English children are among the unhappiest in the world, a wide-ranging study has revealed.
Young people in England are ranked nearly bottom of an international happiness table, coming 13th of 16 countries.
The study, which interviewed 17,000 eight-year-olds across four continents, reveals kids in England are less happy than their counterparts in Estonia, Poland and Turkey.
Only South Korea, Nepal and Ethiopia ranked lower.
Children’s Worlds, which conducted the research, found Romania topped the table in self-reported life satisfaction.
The findings are in stark contrast to the reputation the country had for its burgeoning orphanages a few decades ago.
In comparison English children came ninth – roughly in the middle - for talking to friends, and having fun with them.
Gwyther Rees, of SPRU at the University of York, said: “There are some quite troubling messages from England and the picture is quite similar to what we found with older age groups.
“Children are happy at home and with friends but less happy at school where there seems to be an issue around bullying and being left out.”
Regarding material goods such as TVs, computers, good clothes and money, the majority of youngsters felt they had adequate possessions.
Out of the 990 English children surveyed, 84 per cent thought they had good access to a family car, compared with just three per cent in Ethiopia.
But despite a relative abundance of wealth, adolescents’ languished near the bottom of the tables when it came to body image, ranked 12th for being satisfied with their body, and 13th for the way they look.
Columbia and Romania came first and second in both categories, but scored low on prosperity.
Jonathan Bradshaw, professor of social policy at the University of York, who co-edited the report, acknowledged the lack of relationship between a healthy body-image and possessions.
He told The Guardian: “There is something going on in the UK and it seems to be focused on self-esteem and confidence.
“It’s very difficult to prescribe what to do about it, but I think one thing that we certainly ought to do is make more effort to manage bullying.”
Source : independent.co.uk
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