English children ‘unhappiest in the world’ due to bullying

School children in England are among the unhappiest in the world, according to a new study.

Bullying and the relentless pressure to look good are conspiring to make English children feel miserable.

He said: “Children can now expect to be branded “failures” 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”.

Children here ranked 14th out of 15 countries for overall life satisfaction, just ahead of South Korea, according to research by the University of York and The Children’s Society.

Girls in England were more than twice as likely as boys to say they are unhappy with their bodies.

“That’s why we think it is really important that schools in England should have counselling available for all children – it’s already available in Wales, it’s already in Northern Ireland – a legal responsibility for schools so all children do get the support they need”.

The Good Childhood Report, which examined the experiences of 53,000 children across 15 diverse countries, found English children appeared to be significantly less happy than those other, poorer, countries.

The report also found worrying levels of bullying, with more than a third of students (38%) aged 10 and 12 reporting that they had been physically bullied in the past month. Colombian girls topped the table for body confidence, with an average rating of 9.6, followed by Romania with 9.4. However, the worldwide findings now show that this argument is incorrect.

England also has a much more marked gender difference when it comes to body confidence than elsewhere. They were asked about their satisfaction levels on various aspects of life, including their family and the amount of choice they had.

And those in England reported more worries about being bullied and excluded by other children.

A Department for Education spokeswoman said the Government was working hard to deal with the issues. School should be a safe haven, not a battleground, ‘ he said.

The Children’s Society is encouraging the government and schools in England to provide better advice to pupils.

She said: “Bullying of any kind is unacceptable and all schools must have measures in place to tackle it. That is why we are providing more than £7m to help schools tackle bullying head on”.

It also wants children’s mental health funding to promoting children’s wellbeing, rather than just dealing with mental health problems after they occur.