Children in England among world's unhappiest: Study

Children in England are unhappier at school than their peers in almost every other country with widespread bullying causing huge damage to their wellbeing, a new study has found.
English children ranked 14th out of 15 countries for overall life satisfaction, just ahead of South Korea, and scored low for aspects related to their "self" and school, according to research by the University of York in partnership with The Children's Society.
An estimated half a million 10 and 12-year-olds are physically bullied at school, according to the study.
In an international comparison of children's happiness titled 'Good Childhood Report', it was concluded that children in England were unhappier with their school experience than their peers in 11 other countries, including Ethiopia and Algeria.

"It is deeply worrying that children in this country are so unhappy at school compared to other countries, and it is truly shocking that thousands of children are being physically and emotionally bullied, damaging their happiness. School should be a safe haven, not a battleground," said Matthew Reed, chief executive of the Children's Society.
The University of York carried out the research in England, which was then drawn together for the annual report and compared with data from 14 other countries, which did not include India.

The other 14 countries are Algeria, Colombia, Estonia, Ethiopia, Germany, Israel, Nepal, Norway, Poland, Romania, South Africa, South Korea, Spain and Turkey.

Researchers surveyed over 53,000 children in total in 2013-14, aged between eight and 12, from diverse cultures and places, from remote villages to large cities.
Levels of satisfaction with "life as a whole" were highest in Romania, where the mean level of satisfaction among 12-year-olds was 9.5 out of 10, followed by Colombia with 9.3 out of 10.
England came 14th out of the 15 countries surveyed, with 12-year-olds giving a mean satisfaction score of 8.4 out of 10, and 7.1 per cent reporting low levels of well-being and happiness.