UK youngsters 'stressed and depressed'

Updated 20.50 Fri Oct 12 2007

Keywords: succeed, pressure, scared, stressed, children

Family breakdowns, the celebrity culture and crime are being blamed for robbing UK children of their innocence, a major study has found.

According to Cambridge University's Primary Review, life for youngsters outside school "is increasingly insecure and in many areas, dangerous".

"For a Government which has invested so much in its drive to raise educational standards, there is a battle for hearts and minds to be won" - Primary Review director Robin Alexander

And there is "excessive" pressure to succeed at school while fears over global warming and the "decline" of respect are contributing to kids being forced to grow up too soon.

The report, which also warns of the damaging influence of computer games, said youngsters are worried about the long-term impact of climate change and pollution, as well as the gaps between rich and poor nations.

It said 11-year-olds were "scared" by the prospect of exams, such as Sats, which have dominated the last two years of primary education and distort the curriculum.

Additionally, the report said children are no less anxious about issues which directly affect their sense of security such as "traffic, the lack of safe play areas, rubbish, graffiti, gangs of older children, knives and guns".

It said some were also worried by "the gloomy tenor of 'what you hear on the news' or by a generalised fear of strangers, burglars and street violence."

Primary Review director Robin Alexander said: "For a Government which has invested so much in its drive to raise educational standards, there is a battle for hearts and minds to be won.

"The unease about the present and pessimism about the future which we uncovered as we travelled round the country and talked to many people both inside and outside education cannot so easily be explained away.

"If things are going so well, why are people so worried? The health of a national educational system can't be fully captured by the term 'standards', critically important though standards are.

"Standards may have been too readily equated with quality. It is time to start exploring the difference between them."

A spokeswoman for Department for Children, Schools and Families said: "We are committed to improving the lives of children and young people right across the country and we are making substantial progress."