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Kids know what makes them happy

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Fridays are definitely the best day of the week and one of the things likely to make many school children happy, according to an annual innovative schools event on happiness that takes place during the Economic and Social Research Council’s (ESRC) annual Festival of Social Science.

Fish and chip school lunches, family, friends and fun are mentioned by children in this small-scale project as some of the ingredients of a happy school life, says event organiser Dr Lindsey Cameron, a child development specialist at the University of Kent. "Asking children themselves what makes them happy rather than assuming we as adults know the answers can provide some surprising results," says Dr Cameron. "When we asked children aged 10-11 to investigate what made them happy during last year’s Festival, we discovered that material things were not mentioned at all. Rather, it was spending time with family and friends, having fun and enjoying small things like eating fish and chips for school lunch or looking forward to Friday as - for most children (and adults) - the start of a relaxing weekend with their family."

The 'How to make a happy school' event, which this year will be run in three Kent primary schools during the first week in November, aims to help children use social science methods – including collecting and analysing data – to investigate what makes them and their classmates happy and why happiness is important. During the week children will visit the University of Kent and learn important research skills as well as finding out more about the science of happiness. Back at school, they create their own survey to find out what makes people happy. With the help of local artist, Tracey Falcon, and Kent-based arts organisation People United, they will find creative ways to present their findings to the whole school.

"We need to find out more about what makes young people happy, and who better to investigate this than young people themselves?," Dr Cameron asks. "A 2007 UNICEF survey placed Britain near the bottom of league tables for well-being. And happiness is an important part of well-being. This event helps to raise young people’s awareness of the things that are really important for their happiness as well as introducing them to social science methods." Dr Cameron hopes to share this approach with schools across the country so that they can use social science to explore happiness in their own schools.

Although the project is small-scale, Dr Cameron believes that listening to children from these primary schools gives parents pause for thought as well as highlighting the need for further happiness research. "When asked children clearly tell us how important family, friends and having fun are to their happiness. For busy parents this may be a difficult thing to hear but it’s worth asking yourself next time to decide to do some hoovering or tidying up, whether those five minutes may not be better spent having a bit of fun with your child," Dr Cameron says.

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Notes for editors

  1. Event: How to make a happy school
    Organiser: Dr Lindsey Cameron, University of Kent
    Date: 4-8 November 2013
    Venue: University of Kent, University Road, Canterbury, CT2 7NP
    Audience: Schools
    For more information: please contact Dr Cameron as above
  2. Dr Lindsey Cameron is a child development specialist in the School of Psychology, University of Kent.
  3. The Festival of Social Science is run by the Economic and Social Research Council and takes place from 2-9 November 2013. With events from some of the country's leading social scientists, the Festival celebrates the very best of British social science research and how it influences our social, economic and political lives - both now and in the future. This year's Festival of Social Science has over 170 creative and exciting events across the UK to encourage businesses, charities, government agencies, schools and college students to discuss, discover and debate topical social science issues. Press releases detailing some of the varied events and a full list of the programme are available at the Festival website. You can now follow updates from the Festival on Twitter using #esrcfestival.
  4. The Economic and Social Research Council is the UK's largest organisation for funding research on economic and social issues. It supports independent, high quality research which has an impact on business, the public sector and the third sector. The ESRC's total budget for 2012/13 is £205 million. At any one time the ESRC supports over 4,000 researchers and postgraduate students in academic institutions and independent research institutes.

Susie Watts 
Email: susie.watts@esrc.ac.uk 
Telephone: 01793 413119

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)

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Economic and Social Research Council Festival of Social Science