English Schoolchildren Are Among 'Unhappiest In The World'
A new international survey of 15 countries found that UK children are unhappier than peers in 11 other countries, due to widespread bullying in school, according to theguardian.
An estimated half a million 10- and 12-year-olds are physically hit, said a study by the Children's Society, which found that 38% of children surveyed had been hit by classmates in one month.
Matthew Reed, chief executive of the Children's Society said: "It is deeply worrying that children in this country are so unhappy at school compared to other countries, and it is truly shocking that thousands of children are being physically and emotionally bullied, damaging their happiness. School should be a safe haven, not a battleground."
According to the Children's Society's annual Good Childhood report, carried out in collaboration with the University of York report, victims of bullying had lower self-esteem than those who had not been bullied.
Moroever, many children complained of being left out by classmates in the last month.
Boys were 50% more likely to have been hit by classmates than girls, while girls were 40% more likely to have felt left out.
On average, 11% of schoolchildren reported being unhappy with school life. England ranked 14th in the relationship with the teachers. Unhappiness in learning was 11th, while unhappiness with their classmates was ranked 12th.
Girls ranked bottom in their satisfaction with their appearance and self-confidence, as compared with girls in other countries, except South Korea.
The global survey looked at 53,000 children aged 10 and 12 in England, Germany, Norway, South Korea, Poland, Estonia, Spain, Turkey, Romania, Algeria, South Africa, Israel, Ethiopia, Colombia and Nepal.
The report shows that British children are more unhappy with their lives than children in 13 other countries, including Israel and South Africa. Only South Korea is behind UK.
However, there are five areas in which the British children are happier: their friendships, money, possessions, their relationships with relatives they don't live with and their local police.
The Children's Society is thus asking the government to provide school counselling and help children's wellbeing by tackling bullying and promoting physical exercise.
"Despite a long period of austerity, we are one of the richest nations in the world yet the happiness of our children is at rock bottom," said Reed. "They are unhappy at school and are struggling with issues around their appearance and self-confidence.
"We know that this is related to their mental health and can prevent them flourishing. We need to urgently find a way to make young people feel happier about their lives to avoid storing up problems for the future. Giving children a happy childhood should be our top priority."
Professor Jonathan Bradshaw, of the department of social policy and social work at the University of York, said: "Although we know from previous work that most children in England are positive about their lives, these comparisons show where we could be doing better for our children.
He added: "Children are our future. Their wellbeing matters to us all. As a nation we pay enormous attention to the wellbeing of our economy, the state of the weather, sporting league tables, the City and the stock market.
"Indicators of these take up pages of the media every day. We need to make more effort to monitor the wellbeing of our children and we need to devote more resources to understanding how they are doing and to ensuring that their childhood is as good as it can be."
Kevin Courtney, deputy general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: "There needs to be the time devoted in the curriculum to preventing bullying through challenging negative attitudes. The lessons learned make a significant difference to pupils' attitudes, not only during their school career but throughout their adult life as well."
A government spokesperson said: "The best schools create a happy, safe and supportive environment for children, laying the foundations for fulfilment in adulthood. Bullying of any kind is unacceptable and all schools must have measures in place to tackle it. That is why we are providing more than £7m to help schools tackle bullying head on.
"We are also promoting greater use of counselling in schools, improving teaching about mental health, and supporting joint working between mental health services and schools. This will ensure children can thrive both inside and out the classroom."
The Children's Society is a national charity which works with vulnerable children and young people and campaigns on their behalf.
