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  • WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 14 2007 8:00 PM

United Nations: UK/US are Worst Places to Grow Up

Submitted by Vindice

Edited by erin_broadley

Tags: UK, United Nations, Unicef, US, young people's rights, teenagers, child poverty, bullying, education, ASBOs

Not that we couldn’t have told them this 10 years ago, but today the United Nations has declared the United Kingdom the worst place to grow up, out of 21 countries in the developed world. The United States follows closely behind.

A Unicef poll of children aged 11, 13 and 15 assessed the well-being of young people in six categories: material wealth, health and safety, standard of education, relationships with family and peers, the behaviours of the young people, and their own perceptions of their personal happiness and development.

Children’s testimonials rated the Netherlands as the most positive place to grow up, followed by Sweden and Denmark. Children in the UK, the US and Hungary had the least pleasant experiences growing up.

In a country where kids can be handed an ASBO (Anti-Social Behaviour Order) for such offences as wearing a hooded top, it's unsurprising that Unicef finds the UK’s children and adolescents suffering from low self-esteem, unhappiness and pessimism about the future. Kids reported having poor relationships with family and peers, with more than a third (approx 36%) saying they had been bullied within the last two months. A similar number of 15-year-olds have no aspirations beyond the lowest-skilled work, and 16% of children are currently living below the poverty line. Adolescents in the UK are likely to put themselves at risk from drugs, excessive alcohol intake and unsafe sex, with 40% of British teenagers having sex below the age of consent.

Children’s Commissioner for England, Al Aynsley-Green, has criticised the government’s ‘blame-the-kids’ response to problems in society, saying:

It is time to stop demonising children and young people for what goes wrong and start supporting them to make positive choices. To bring an end to confusing messages we give to young people about their role, responsibility and position in society, and ensure that every child feels valued and has their rights respected.

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Comments
Wendy

Wendy

SUICIDEGIRL

Israel

FEB 14, 2007 08:03 PM

I don't know about you guys, but i sure as hell knew what I was talking about when I was 13.

emotedcreations

emotedcreations

Germany
July 2006

FEB 14, 2007 08:23 PM

It's nice that they restricted it to 13 countries.

thedancewalker

thedancewalker

East York, ON
December 2004

FEB 14, 2007 08:25 PM

You know, I'm no scientician, but I'd think that a worst place to grow up, not saying that the US/UK don't have it bad, would be one of those places that is constantly on fire, thanks to the US/UK.

Because, I mean, between being miffed at mumsy and dadsy for not buying me the latest generation iPod, and having my entire block firebombed and half of my extended family killed by violent street-fighting, not to mention that utilities like water and power have been off for over a year now are basically one and the same, but I think the whole "Everyone you know is dead, here's a bottle of water. Thank us for liberating you." may be worse.

Again, I'm no scientician, so what do I know?

umanam

umanam

San Francisco, CA
October 2005

FEB 14, 2007 08:25 PM

resistance is futiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiile

um. yeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

emotedcreations

emotedcreations

Germany
July 2006

FEB 14, 2007 08:29 PM

krupintupple said:
You know, I'm no scientician, but I'd think that a worst place to grow up, not saying that the US/UK don't have it bad, would be one of those places that is constantly on fire, thanks to the US/UK.

Because, I mean, between being miffed at mumsy and dadsy for not buying me the latest generation iPod, and having my entire block firebombed and half of my extended family killed by violent street-fighting, not to mention that utilities like water and power have been off for over a year now are basically one and the same, but I think the whole "Everyone you know is dead, here's a bottle of water. Thank us for liberating you." may be worse.

Again, I'm no scientician, so what do I know?


*whispers* they didn't include the countries that get firebombed...... shocked

freshprncebelair

freshprncebelair

Ellicott City, MD
June 2004

FEB 14, 2007 08:29 PM

emotedcreations said:
It's nice that they restricted it to 13 countries.



