Having four daughters myself I was astonished to see the headline "Third of girls 'have self-harmed'" on the BBC new web site. I consider it to be an incredible figure and there isn't much detail in how the research was carried out but I wonder if it really reflects (and I hope it doesn't) what is happening to our youngsters.

As a teenager I was aware of a number of boys at school who self-harmed but not any girls but as a boy I guess this might not be surprising. The main reason given for self-harm was depression and although I have experience of depression I cannot imagine how someone must feel to be able to do that to themselves.

Self-harm is clearly a growing problem and so I'm glad that the BBC are reporting this story.