Education That Matters in the Twenty-First Century

Abstract

The rapid global, social, economic and technological changes taking place in the adult world today are exposing children to unprecedented pressures and challenges at a young vulnerable age. Increasing mobility, urbanisation and individualism weaken the social connectedness and support that the children used to enjoy with consequent decline in emotional security and sense of well-being . These trends are demonstrated in the growing number of children who live in a world marked by changing family structures and more fluid relationships, breakdown of neighbourhoods and extended families, weakening of community institutions, fear of violence, rampant competition, excessive consumerism, increasing social inequality and manipulation through the media (Layard and Dunn 2009; Elias 2009; Collishaw et al. 2004; Palmer 2006). This emotional deprivation (Palmer 2006) is aggravated by adults’ preoccupation with the pursuit of their own individualism and materialism, what James (2007) calls ‘affluenza’, which erodes prosocial qualities such as empathy, kindness and care. It also widens the gap between adults and children in terms of the amount of time that children spend with adults as opposed to that spent with their peers (over 50 % of the total time spent), and contributes to the social, emotional and behavioural difficulties such as bullying, delinquency, anxiety and depression (Layard and Dunn 2009; Palmer 2006; Rutter and Smith 1995; WHO 2012).