The proportion of students who have experienced bullying has not decreased but sexual harassment experienced by girls has decreased, according to School Health Promotion study 2025 published by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) on Wednesday.
About one in three students in grades 4 and 5 and one in four students in grades 8 and 9 of basic education had experienced bullying.
Almost one in ten had experienced weekly bullying at school.
About one in four primary and lower secondary school students who had experienced bullying during the spring semester said someone working in the school knew about it.
Meanwhile, the study said that about one in three girls in grades 8 and 9 and girls in general upper secondary school or vocational institution had experienced sexual harassment in the past 12 months.
The figure is clearly less than in 2021 and 2023, when about one half of girls had experienced sexual harassment.
Different experiences of physical threats in the past year were also asked about in the School Health Promotion study.
A physical threat means, for example, hitting, kicking or threatening with violence. It was not asked where or in which situation the threat had been experienced.
Boys had experienced physical threats more often than girls. Over the past year, 18 per cent of boys in grades 4 and 5 and grades 8 and 9, 12 per cent of boys in general upper secondary schools and 14 per cent of boys in vocational institutions had experienced a physical threat.
About one out of ten girls had experienced the same.
Meanwhile, an increasing proportion of young people do not use alcohol, tobacco or snus and according to the School Health Promotion study, nearly three quarters of students in grades 8 and 9 and less than one half of students in the 1st and 2nd year of general upper secondary school and vocational institutions reported that they do not use alcohol at all.
The proportion of young people using electronic cigarettes on a daily basis varied between 1 per cent and 9 per cent in different age groups.
According to the survey, the use of e-cigarettes was more common among young girls than boys. The proportion of young people using e-cigarettes (vapes) daily has remained almost unchanged compared to 2023. The growth continued only with girls studying in vocational institution.
Six per cent of boys and three per cent of girls in grades 4 and 5 of basic education had used electronic cigarettes at least once.
The use of nicotine pouches, however, has increased significantly among both boys and girls compared to 2023.
Nine per cent of boys and 4–5 per cent of girls in grades 8 and 9 of basic education and in the 1st and 2nd year of general upper secondary schools reported that they had used nicotine pouches daily.
The daily use of nicotine pouches was most common among 1st and 2nd-year students of vocational institutions (boys 24%, girls 15%). Few students in grades 4 and 5 of basic education had tried nicotine pouches (boys 2%, girls 1%).
“The increase in the daily use of nicotine pouches among young people is alarming. The age limit for selling tobacco and nicotine products should be increased to 20 as a matter of urgency,” said Senior Specialist of THL Hanna Ollila.
According to results of the study, most children and young people can discuss their personal matters with their parents often or fairly often.
Support from adults is needed for health-promoting lifestyles as only a small proportion of children and young people both have breakfast and exercise and sleep enough.
“The long time series of the School Health Promotion study show a positive change in the discussion culture of adults and schoolchildren. Young people talk about their personal matters with their parents more often than before. In addition, 61 per cent of students in grades 8 and 9 felt that teachers were interested in how students were doing, while about 30 per cent of students felt the same at the beginning of the 2000s,” said Jenni Helenius, the researcher responsible for the study.
“Children and young people need support from adults for following a healthy lifestyle and a regular daily rhythm. Sufficient sleep, physical activity and nutrition are the basic pillars of well-being. Their significance for mental well-being cannot be emphasised too much”, said Chief Physician Terhi Aalto-Setälä.
In spring 2025, a total of 270,000 student in grades 4 and 5 and grades 8 and 9 of basic education and in the 1st and 2nd year of general upper secondary schools and vocational institutions responded to the School Health Promotion study.
The results service of the School Health Promotion study includes the results of the entire country and the results of the wellbeing services counties and municipalities. The results will be discussed at the Hyvinvointiareena training event organised on 22 and 23 September 2025.
- Bullying
- School
- Sexual harassment
- Health Promotion study
Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
