Screen time is not the key to happiness
Are our children the most unhappy in the world? Not quite. Results of a survey compiled by University of York researchers published this week put children in the UK a lowly 24th out of 29 European states for happiness.
Quite why children in Holland (ranked 1st) Slovenia (ranked 7th) and the Czech Republic (ranked 16th) are so much happier is anyone's guess.
Children were surveyed on their school life, home life, relationships and health, among a range of measures.
But maybe 24th out of 29 could be considered good when in 2007 Unicef found our children to be the unhappiest of 21 developed nations, including America, ranked one place above us.
The UK was accused of failing its children, that an under-investment and a dog-eat-dog society were to blame for our youngsters' woes.
Again, Holland came out in first place – the country seemingly standing as the idyllic place to grow up.
The Child Poverty Action Group who commissioned the report published this week said: "The figures should, therefore, be read as a criticism of UK society, but not necessarily of recent social policy."
So according to them, "broken Britain" is to blame, not the Government.
Children today certainly have more than they used to by way of toys, games consoles and flat screen televisions.
But that clearly is not enough.
Ask anyone to remember some of their happiest times as a youngster and I'm sure most will not count gazing at a screen for hours on end as ranking very high.
Quality time spent with family and friends are surely most people's memories of childhood happiness.
There's no reason our children cannot be as happy as their Dutch friends.
Email to a friend
Print this page Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Local pages
Looking for a...
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Diss
Tuesday 07 September 2010
Today
Light showers
Temperature: 11 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: South
