'The foundation of every state is the education of its young.' So said Diogenes in the 5th century BC, and it is an axiom that still holds true today. Children are the future. For both their wellbeing and our good, it is the responsibility of all of us to care for and educate them, giving them the tools that will help them best use their particular gifts, and so grow up to be happy and fulfilled individuals. Only in this way can we ensure the continuance and future good of society.
But something has gone badly wrong.
In a newly published report by The Children's Society, The Good Childhood Report 2024, it is claimed that British teenagers rank as the least happy in Europe. Analysing data from a survey conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OCED), looking into teenage life satisfaction across Europe, the report states that 25.2% of 15-year-olds in the UK describe low life satisfaction, as compared with a European average of 16.6%, and in stark contrast to the Netherlands' 6.7% – putting the UK firmly at the bottom of the list.
These findings, if accurate, are shocking and should be a wake-up call, because if the causes of the problem are not now properly identified and addressed, not only will the lives of these young people be irrevocably blighted, but society as we know it will collapse.
The report highlights such matters as the family, personal appearance, school, and climate change as potential problem areas contributing to general dissatisfaction and feelings of unhappiness, pinpointing especially financial hardship and strain – it was found, for example, that in the month before the survey, one in ten 15-year-olds in the UK said that they had missed meals due to lack of money.
But though these may well be contributory factors, such bland analysis surely ignores the very large elephant standing in the centre of the room, because these are merely symptoms of infection, and do nothing to tackle the disease at source. No, the real, and infinitely more shocking, truth is that society itself has created this problem and, to put it right, society now must change.
For too long we have treated children as human guinea pigs in an ideological experiment designed to overturn the traditional values on which our nation is based. For decades, for example, as part of the drive to reconfigure morality, we have taught children that sex is a human right, pretty much from birth, so that they can indulge as soon as they feel 'ready' – provided only that they stay safe and use a condom! Thus, promiscuity has become normalised and been promoted, while notions of fidelity and commitment (the basis for strong family units) have been consigned to the scrapheap of despised and repressive patriarchy!
On top of this, we have told children as young as three that gender is a matter of choice, not biology, and that it is up to them to choose what they want to be, which inevitably has produced confusion and unnecessary emotional strain – and indeed has led some into life changing and irreversible treatments that are later bitterly regretted.
This deliberate indoctrination, which started way back in the 1960s, has had an effect across the whole of society, but it is children and young people especially who have suffered. As a direct consequence of the attempt at moral reframing, the 'family' today appears to be in terminal decline (see latest figures from the ONS). Which means that almost half of all UK children now grow up without the safety net provided by a traditional nuclear family, and at least 44% don't live with – or perhaps even don't know – both biological parents.
In fact, serialised relationships, based on cohabitation, have become a norm, which means that a child may well have a series of 'daddies' or 'mummies', and may find themselves living with a changing group of siblings, half-siblings and/or other children unrelated by blood, all of which – again – leads to feelings of confusion and emotional instability. And which, research shows, adversely affects their own future capacity to form stable, monogamous and long-lasting relationships, so that the cycle becomes repeated ... with the same sorry results.
The truth is, we live in a dysfunctional and declining culture that is spiralling towards chaos. On our present trajectory, sooner rather than later, our society will implode – so small wonder teenagers are complaining of low life satisfaction. In fact, it's a pretty safe bet that the rest of the population would say exactly the same, if asked, because poverty, loneliness, low self-esteem, and low achievement are problems at any age, and while we continue to live the way we do, things aren't going to improve!
The policy recommendations put forward by The Children's Society – calling amongst other measures for mental health support teams for every school in England, a new Child Poverty Act, the elimination of bullying and an end of the learn to test culture in schools – good intentioned though they may be, are at best sticking plaster remedies and don't even come close to solving the very real problems now facing society. If we really are serious about helping the nation's young, it is urgent we abandon the 'Self' promoting social experiment that would see an end to traditional values, and re-commit to the principles and beliefs that historically have been the basis of our society, and that up to now have made us strong.
