{"id":5301,"date":"2015-08-20T08:00:16","date_gmt":"2015-08-20T07:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=5301"},"modified":"2015-08-19T17:52:32","modified_gmt":"2015-08-19T16:52:32","slug":"the-sad-kids-nation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=5301","title":{"rendered":"The sad kids\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 nation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ask any parent what they want their child to be and I am sure happy is top of their list.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As a parent sending your children off to school can be a painful experience. It is about so much more than just getting a good education.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After almost five years of raising them with love and understanding you put your faith in the school that you have painstakingly selected to take care of them, make sure that they are safe and primarily happy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But a report out yesterday (Wednesday August 19) reveals that children in England are among the unhappiest in the world at school.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The international comparison across 15 countries by The Children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Society and the University of York ranked English children at 14th<\/sup> for happiness with only South Korea coming behind.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The survey across 53,000 children and young people aged eight to 17 shows widespread bullying is causing huge damage to children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wellbeing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Children were asked to rate their well-being on a scale from zero to 10 where 10 meant “very happy” and 0 meant “very unhappy”.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Eighteen per cent have been physically hit at least once and 21 per cent have been left out by other children.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Truly shocking<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt 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,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Matthew Reed, chief executive of The Children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Society.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bSchool should be a safe haven, not a battleground,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Society is calling on the government to make it mandatory for schools in England to provide counselling to pupils, and is urging schools to help children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wellbeing by tackling bullying.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bDespite 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,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Matthew Reed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe know that this is related to their mental health and can prevent them flourishing. Giving children a happy childhood should be our top priority.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

England ranked 14th<\/sup> for children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s satisfaction with their relationship with their teacher and 14th<\/sup> for agreeing that teachers treated them fairly.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Only 44 per cent felt their teachers treated them fairly. They were also unhappy about what they were learning (11th in the rankings) and with their classmates (12th).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Kevin Courtney, deputy general secretary of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) blamed the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s accountability agenda of putting pressure on children.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Stress-related anxiety<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bChildren can now expect to be branded \u00e2\u20ac\u0098failures\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 when barely into primary education, and many of those who undergo high-stakes tests and examinations at all stages of school life experience serious stress-related anxiety,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Kelly Graham, a mum of two told us of the despair her entire family have experienced because of her eldest son\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s unhappiness at school.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMy eldest son has not had a happy past year in school,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Kelly.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bHe has high functioning autism so is a little \u00e2\u20ac\u0098different\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. He struggles to fit in with the other children at times. He would rather play chess than football and is often left out,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI can honestly say that our son\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s unhappiness at school has affected all of the family\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s happiness and also my mental health. There is nothing worse than knowing that you child isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t happy and feeling helpless to fix it,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A report by Centre Forum Mental Health Commission said that approximately 10 per cent of children currently have a mental health disorder.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The study suggests better training for teachers and stronger partnerships between schools and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Agencies (CAMHS) to ensure that responsibility was not left with schools.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI do think teachers need better training in children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wellbeing,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Kelly.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf children aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t happy they can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t learn,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Other countries included in the study were Algeria, Colombia, Estonia, Ethiopia, Germany, Israel, Nepal, Norway, Poland, Romania, South Africa, South Korea, Spain and Turkey. 4<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ask any parent what they want their child to be and I am sure happy is top of their list.   As a parent sending your children off to school can be a painful experience. It is about so much more than just getting a good education.   After almost five years of raising them […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5308,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[],"wps_subtitle":"England\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s children ranked unhappiest in world","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5301"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5301"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5301\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5322,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5301\/revisions\/5322"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}