With recent research suggesting that many teens don’t feel in control of their lives, Karen Sullivan continues her discussion on what role schools can play to reverse this trend

In my last article, we looked at the results of The Prince’s Trust Macquarie Youth Index, which showed that some 28 per cent of people between the ages of 16 and 25 don’t feel in control of their lives, resulting in the lowest level of happiness and wellbeing in young people since the index began (Generation no hope? Tackling students’ anxiety, SecEd, January 2017: http://bit.ly/2k6wOcW).

While there are no easy solutions to this, there are things that we can do to encourage students to feel in control and happier, and, through that, achieve better academic results.

The first and most important thing to consider is the role that a school has to play in supporting the emotional health of students. A good 700 hours per year are spent in the classroom and a third more on school-related activities, so it goes without saying that this environment is fundamental to creating and maintaining happiness and feelings of control.

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