Growing Up in Ireland is an ongoing exploration of the experiences of 20,000 children across Ireland which seeks to collect information about the quality of life of our nation’s young.
The study aims to uncover the experiences of the Irish child, “beyond academic achievement to a more profound understanding of the role of education and the responsibilities of teachers in nurturing children’s wellbeing.” as the deputy of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, Sarah Fitzpatrick, stated.
The study, which is a great tool for both parents and educators, is carried out by The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) and looks at the wellbeing of children aged nine and 13 – assessing how they feel about their lives, their parents, their teachers and their health.
Happiness:
When the 9-year-olds were asked to complete the sentence “The thing that makes me most happy is…” The most popular overall answer was ‘family’ (22 per cent). This was closely followed by ‘friends’ (21 per cent) and ‘sport’ (19 per cent). ‘Family’ was more important for girls (27 per cent) than boys (19 per cent). Similarly, girls were more likely to mention ‘friends’ (25 per cent compared with 19 per cent of boys). In contrast, boys were more likely to mention ‘sport’ (27 per cent compared with 13 per cent for girls).
Health and body image:
The findings show that boys and young people from more socially advantaged backgrounds were more likely to exercise, and that 13-year-olds who took more exercise (whether hard or light exercise) were less likely to be overweight or obese. While most of the young people in Growing Up in Ireland maintained a healthy weight over time, one in four was either overweight or obese. Girls were also more likely to be classified as overweight or obese than boys. The majority of 13-year-olds were quite positive about their physical appearance, although a quarter rated themselves as below average in this respect, and girls tended to be less positive about their body image than boys. Dieting behaviours had also become evident at 13. Students who had fewer difficulties transitioning into secondary school were found to have a more positive body image. and girls, reportedly, have higher anxiety levels than boys.
School and education:
A large majority of nine-year-olds said that they liked school (93 per cent) at least “sometimes” while the remainder said they “never” liked it. Over half of children said they ‘always’ liked their teacher (53 per cent) and 6 per cent ‘never’ liked him or her. Overall parents had a higher estimate of their children abilities than their teachers did. A majority of parents (60 per cent) felt that their child was ‘above average’ or ‘excellent’ at Reading. A similarly high proportion (52 per cent) felt that their child was ‘above average’ or ‘excellent’ at Maths. Teachers gave more ratings of ‘average’ or ‘below average’ than did parents for both subjects.
Behaviour and discipline:
The most frequently used form of discipline was ‘verbal report to parents’. Expulsion or permanent exclusion was ‘never’ used by the vast majority of schools: 97 per cent of children were in schools that ‘never’ used it, and 3 per cent in schools that ‘rarely’ used it. Young people whose families have been significantly affected by the recession were reported to be more poorly behaved at 13 than at nine, while middle-class children see themselves as better behaved than children from working-class or non-employed households do.
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