Dr Holly Bear

 published by researchers at the University of Oxford’s Department of Psychiatry found that 

 had seen self-harm content online in the previous month. Among those exposed, nearly 55% had encountered it once or twice, 26.5% a few times and 18.5% had seen self-harm content several times.

The research team, led by our new Researcher of the Month, Dr Holly Bear, analysed data from more than 32,000 students aged 11–18 who took part in the 

. This is a large school-based survey which runs every two years across England, with participating schools concentrated particularly in Oxfordshire and Liverpool. It asks school students directly about their mental health, wellbeing and their lives more broadly, both online and offline, and provides a rich snapshot of what is happening in young people's lives at that moment.

Nearly three-quarters (72.9%) of those exposed had encountered self-harm content through passive routes, without actively seeking it. Algorithmic feed suggestions were the most commonly reported route overall. 

Even many of the younger survey respondents had encountered content (around one in four 11-12 year olds in the previous month) despite most social media platforms currently having a minimum age of 13.

Dr Holly Bear studies young people's mental health and the online worlds they grow up in, from social media to AI chatbots and how young people look for support online.

How Self-Harm Content Reaches Young People Online

Dr Ben Marsh, Dr Mary L Shannon and Himan Heidari

What can we learn about a historical period when we shift our attention away from its most famous figures and look instead at a life that has largely been overlooked?

Billy Waters is not a household name, but his life offers a fascinating route into questions of Black British history, identity, poverty, disability and representation. Teachers can now explore his story with students through 

, a set of free educational resources featuring a 20-page graphic novel and digital soundscape for young people aged 11–16.

Born in the late eighteenth century, Billy Waters was a Black sailor and disabled veteran who later became a well-known street musician and performer in nineteenth-century London. His life provides a particularly rich lens through which to explore the society in which he lived, and the lives and experiences that have often received less attention in traditional accounts of the past.

The Billy Waters Project brings together historians, artists and musicians (some of whom are our new Researchers of the Month) to explore his story in imaginative and accessible ways. Drawing on the limited and sometimes ambiguous evidence that survives about his life, the resources invite young people not only to learn about Billy, but also to think about how histories are constructed, whose stories are preserved and how power, identity and representation shape the way we understand the past. 

 is a historian with a teaching and research career spanning 25 years across several universities including Oxford, Stirling and the University of Kent (where he is currently an Honorary Reader in History). He is a specialist in the history of the Atlantic World, early America and the Age of Revolutions, and among his award-winning books are 

Unravelled Dreams: Silk and the Atlantic World, 1500-1840

Georgia’s Frontier Women: Female Fortunes in a Southern Colony

. Besides multiple academic books and articles, in recent years, his outputs have included pioneering creative and educational resources for schools including graphic novels and games. You can reach him at: 

 is a writer, Associate Professor and Disabilities Co-ordinator in the School of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences at the University of Roehampton, London. She also has a PGCE in Secondary English Teaching. The award-winning author of 

Dickens, Reynolds and Mayhew on Wellington Street: The Print Culture of a Victorian Street

Billy Waters Is Dancing: Or, How a Black Sailor Found Fame in Regency Britain

 is an AHRC-funded PhD student in English Literature at the University of Roehampton, London. He is a Research Assistant on the Billy Waters project, where he analyses research data and participant feedback, helps evaluate the project's educational and archival impact, assists with workshop delivery and supports the project's administration.

 is a historian specialising in the history of the Atlantic World, early America and the Age of Revolutions. In recent years, he has produced pioneering creative and educational resources for schools including graphic novels and games. 

 researches and writes about Regency and Victorian popular culture, fiction, plays, images and the press. She is fascinated by the cultural world of nineteenth-century London and its teeming history. 

 is an AHRC-funded PhD student in English Literature at the University of Roehampton, London and is a Research Assistant on the Billy Waters project. 

Whose Stories Make History? Teaching Black British History Through Billy Waters

Professor Tanya Horeck

When we hear the word 'deepfake', many of us might think of celebrities, political misinformation, or the kind of AI 'slop' that now features heavily on our social media feeds. We might be less likely to think about school pupils. Yet emerging research suggests that AI-generated sexual deepfakes are an issue that schools increasingly need to understand and be prepared to address.

