The kids aren’t alright, so can we teach happiness?

Our children aren’t happy, but who’s to blame — technology, society, parents or teachers? More importantly, what can we do about it?

As a statistic, it makes stark reading. 18% of young people in the UK do not think life is worth living. This can’t just be written off as teenage ennui; research from a variety of countries all point to a rise in mental health and wellbeing issues affecting children and young adults. So how, as a society, have we come to this? What can we do collectively to address it, and what part can teachers play in helping with that?

Teacher involvement is critical because one of the most worrying statistics in recent years is that in 2016 higher education student suicide rates in the UK overtook the national average for young people for the first time.

And while other issues affecting young people like teenage pregnancy, smoking, and even meat and alcohol consumption are falling, the stats for drug use, STIs, obesity, self-harm and mental health issues are not. Clearly from primary school to university, a significant portion of our children are not happy.