Only depressing news coming out from the Children’s Society’s “Good Childhood Inquiry” – and I mean that fairly literally.
The Guardian reports evidence submitted to the Inquiry by the Nuffield Foundation, which compares a 1986 survey of 16-year olds with a group the same age in 2006. It found that the proportion who say they have no best friend has climbed from 13% to 18% in that time. A wide range of research has linked friendhsip to children’s happiness. (News story here). The 2006 sample size was 700, which suggests that the change is outside of the bounds of possible sample error.
Meanwhile the Ecologist news service reports that a survey of adults done for the Inquiry found that 43% would not let their children play outside unsupervised until they were 14. (Sample sixe: 1148). Unsupervised play is one of the ways in which children are able to develop their own freindships.
the next wave
wow. that’s interesting. I would think that kids now-a-days are happier, cuz they have more options of things to do. Such as video games and such.
I know I think to myself all the time when I play with my daughters, how cool it would be to have had these kinds of toys.
Although, Legos were pretty cool to play with.
Interesting study, thanks for sharing