Over half of North East teenagers suffer with loneliness
New research shows three in five young people in the North East suffer from loneliness.
New research shows three in five young people in the North East suffer from loneliness.
A report out today says job prospects and mental health take a huge dip when teenagers struggle to interact with others.
The Social Intelligence and the Next Generation report, from King’s College London and National Citizen Service (NCS), shows that two-thirds of peer groups are still made up of those from similar backgrounds - and 9 in 10 teenagers are nervous about interacting with people from different backgrounds.
Rob Austin, 20, from Kenton said he was isolated as a teenager, and spent hours on social media instead of making friends. He said:
“When I was back at school all of my friends used to go out all the time. I eventually lost my friends because they just knew that I wouldn’t come along. I used to just sit on Facebook, refreshing the feed and watching them socialise and have fun.”
“I can remember being in year nine and all my confidence was gone. I struggled to put a smile on at school. I wasn’t depressed or anything I just found it really really hard to speak to new people.”
“We had to do presentations for English assignments and things about I used to use any excuse to get out of them because I was scared.”
The report explores why social intelligence - the ability to understand people’s emotions when deciding how to interact with others - will become increasingly important to future generations.
It also found that 200 employers suggests social intelligence, and associated skills such as teamwork, communication and negotiation skills, are now more important in new recruits and career progression than IQ or academic intelligence.
Two thirds of businesses say social skills are almost impossible to teach once in the workplace, highlighting the need to develop them while people are young. Worryingly, employers report low social intelligence in many candidates and are wasting up to 600 hours interviewing people who don’t meet their criteria. In fact, a lack of social integration is estimated to cost the UK economy £6 million a year.