A new study that involved eight-year-old kids in 16 countries provides perceptions on how they view and feel about their lives. The study is fronted by researchers at the University of York and The Children's World.
Science Daily reports that the researchers asked the children about their lives which include their personal well-being, overall happiness, family and home life, school life, friendship, possession, money, local area, time use and views on children's rights.
The results show that the children were happy with their lives. On the other hand, about 6 percent of the children had low self-esteem particularly children living in England, South Korea and Ethiopia.
"This project is groundbreaking. This report presents, for the first time, 8-year-old children's perspective on their lives and well-being. The Jacobs Foundation continues to support 'Children World' because we are convinced that it will deliver unique information valuable for everyone who is interested in understanding and improving the lives of children and youth," Simon Sommer, Head of Research at Jacobs Foundation that funded the work, said.
On the other hand, Futurity reports that the researchers thought that children who are living in England were happy with their family at home rather than with their friends at school. Findings of the study have made child experts worry a lot.
"It's deeply worrying that eight-year-old children living in England are less happy than children are living in a wide range of other countries across the world. Many of these children say they don't like school and also report being bullied. If primary age school children in England and lagging behind those in other countries then tackling this challenge should be a priority for the British Government as well as for schools in the coming months," Sam Royston, the Policy Director at The Children's Society, explained and suggested.
The Children's World plan will continue further with Italy, Indonesia and Finland which are joining in the second wave of the study. The third wave will begin in September 2017 and the findings will be issued in early 2019.
"This remarkable achievement teaches us first and foremost that children know better than anyone else about their lives and that any effort to improve it needs to be inclusive of their voice," Professor Asher Ben-Arieh, one of the principal investigators and co-chair of the International Society of Child Indicators, concluded.
