More than 40,000 children in the South West unhappy with school

New analysis from The Children's Society has found thousands of schoolchildren here in the South West are unhappy with school.

However, being solely 'unhappy with school' isn't as simple as not enjoying specific lessons, or even having to get up to get to school early - the reasons behind why our kids here across the region span reasons far deeper.

According to this year's annual Good Childhood Report, the charity estimates as many as 44,000 children could be unhappy with school, thanks to examining the wellbeing of kids across the UK.

The report's findings

Examining data from across the country, the Children's Society has been able to distill data regionally - and has found the proportion of children 'unhappy with their lives' here in the South West is far greater than the national average.

Looking at children aged 10-15 across the UK:

• 1 in 16 children (6%) are 'unhappy with their lives'
• More than 1 in 3 parents and carers reported they had 'already struggled' with the cost of school trips and uniforms over the past year
• 1 in 5 girls (18%) were unhappy with their appearance - compared to 1 in 7 (15%) in 2012
• 1 in 10 boys (10%) were unhappy with their appearance
• 1 in 9 children (11%) between 10 and 17 years old had not coped 'overall' with changes due to Coronavirus

Looking at children aged 10-15 across the South West:

• 1 in 8 children (12%) are 'unhappy with school'
• 86% of parents and carers surveyed were 'concerned' with the cost of living crisis
• An estimated 32,000 girls were unhappy with their appearance

Mark Russell, Chief Executive at The Children’s Society, said: "It is desperately worrying that children’s well-being is in this state of decline, with a vast number of children in the South West estimated to be unhappy with school and so many girls potentially struggling with the way they look.

“Right now, the negative effects of the cost of living crisis, the disruption of the pandemic to young people’s education, and the ongoing decline in children’s happiness are on a collision course.

"School is a vital setting to influence children’s well-being, but they need more support, as the reality of what’s facing children and the lack of a holistic response is a national scandal.

“We need a faster roll-out of mental health support teams in schools alongside early support hubs in every local community and there needs to be more support for children whose families are struggling to make ends meet with free school meals available to all children on Universal Credit.

"There is nowhere to hide from the ensuing well-being catastrophe unless urgent action is taken.”

Among children aged 10 to 15 in the UK, happiness with school and schoolwork declined significantly with age.

On average, ten year olds rated happiness with school 8.1 out of 10, compared to 6.6 out of 10 at age 15. Happiness with school and schoolwork was also significantly lower among children in lower income households.

One teenager the charity spoke to about the findings said: “…a big problem with the expectations with schoolwork, so like the amount of schoolwork we have to do in school and outside of school. They don't take into consideration the things people actually go through, like mental health and family problems and stuff like that outside of school”.

The research highlights the importance of ensuring that children feel listened to, with 1 in 8 (13%) 10 to 17 year olds in the UK surveyed by the charity unhappy with how much they were listened to at school.

The Children's Society say they are calling for 'better support for schools' - and want to see a 'faster rollout' of support teams for mental health, as well as a national measurement of children's wellbeing and want to see a 'widening' of eligibility criteria for free school meals to all children on Universal Credit.

Policy and Impact manager for The Children's Society, Amy Dicks, said: "It's desperately worrying that we're seeing a decline in children's overall well-being and happiness in the UK and including the South West and we estimate the in the SW 44,000 children could be unhappy with school.

"The biggest factor that we've identified is that children don't feel that they're being listened to enough at school and at the Children's Society, we know how important it is to hear directly from children and and understand and respond to their experiences.

"In school, young people might find that schools don't take their experiences at home into consideration, so where a child might have a particularly difficult home life that can affect their school life, and they don't always feel that schools understand that.

"They also might feel that behaviour policies aren't always fair on children, young people, if they don't understand why they might be punished for something. School uniforms can also be quite challenging for children if they can't afford to have the right items and but they might still be punished, even though that's not necessarily their fault.

"One of the stats for the South is that 86% of parents are concerned about the cost of living - and it's very likely it's got worse since our survey. We hear from services that we run with children of heartbreaking stories of children watching their parents go without food, and we know any experience of a financial strain on a family does have a significant impact on children - so that's why we really need to see direct impact on young people.

"What we often like to talk about is how resilient children have been, especially during the pandemic - but we do still have concerns for the small, but important group, who do still struggle now - and it's why this Good Childhood Report is so important."

You can read the new Good Childhood Report here.

You can find out more about The Children's Society here.

You can see if your child is eligible for free school meals here.

Check out YoungMinds - the charity supporting the mental health of young people - here.

Check out the Government's latest Children and Young People's Mental Health report here.

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