The well-being and overall happiness of young people drops drastically when they switch from primary to secondary school, with significant effects on their personal development, according to a new study out today.
It finds that a third of children are so badly affected by the transition that they become vulnerable to mental illness.
The study, carried out by the New Economics Foundation, an independent thinktank, found that primary schoolchildren are a lot happier than their secondary counterparts.
The study, carried out in partnership with Nottingham city council, looked at two measures of well-being in more than 1,000 youngsters aged seven to 19 attending Nottingham schools. Previous studies have focused only on life satisfaction, but researchers chose to look also at per sonal development because it is critical to people's overall ability to cope with life's challenges, as well as being directly related to physical health, particularly in later life.
In the study - featured in today's EducationGuardian - some 65% of primary school children rated their overall school experience as positive, whereas only 27% did so at secondary school.
When asked to respond to the statement "School is interesting", only 12% of secondary school pupils strongly agreed, while 65% or primary pupils did.
The academically top-performing primary school in the sample reported significantly lower well-being than the other primary schools surveyed. This raises the question of whether there are trade-offs between academic success and promoting curiosity.
The report notes: "Overall, secondary school children seem to become bored, stop learning and no longer enjoy the activities associated with the school."
Its author, Nic Marks, said: "Narrow targets, competitive league tables and increasing pressure in the classroom are robbing kids of the 'best days' of their lives. It's time to concentrate on our children's long-term well-being, and give them back the natural curiosity for learning that will equip them for real life."
Among other findings, young people registering sport as their favourite activity had significantly higher well-being than those that did not. Happiness and well-being also fall substantially as children get older.
While 9% of children aged nine to 11 have low satisfaction and low personal development, this rises to 16% at age 12-15. Girls also suffer a significantly greater drop in the personal development measure than boys.
Victims of crime have significantly lower well-being but fear of crime does not appear to affect the well-being of young people.
The findings appear to mirror government concerns about the transition from primary to secondary school. There has been a noticeable national dip in achievement at so-called key stage 3, covering the 11-14 age range.
But John Dunford, the general secretary of the Secondary Heads Association, disputed the findings: "Large numbers of children enjoy school because they find the work interesting, the social climate conducive and they find schools a place of safety and stability, particularly when they may not have so much stability at home.
"They might not be willing to admit that they like school, because it is more populist to say that you don't. Show me a teenager who is happy all the time and I'll show you someone who has not been born yet."