That's the easiest way to place America at the top!

emotedcreations

emotedcreations

Germany
July 2006

FEB 14, 2007 08:32 PM

freshprncebelair said:

emotedcreations said:
It's nice that they restricted it to 13 countries.



That's the easiest way to place America at the top!


*whispers* they're second to last...

Cigarette

Cigarette

Cleveland, OH
April 2004

FEB 14, 2007 08:36 PM

emotedcreations said:

freshprncebelair said:

emotedcreations said:
It's nice that they restricted it to 13 countries.



That's the easiest way to place America at the top!


*whispers* they're second to last...



*whispers* It's also 21 nations, not 13.

emotedcreations

emotedcreations

Germany
July 2006

FEB 14, 2007 08:40 PM

Cigarette said:
[*whispers* It's also 21 nations, not 13.


lol... I guess I had the 13 burnt in my mind from Wendy's post. Point remains...

malkav11

malkav11

Saint Paul, MN
July 2003

FEB 14, 2007 08:45 PM

Well, the US is pretty far down there on the quality-of-life index (compared to other industrialized Western nations, anyhow.). So this doesn't really surprise me.

Pilkington

Pilkington

USA
October 2005

FEB 14, 2007 08:54 PM

The United Nations obviously hates Freedom. The fact that America is great place to grow up has an unparalled truthiness. Everyone knows the Netherlands isn't a real country. It's just a pot-smoking hippie commune annex of Germany. And we all know that Germans hate freedom, especially the commie east germans.

Why do so many places hate Freedom? After we bomb Iran to Hades, we need to teach the French a thing or two about human rights, group effort, and civil rights for their under-represented lower class!

You know, for the kids...

Westley

Westley

Vatican City
April 2004

FEB 14, 2007 09:11 PM

emotedcreations said:
It's nice that they restricted it to 13 countries.


The OP does not appear to point this out, but the poll was an overview of child well being in rich countries, a comprehensive assessment of the lives and well-being of children and adolescents in the economically advanced nations. There are only 30 countires that are members of the OECD. The nine with insufficient data were Australia, Iceland, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, New Zealand, the Slovak Republic, South Korea, Turkey.

Is it selective for an organization to provide data specific to it's member countries?

Cigarette

Cigarette

Cleveland, OH
April 2004

FEB 14, 2007 09:18 PM

Westley said:

emotedcreations said:
It's nice that they restricted it to 13 countries.


The OP does not appear to point this out...



But she does:

out of 21 countries in the developed world.

Oskar

Oskar

United Kingdom
February 2005

FEB 14, 2007 09:19 PM

Pilkington said:
The United Nations obviously hates Freedom. The fact that America is great place to grow up has an unparalled truthiness. Everyone knows the Netherlands isn't a real country. It's just a pot-smoking hippie commune annex of Germany. And we all know that Germans hate freedom, especially the commie east germans.

Why do so many places hate Freedom? After we bomb Iran to Hades, we need to teach the French a thing or two about human rights, group effort, and civil rights for their under-represented lower class!

You know, for the kids...





sigh... your totally right and its our evil free market capitalistic uncaring democratic ways that make us so bad.

emotedcreations

emotedcreations

Germany
July 2006

FEB 14, 2007 09:19 PM

Westley said:

emotedcreations said:
It's nice that they restricted it to 13 countries.


The OP does not appear to point this out, but the poll was an overview of child well being in rich countries, a comprehensive assessment of the lives and well-being of children and adolescents in the economically advanced nations. I'm sure there is data for the non-rich countries. Certainly it makes sense to categorize, no?


Actually the OP does point out that it's 21, not 13 oops my bad. Anyway, my point is that it's nice to insulate our world-view and disregard places like Burma, Uganda, Yugoslavia, etc... Regardless of whether it's an 'assessment of rich countries', it's like saying Orange County is worse educationally than Grosse Pointe or West Chester or Coral Gables. Great! what's your point... they're all a bunch of rich fucks who have it great. Maybe you're just being argumentative, but I think you get my point...

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