English children among the unhappiest in the world at school due to bullying

Violence and poor relationships with teachers puts English children 14th out of 15 countries surveyed for happiness at school as charity calls for action

Children in England are unhappier at school than their peers in almost every other country included in a new international survey, with widespread bullying causing huge damage to their wellbeing.
An estimated half a million 10- and 12-year-olds are physically bullied at school, according to a study by the Children’s Society, which found that 38% of children surveyed had been hit by classmates in the last month.
In an international comparison of children’s happiness in 15 countries, the report concluded that children in England were unhappier with their school experience than their peers in 11 other countries, including Ethiopia and Algeria.
The findings, which are outlined in the Children’s Society’s annual Good Childhood report, carried out in collaboration with the University of York, paint an alarming picture of children’s experiences at school in England, and their wider sense of wellbeing.

We need to find a way to make young people feel happier about their lives to avoid storing up problems for the future
Matthew Reed, Children’s Society chief executive

Matthew Reed, chief executive of the Children’s Society: “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 report, children who were bullied frequently were six times more likely to have a low sense of wellbeing than children who had not been bullied.
Children in English schools were also the most likely to have experienced being left out by classmates in the last month, with half of all those questioned complaining of feeling excluded. Boys were 50% more likely to have been hit by classmates than girls, while girls were 40% more likely to have felt left out.


More at http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/aug/19/english-children-among-unhappiest-world-widespread-bullying

That's not a good record to have!

What an indictment of our society.

Since when has some kids feeling being left out classed as bullying?


What exactly is this 'being left out' consisting of?


Do all kids have to be equally friendly and sociable with all other kids and all at the same time!?


And how will that work exactly?


Sounds more like this organisation is highlighting a problem that doesn't exist to angle for more funding to me...

Being left out will make a child feel unhappy IMO. I think this is down to this obsession about "fitting in" which seems to dominate society in this country. You see it on the internet with people on Facebook having lots of "friends" who they don't even know.

So do all kids now have to be equally friendly and sociable with all other kids and all at the same time!?


So if one kid has a friend and goes round their home to play some xbox games or something, are they bullying all the other kids in The school...?


Do they have to invite 20, 30, 50, 100 or so other kids round too so as to not let anyone feel left out and therefore 'bullied'...!?

Tommy Monk wrote:




So do all kids now have to be equally friendly and sociable with all other kids and all at the same time!?


So if one kid has a friend and goes round their home to play some xbox games or something, are they bullying all the other kids in The school...?


Do they have to invite 20, 30, 50, 100 or so other kids round too so as to not let anyone feel left out and therefore 'bullied'...!?

I think the being left out thing is a separate issue. Everyone has be sociable these days or you get labelled as having a learning difficulty or a personality disorder, or something.

As for kids being hit, they do sometimes hit each other don't they?

Children nowadays are very spoiled and spoilt.
They are a bit "I want it all and I want it now" and as a parent, I hold my hands up to spoiling mine.
I ensure, and demand, manners and independence and tolerance and all these things, but I buy them a lot of things.

I see it though, all the time, with children: they demand and they get.

I can see how this could make some children behave in an hostile manner at school. Children and teens think they're almost untouchable.

If a kid is themselves being unsociable then they are leaving themselves out and hardly a reflection on others being bullies...


And 'hit' how...!?


I remember there being loads of barging in crowds trying to get into corridors, or light hearted pushing and the like.



But I was focusing on the article claiming that This 'being left out' stuff... what it actually consists of and how are all kids supposed to be equally friendly and sociable to all others...!?


It's a unreal ideal to achieve... all kids havepreferred friends and interactions etc... those who are more quiet or reserved may feel left out but it is not bullying.

Tommy Monk wrote:If a kid is themselves being unsociable then they are leaving themselves out and hardly a reflection on others being bullies...


And 'hit' how...!?


I remember there being loads of barging in crowds trying to get into corridors, or light hearted pushing and the like.



But I was focusing on the article claiming that This 'being left out' stuff... what it actually consists of and how are all kids supposed to be equally friendly and sociable to all others...!?


It's a unreal ideal to achieve... all kids havepreferred friends and interactions etc... those who are more quiet or reserved may feel left out but it is not bullying.

Also, some might not mind being left out if they were left to their own devices, but they're told they must fit in and have loads of friends, so they feel abnormal if they don't.

I do think though that girls have a tendency to form gangs and exclude former friends if they decide they're not "good enough".

A kid who chooses not to be more involved can hardly claim to be 'left out' and then that This was bullying...



I don't think this was what the article was suggesting at all.

Wow blame the kids themselves for being unhappy and who might I ask is teaching them? Where do kids learn bullying from? Is technology playing a part here which is denying kids enjoyment because they are now given game consoles, laptops, phones, ect as babysitters?

Raggamuffin wrote:I do think though that girls have a tendency to form gangs and exclude former friends if they decide they're not "good enough".

People can be quite fickle at times... girls especially as they do have a lot of other stuff going on affecting moods etc... all quite normal I would say...


Is normal behaviour now 'bullying'...?


What is this 'being left out' that is portrayed as bullying?