AI-facilitated abuse is a growing concern, with reports of deepfake imagery being used maliciously against both pupils and teachers. Whilst anyone can be targeted, research suggests that sexual deepfake abuse is strongly gendered, with girls and women disproportionately affected. 

Within UK schools, AI-facilitated image-based sexual abuse most commonly involves groups of boys taking existing photographs of female peers from social media and using generative AI tools to create fake nude images. There have also been reports of criminal gangs targeting schools, threatening to take publicly available images of children from school websites and social media and turn them into sexually explicit images for the purposes of blackmail. In the UK, producing this kind of material is a criminal offence, though globally, laws are not consistent. Whilst deepfake images are not real, the harm they cause is. Emotional, reputational and developmental consequences can be profound and anyone who experiences this form of abuse deserves to be taken seriously and supported.

With her team, our latest Researcher of the Month, Professor Tanya Horeck, has recently published 

 to examine AI-generated sexual deepfakes within UK schools. Using qualitative data from interviews with secondary school staff and pupils at eight UK schools, Professor Horeck explored what young people and school staff understand about sexual deepfakes, how schools are currently responding, teachers' confidence and preparedness and what support schools need. The findings revealed significant gaps in knowledge and understanding, alongside a strong appetite among both students and teachers for more information, guidance and education.

It's important to note that, as an early qualitative study in a rapidly developing area, the research involved only a small number of participants and was designed to explore experiences and perspectives rather than establish how widespread particular views or practices are. 

Tanya Horeck is a Professor of Film and Feminist Media Studies at Anglia Ruskin University, where she is also Director of the Centre for 

 (MACT). She has published extensively on young people and online harms, including a 2023 report on 

Young People’s Experiences of Technology Facilitated Gender-Based Violence During Covid-19

. Professor Horeck is the author of the monographs, 

Public Rape: Representing Violation in Fiction and Film

Justice on Demand: True Crime in the Digital Streaming Era

, amongst numerous edited collections and journal articles. She has a forthcoming co-authored book (with Jessica Ringrose, Kaitlynn Mendes and Betsy Milne) on Teens and Tech Facilitated Violence (Oxford University Press, 2027).

Professor Tanya Horeck is Professor of Film, Media and Culture at Anglia Ruskin University. Her research focuses on technology-facilitated gender-based violence, online harms affecting young people, and helping schools respond to emerging issues such as AI-generated image-based sexual abuse.

Deepfakes and Damage: Helping Schools Respond to AI-Generated Image Abuse

Professor Harry Sumnall

Our latest Researcher of the Month, Professor Harry Sumnall, is leading a team of researchers at Liverpool John  Moores University to adapt and test a school drug prevention programme aimed at older teens (aged 15-18). 

 aims to develop teens' skills so that they can make healthier and safer choices when it comes to drug use, avoiding fear mongering approaches of the past that were designed to scare young people, and which we now know to be ineffective. The programme is fully aligned with the national RSHE curriculum in England and with the health and wellbeing curriculum in Scotland.

This evidence-based approach is currently being tested in the North West of England and Scotland. 

The researchers are still looking for more schools

, so if you work in a setting based in these areas and would like to be involved in the trial, please 

 and we'll put you in touch with the research team. You can find out more about what participation involves 

Professor Harry Sumnall is a specialist in substance use prevention science and drug policy. His work spans epidemiology, behavioural science and public health, with a particular focus on reducing harms associated with alcohol and other drug use. Professor Sumnall leads multidisciplinary research on the causes, consequences and prevention of substance use harms, bringing together expertise across public health, psychology, criminology and related fields to inform policy and practice at national and international levels. His research has examined the effectiveness of prevention interventions, the implementation of evidence-based policy and the social and structural determinants of harm, including stigma and access to services. He's contributed extensively to government and international advisory work, is a member of the UK Government's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, where he chairs the Prevention Standing Committee and regularly provides evidence to parliamentary and policy processes. His work is widely recognised for its impact on public health strategy, prevention frameworks and the development of evidence-informed responses to substance use across diverse populations.

