Majorities in all countries now support banning under-14s from using social media

The third edition of the Ipsos Education Monitor explores how people across 30 countries feel about the education system in their country, the challenges facing schools – and young people, and the role of technology in education.

Key findings include:

• Widespread support for banning under-14s from social media. An average of 71% across 30 countries believe children under 14 should not be able to access social media, and 74% of school-age parents feel the same. As Australia becomes the first country to prevent under-16s from creating social media accounts later this year, we find a majority in all 30 countries backing minimum age controls for social media.
• People in Europe are among the most critical of their education systems. Majorities in Hungary (59%), France (55%) and Romania (54%) view education in their country as poor and the balance of opinion is also negative in Germany, Spain, Italy and Belgium. Views are, however, more positive in Ireland, where 71% say education is in good shape, and Britain (where 49% say it’s good).
• Mental health is seen as the biggest issue affecting young people. On average 33% say mental health is the top challenge for young people, ahead of inequality (28%), bullying (26%) and social media (25%). And 53% think the mental health of young people in their country is poor. This feeling is highest in Chile (73%) and France (69%).
• When it comes to which subjects people most enjoyed when they were at school, history comes out top overall, followed by maths and science. Maths proves to be a divisive subject. While it is the second most liked subject with 30% saying it was their favourite, it also comes out top in the “least favourite” stakes, bringing back bad memories for 37% of respondents. In Singapore it is both people’s favourite and least favourite subject!
• The idea of “boys’ subjects” and “girls’ subjects” comes out more strongly among older people. Among Baby Boomers, there's a clear distinction between subjects which were popular with boys (science, maths) and popular with girls (local language, literature). But among younger generations, this gap shrinks significantly - and it is almost non-existent for science and maths.