What do we mean by wellbeing?

“Wellbeing is how we’re doing as individuals, communities and as a nation, and how
sustainable that is for the future.”

What Works Centre for Wellbeing.

In order for children to achieve, they need to feel that their wellbeing is being prioritised. This can be categorised into a number of aspects:

*Life satisfaction

*Emotional health

*Their sense of place in the world.

Good wellbeing is defined as how well they ‘cope with life’ and also if life becomes challenging, that they know they can access the support they need. 

What elements are analysed in the report? 

A sample of 10- to 15-year-old children were asked to rate their feelings ranging from
‘completely happy’ to ‘not at all happy’. The following aspects of their lives were investigated:

Their schoolwork

Their appearance

Their family

Their friends

The school they go to

Their life as a whole

Key Findings:

* Overall, children’s mean happiness
scores were significantly lower than in previous years.

* Children were most happy with their family.

* They were least happy with their
schoolwork.

*Over one in seven children were
unhappy with their appearance,
schoolwork and school. 

*Females being on average significantly
less happy than males with their life as a
whole, family, appearance, and school.

*Females were least happy with their appearance.

*Males were least happy with their school work. 

When asking children to consider their futures, they were most concerned about having somewhere to live. 

The report also indicated that children and
young people’s feelings and worries about
money remain prevalent this year.

Feelings about oneself, relationships and social interactions.

The importance of relationships is key for our children and young people.

Relationships with themselves:

The effect of what they see on TV, social media is hugely influential on the way they view themselves. Unrealistic portrayals of what ‘beauty’ is and abnormally high expectations of what we should aspire to, have a particularly detrimental effect on girls, especially through puberty.  ​

Peer groups/ peer pressure and bullying:

Young people cited that external influences from their peers was at the forefront of their minds a lot of the time. The rise of misogony and incel content was mentioned more in this year’s report.

They cited that they may be bullied in a discrimatory way regarding their sexual orientation, educational needs, skin colour etc.

Social media had some benefits such as building a sense of community and use of phones was valued due to being able to maintain contact with parents/ family, but it also meant that they could never escape the pressure that peers might be putting on them.

A reliance on social media (in downtime) meant that young people felt disconnected from their communities in which they lived and an increasing feeling of isolation. 

More worrying was that some young people felt that the bullying was ignored and not dealt with effectively by ‘responsible’ adults and therefore meaning there was no real consequence for the perpertrators.

The importance of their school on wellbeing:

Young people stated that the right adults in their schools could prove crucial in whether they felt supported. Having that one teacher/ teaching assistant who understood their particular circumstances and specific needs (particularly if they were neurodivergent or had anxiety issues) could make all the difference to them.

The transition point from primary to secondary was a particularly difficult period for many. It was felt more support needs to be put into building effective relationships in Year 7, which are lasting and positive. 

They did feel that there was an unecessary pressure on academic achievement rather than other types of achievement. 

Insuffient emphasis on PSHE and wellbeing support:

Often, PSHE lessons were given insufficient time with a lack of subject knowledge. It was thought that other subjects have experienced, highly trained teachers, where PSHE is just ‘added on’ without any real meaning. If it was taught it was said to be often from a script without opportuntities for discussion or meaningful engagement.

Lack of community groups/ initiatives:

If young people are to be encouraged to put down their phones, there needs to be effective alternatives in order for them not to feel isolated. The lack of youth groups was cited as a real problem for young people. They felt that a safe space for people of their age to go to, would be hugely impactful on their wellbeing. 

Young Advisors described a safe space as:
“knowing you are welcome and you don’t have to leave.”

They also said that online spaces need to be made safer. 

Feelings about society, the future, and desire for change:

Young people often felt completely overwhelmed by how much was facing them and used phrases such as ‘it is all piling up on me’. 

Financial concerns meant that they often felt they would miss out on things their peers were doing (FOMO!)

They felt that issues such as food poverty and rising crime, meant that they were being distracted by issues which shouldn’t have been their concern, when all they wanted to do was focus on their schooling.

Many young people felt passionate about issues that they wanted to have an impact on but felt that their voices were not being heard. Many had written to their MPs but not received responses. 

How can we as professionals help make a difference? 

Professionals identified that the lack of universal and early support services, accompanied with long waiting times, put undue pressure on parents and the family unit. This then meant that schools were under more pressure to fill the gaps, which other support services had been unable to fill. 

There was a chronic need for earlier support services stepping in before issues became too heightened.

It was felt that working together with a range of professionals and the wider community
 and to create networks that work as one to address these issues and ensure that children’s wellbeing is at the forefront of everyone’s agendas. 

There needs to be a holistic, communityfocused support: the return of the ‘village to raise a child’ mentality.

So in summary:

Blog written by Jo Gotheridge  18 .11.25