wednesday 21 Au g u st 2019 The Guardian •
National^7
Source: The Health and Social Care Information Centre0% 25 50 75 100A low level of happiness was
reported by 42% of pupils who had
taken drugs in the last month, and
40% of pupils who drank alcohol in
the last week- Low • Medium • High or very high
None of these behavioursOne of these behavioursTwo of these behavioursAll of these behavioursTook drugs in the last monthDrank alcohol in the last weekSmoked in the last weekSurvey links child drink and
drug use with unhappiness
Haroon Siddique
Children in England aged 11 to 15 who
ha d recently drunk, smoked and taken
drugs were more than twice as likely
to say their levels of happiness were
low than th ose who had done none of
th em, a n NHS Digital survey found.
Fifty-one per cent of children who
had recently drunk alcohol, smoked
cigarettes and taken drugs said
they had experienced low levels of
happiness, compared with 22% who
had done none of those things. Among
those who had done one of th em, 36%
reported a low level of happiness on
the day before they were surveyed.
The pattern was repeated when
children were asked about life
satisfaction, with the greater the
number of substances tried the lower
the level of satisfaction reported.
Smoking was most likely to be
linked to low levels of happiness and
satisfaction, followed by taking drugs
and then drinking. The biennial Smok-
ing, Drinking and Drug Use Among
Young People report also found higher
anxiety levels among those who had
smoked, drunk alcohol or taken drugs.
Tom Madders , the director of
campaigns at the charity YoungMinds,said some children could turn to
substances because they were
unhappy, while in other cases it could
be the substances that were adversely
aff ecting their mood.
“Young people may drink alcohol,
smoke or take drugs for all kinds of
diff erent reasons : to try something
new, to fi t in with a group, to do some-
thing they think will be fun, or to help
them cope with diffi cult experiences
and emotions,” said Madders. “ It’s
important to look for help if you’re
using drugs, alcohol or cigarettes to
deal with painful feelings or if they’re
aff ecting your mood or your health.”
Levels of drinking and drug- taking
were similar to those at the time of
the last survey in 2016. Children from
more affl uent families were found to
be almost twice as likely (13%) to have
drunk alcohol in the last week as those
from the poorest families ( 7%).Forty-seven per cent of 15-year-olds
thought it was OK to drink alcohol once
a week, while 19% thought it was OK to
get drunk once a week. Children were
more likely to drink if family members
or others they lived with did so.
The proportion of children who
said they had smoked continued to
fall, from 19% in 2016 to 16% last year,
the lowest level on record, refl ecting a
downward trend since 1996.
Dr Penny Woods, the British Lung
Foundation’s CEO, said children must
be given more help to quit. She said:
“Many young people smoke to cope
with stress and, as reported, 40%
of young people who have smoked
recently reported being unhappy .”
The survey of 13,664 year 7 to 11
pupils across England found 2% had
recently smoked, drunk alcohol and
taken drugs, 11% had done one of these
things and 84% had done none.PA MediaA newly discovered species of one of
the most recognisable types of dino-
saur is also the oldest of its kind ever
found, British scientists believe.
The remains of the dinosaur were
found in the Middle Atlas Mountains
of Morocco and have since been stud-
ied by a team at the Natural History
Museum, in London.
The dinosaur, a stegosaurus, one of
the armoured creatures recognisable
from the plate-like bones protruding
from their spine and spikes on their
tail, belongs to a genus which existed
about 168 million years ago.
Despite the specimen including
only a few vertebrae and an upper
arm bone, scientists conclude it was
a species and genus new to science,
and that it dates from the middle Juras-
sic – much earlier than the period for
most known stegosaurs.
The museum team, led by Susannah
Maidment, have named the species
Adratiklit boulahfa , meaning “moun-
tain lizard” in the Berber language.
“The discovery is particularly excit-
ing as we have dated it to the middle
Jurassic. Most known stegosaurs date
from far later in the Jurassic period,
making this the oldest defi nite stego-
saur described and helping to increase
our understanding of the evolution of
this group of dinosaurs.”
The specimen is also the fi rst steg-
osaur, a thyreophoran dinosaur, to be
found in north Africa.
Thyreophoran dinosaurs have been
discovered across much of the globe
and been mainly linked to Laurasian
rock formations, the team said. It was
thought that when the Earth had two
supercontinents, Laurasia and Gond-
wana, thyreophorans were more
common and diverse in Laurasia. But
this discovery could alter that. “ It may
not mean stegosaurs were not so com-
mon in Gondwana and may be due to
rock formations [there] have been sub-
ject to far fewer excavations .”Oldest yet - the
stegosaurus of
Morocco from
168m years ago
PA Media
A man accused of murdering PC
Andrew Harper while he was inves-
tigat ing a reported burglary last
Thursday has denied any involvement
in his killing.
Jed Foster, 20, was charged on Mon-
day over the death of the 28-year-old
Thames Valley police constable in the
village of Sulhamstead, in Berkshire.
Harper died from multiple injuries
after being dragged under a vehicle
on 15 August.
Foster appeared at Reading
magistrates court yesterday charged
with Harper’s murder and with the
theft of a quad bike. In front of a
packed public gallery he confi rmed his
name, date of birth and address. The
hearing lasted about three minutes.
Foster, from Burghfi eld , near Reading,
was not asked to enter pleas. District
Judge Davinder Lachhar remanded
him in custody until today, when he
will appear at Reading crown court.His lawyer, Rob Jacques , said: “On
behalf of him and his family I want
to say three things : he denies any
involvement in the horrifi c murder of
PC Harper ; we urge the police to follow
all lines of inquiry; and for the public to
come forward and co operate.”
Foster was charged after Thames
Valley police were granted an extra 24
hours to question 10 suspects.
All 10 suspects were arrested at a
caravan park near to, and within an
hour of, the incident. The youngest
was aged 13 , the oldest 30.
On Monday , the offi cer’s widow,
Lissie Harper, paid tribute to her hus-
band, describing him as “the kindest,
loveliest, most selfl ess” person. She
wrote: “There is not enough paper
in the world to even begin to write a
tribute for you, but no one deserves
it more.”Man aged 20 denies involvement
in murder of PC Andrew Harper
▼ Jed Foster has been charged over
the death of PC Andrew Harper, left
with his wife, Lissie. Below left, a
policeman remembers his colleague‘There is not enough
paper in the world
to even begin to
write a tribute for
you, but no one
deserves it more’Lissie Harper
Tribute to her husbandPHOTOGRAPH: REX/SHUTTERSTOCKRELEASED BY "What's News" VK.COM/WSNWS TELEGRAM: t.me/whatsnws