Professor Harry Sumnall is a specialist in substance use prevention science and drug policy. His work spans epidemiology, behavioural science and public health, with a particular focus on reducing harms associated with alcohol and other drug use. 

What Does Effective Drugs Education Look Like? Lessons from The Illicit Project UK

Professor Nils Jostmann

We often assume that positive feedback will always encourage people to keep trying hard. However, 

 by our latest Researcher of the Month, Professor Nils Jostmann, and his co-author Professor Eddie Brummelman, suggests that praise and encouragement can sometimes have the opposite effect, and that how and when we give feedback really matters.

Feeling positive about our progress on a task, or believing that we are doing better than we expected to, can sometimes act as a cue that less effort is needed, causing us to work less hard or 'coast'. Positive feedback may therefore have unintended consequences. Rather than spurring us on, it can sometimes encourage us to ease off because we feel confident that we are already doing well enough. Professor Jostmann's recent research sought to explore this further, examining whether the timing of positive feedback influences whether it boosts motivation or inadvertently undermines performance.

Professor Nils Jostmann was raised in Germany as one of three sons of two teachers, which instilled in him a passion for psychological influence and for teaching. Following high school and civil service, he quenched his thirst for adventure by moving to the Netherlands to study social psychology. After obtaining his PhD and spending a short period at Northwestern University in the United States, he joined the social psychology group at the University of Amsterdam, where he has been working ever since as an assistant professor and senior lecturer. Professor Jostmann is interested in how people can motivate themselves and others to engage in effortful activities despite an initial lack of motivation. Together with his students and colleagues, he has been investigating why some people find it easier to motivate themselves than others, and which psychological processes can be targeted to boost motivation. Although much of his research aims to understand the fundamental mechanisms underlying motivated behaviour, he also applies these insights in his collaborations with high schools. In addition to his work on the psychology of education, Professor Jostmann has been involved in projects on sustainability and environmental behaviour.

Professor Jostmann is interested in how people can motivate themselves and others to engage in effortful activities despite an initial lack of motivation.

Making Feedback More Motivating: Learnings from New Research

Dr Sophie King-Hill

Dr King-Hill's research with young people has found that many many boys and young men today are grappling with how masculinity is defined and expressed, and many are struggling. 

We're In This Together, Reframing Masculinity for Young Boys and Men

. This free, practical and accessible resource  is designed for educators and parents or carers, and is packed with thoughtful guidance and realistic strategies to help the boys and young men growing up in our care to thrive. We'd recommend that all of our Tooled Up parents and educators download and read it.

Dr Sophie King-Hill is an Associate Professor in the Health Services Management Centre. She specialises in sexual behaviours and assessment in children and young people, sexual health, sibling sexual behaviour and abuse, masculinity, relationships and sex education, and the importance of youth voice. Much of her work is cross sector, cross disciplinary and centred around participatory and co-design approaches with young people. Dr King-Hill also has an interest in policy implementation, transfer and success frameworks, and evaluation strategies. She's currently a policy fellow at the Cabinet Office working on the Safer Streets mission. Previously, she worked extensively in the third sector in the field of education and sexual health with many diverse groups such as teenage parents and young people with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties.

Dr Sophie King-Hill specialises in sexual behaviours and assessment in children and young people, sexual health, sibling sexual behaviour and abuse, masculinity, relationships and sex education, and the importance of youth voice.

Reframing Masculinity: Tips for Parents and Teachers Supporting Boys

Professor Maria Loades

Our latest researcher of the month, Professor Maria Loades, is currently seeking teens aged 13 - 17 to take part in a new study.  Her 

 trial will test the efficacy of digital, single session, self-help interventions, which have been designed to help young people in need of mental health support to feel more hopeful, more in control, and less sad or low.

In the UK, there is currently a huge gap between the need for mental health support and access to help for young people. We know from a wide body of research that many young people feel unable to ask for help when experiencing depression symptoms. Whilst around 3% of young people are in contact with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) at any point in time, this is only a very small percentage of those impacted by depression, anxiety or stress. In fact, at least one in three young people has at least some symptoms of depression, and one in 10 might meet the criteria for a mental health disorder. 

