What does a teenager need to be happy? Scientists measured the index of their well-being

A new study measures the level of teenage well-being. It turned out that those who are given enough time and attention feel the most satisfied. aif.ru told about the results of the study Professor of the Moscow State Psychological and Pedagogical University Galina Semya.

“According to Maria Lvova-Belova, Commissioner for Children’s Rights under the President of the Russian Federation, today there are 9 million teenagers in Russia (children aged 12 to 17).

We conducted a pilot study of 17,000 teenagers in 22 subjects of the federation. It was attended not only by children from prosperous families, but also by orphans, disabled people, migrants, gypsies, children from remote rural schools, the Arctic zone, the Far North, living in ecologically disadvantaged areas, etc.

69.5% of adolescents rated their level of well-being as medium, 15% as high, and 15.1% as low.

It turned out that in the ranking of well-being for a child, good trusting relationships with teachers and sufficient physical activity are in the first place. And outside of school, the time spent with parents, and the time spent with them outside the home, is important for the child.

The main areas of dissatisfaction among teenagers are the decline in the value of education (it turned out that teenagers do not understand why they should study), bullying (bullying) at school and cyberbullying in social networks, ignorance of their rights and lack of mentors.

The study also showed that the well-being of children directly depends on the organization in which they are located, living conditions and socio-psychological status. Unexpectedly, in the first place in the ranking of well-being were students of small-scale rural schools, and in second place — closed educational institutions for difficult teenagers. It turned out that when difficult children get into normal conditions and begin to deal with them, their level of well-being increases dramatically.”

Ordinary — at risk

The most lonely were the so-called «ordinary» children.

“Today there are two poles. On the one hand — vulnerable groups, on the other — gifted teenagers, — explains Candidate of Sciences in Sociology, Head of the Center for Sociological Internet Research at St. Petersburg State University, Head of the Center for Monitoring the Quality of Education at St. Petersburg State University Maya Rusakova. — Both of them are given increased attention. And an ordinary teenager, who constantly “chills” with the phone, is endlessly scolded by everyone. It turned out that such children simply do not know what they want to do in life and what to do and where to go now. Children of 13-14 years old are driven from playgrounds, in centers for advanced children they feel superfluous. Many teenagers are ready to work, and not only during the holidays, but also during school hours, devoting 2-3 hours a day to part-time work, but there are practically no vacancies for them.”

“That is why today it is so important to create accessible social spaces for teenagers and a community of specialists to work with them. Ideally, they should be in every city and every village, — I am convinced member of the Expert Council of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation on guardianship and guardianship of minors Armen Popov. — A system of adolescent centers is already being created in the Novosibirsk region. This experience should be implemented in other regions as well.

On the initiative Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova In Russia, interregional forums “Teenagers 360” are held, organized by the Center for the Development of Social Projects as part of the federal project “Patriotic Education of Citizens of the Russian Federation”. They have already taken place in St. Petersburg and Vladivostok, in October such a forum will be held in Novosibirsk, and the final — All-Russian — will be held in Moscow in November 2022.