There are several reasons why many young people do not seek, or receive, the support they need. Adolescence is a time of growing independence, and many teens prefer to manage difficulties on their own, speak to friends or look online, rather than reach out to adults for help. Although stigma has reduced, concerns about how others might perceive them, and uncertainty about what support is available, can also hold them back. Practical barriers also play a role. School and clinic hours often overlap, and services are not always easily accessible. Alongside this, there is a shortage of trained therapists in the UK, leading to high thresholds for support and long waiting times, even for those who do seek help.

Even more interestingly, of those young people who do seek formal support, almost 50% stop attending after just one session. Whilst one session may be sufficient for some, other young people may disengage due to practical challenges, or because the first session did not meet their expectations, even when further support was available.

Given the shortcomings of the current model of support, 

  by Professor Loades and her team has identified a need for additional help that is scalable, barrier free and available on demand. 

After pilot tests, she's now planning a full randomised controlled trial to evaluate a series of self-guided, digital, single-session interventions for teens, and she's looking for volunteers. The interventions were originally developed by Professor Jessica Schleider in the 

 in the US, where they showed beneficial effects on symptoms of depression and anxiety as much as nine months after the intervention. They have been adapted by Professor Loades and colleagues for UK use.

Professor Maria Loades is a clinical psychologist and Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Bath. She trained as a clinical psychologist at the University of East Anglia and has worked extensively in NHS mental health services, particularly within Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). Her research focuses on adolescent mental health, with a particular emphasis on improving access to early, evidence-based support for young people experiencing depression and anxiety. She leads the 

LAMP (spotLight on Adolescent Mood Problems) research programme

, which aims to develop and evaluate scalable interventions, including digital and single-session approaches.

Professor Maria Loades's research focuses on adolescent mental health, with a particular emphasis on improving access to early, evidence-based support for young people experiencing depression and anxiety. She leads the 

Empowering young people to overcome low mood and boost wellbeing

Professor Joel Talcott

Our latest Researcher of the Month, Professor Joel Talcott, is one of a team of researchers and educators who have worked on a new universal screener for all Year 1 children in the UK, which will be made freely available to all teachers this Autumn.

Within the UK education system, formal identification of SEND typically involves ascribing diagnostic labels, such as dyslexia, dyscalculia or ADHD, based on under-attainment in one or more educational outcomes, compared with age-related expectations. However, access to assessment and diagnosis is challenging, and it is currently not equitable for all. The cost of missing children’s needs has serious personal consequences, as pupils underachieve due to unidentified barriers to learning. It also has wider and significant economic costs to society as a whole.

Professor Talcott's new universal screener will address this issue. It offers a simple screening tool, which teachers are initially advised to use with 

 pupils during the first term of Year 1. 

Supported by government funding through a special educational needs innovation initiative, the Universal Classroom will be delivered via a freely accessible web platform, allowing any school or teacher to use it at no cost.

Joel Talcott is Professor of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience at Aston University. His research employs a multimodal framework spanning genetics, neuroimaging and cognitive neuropsychology to investigate the mechanisms underlying typical and atypical development of reading, mathematics and associated learning processes. He leads the Universal Classroom Project, an initiative developing scalable digital tools for early screening and guidance to support diverse learners in educational settings. Professor Talcott contributes regularly to evidence-informed policy development through collaboration with education sector organisations and government bodies, providing scientific insight into the mechanisms underlying learning variability, their early identification and how they can be equitably addressed within education.

Professor Joel Talcott investigates the mechanisms underlying typical and atypical development of reading, mathematics and associated learning processes. He leads the Universal Classroom Project (launching in Autumn 2026), an initiative developing scalable digital tools for early screening and guidance to support diverse learners in educational settings. 

The Universal Classroom: A New Free Screening Tool for Year 1 Teachers

Daphne Ling

While there have been many empirical studies of childhood ADHD, there have been few qualitative studies investigating first-hand accounts of the lived experiences of children. Much of the literature focuses on the perspectives of parents or teachers, rather than centring children’s voices. But what are children's thoughts, feelings and experiences? Our latest Researcher of the Month, PhD candidate Daphne Ling, has recently 

 which begin to address this research gap. 

Daphne Ling is a PhD candidate in Neuroscience at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Her research examines how stimulant medications affect executive functioning in children with ADHD as well as in neurotypical young adults. Executive functions (EFs) are cognitive processes such as concentration, selective and focused attention, cognitive flexibility, problem‑solving and working memory, and are important skills for success in today’s world. Her work aims to improve evidence‑based standards of care to help children with ADHD thrive academically and in daily life, and she hopes that more children’s voices can be heard in research.

Daphne Ling is a PhD candidate in Neuroscience at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Her research examines how stimulant medications affect executive functioning in children with ADHD as well as in neurotypical young adults. Her work aims to improve evidence‑based standards of care to help children with ADHD thrive academically and in daily life, and she hopes that more children’s voices can be heard in research.

Children's Experiences of ADHD

Dr Maria Korochkina

? This long-overdue initiative reflects growing concern and renewed commitment around children’s reading and literacy.

“The ability to read opens up worlds. Reading enables children to progress into post-primary education and provides the basis for lifelong learning and prosperity into adulthood”.

Frequent readers tend to have a stronger understanding of both their own and others’ emotions. They are often better able to communicate these emotions, a skill linked to higher emotional intelligence and improved mental wellbeing. Reading also encourages cause-and-effect reasoning and helps children imagine scenarios beyond the immediate moment - developing the skill of -future-thinking'. A rich vocabulary underpins learning across the school curriculum, strengthens thinking and communication skills, and predicts both academic attainment and later life outcomes. Research consistently shows that 

the most effective way to build vocabulary is through reading

However, learning to read well is not quick or effortless. The 

, requiring high-quality classroom instruction alongside sustained practice through independent reading. For many children, this process is painstaking, demanding consistent teaching, encouragement and opportunity over time.

Against this backdrop, recent evidence presents a worrying picture. 

Fewer children are reading for pleasure than ever before.

 In 2024, only one in three UK children and young people aged eight to 18 reported enjoying reading in their free time. Even more strikingly, just one in five said they read daily for pleasure, the lowest level recorded since the National Literacy Trust began collecting this data in 2005.

This matters because reading ability and reading enjoyment are deeply intertwined. Children who find reading effortful are far less likely to choose to read independently. Dr Korochkina’s research highlights how early reading experiences shape later habits: difficulties with phonic and morphological knowledge in the early stages of reading acquisition can have a snowball effect, reducing confidence, fluency and motivation over time.

Her work also offers a powerful note of optimism. Books that children actively choose to read, including contemporary, popular texts, provide rich opportunities to develop vocabulary, particularly when children read widely. Ensuring access to a diverse range of engaging reading material, alongside strong early instruction, can play a vital role in building both reading skill and reading motivation.

Fostering confident, motivated readers requires long-term commitment. It is not enough for children simply to have books available to them. They need skilled teaching, time, practice and a culture that values reading as both a skill and a pleasure.

Dr Maria Korochkina is a psychologist at Aston University, whose research explores how we acquire linguistic knowledge and how our experience with language shapes learning across different domains and throughout life. She combines methods from cognitive science and neuroscience to investigate these questions. Dr Korochkina has strong expertise in applied statistics and is a dedicated advocate for transparency and reproducibility in research. She is equally passionate about making science accessible to the wider community and amplifying diverse voices in research to drive meaningful societal change. Dr Korochkina completed her MSc at the University of Potsdam (Germany) and her PhD at Macquarie University (Australia). She is currently a Vice-Chancellor’s Research Prize Fellow (tenure-track) in the Institute of Health and Neurodevelopment at Aston University. In 2023, her work was recognised with the Credibility Prize by the British Neuroscience Association. The work we are highlighting in this article was conducted whilst Dr Korochkina was a postdoctoral researcher in the Rastle Lab (

) at Royal Holloway, University of London. Learn more about her research 

Dr Maria Korochkina is a psychologist at Aston University, whose research explores how we acquire linguistic knowledge and how our experience with language shapes learning across different domains and throughout life. She combines methods from cognitive science and neuroscience to investigate these questions.  The work we are highlighting in this article was conducted whilst Dr Korochkina was a postdoctoral researcher in the Rastle Lab (

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