In an online debate on the topic “Can we teach people to be happy?” between Anthony Seldon and Frank Furedi they set out their differing points of view.

Seldon says ‘Yes’ and gives the following reasons:

  • if schools do not, children may never learn elsewhere
  • depression, self-harming and anxiety among students are reaching epidemic proportions. …. Teaching schoolchildren how to live autonomous lives increases the chances of avoiding depression, mental illness and dependency when they are older.
  • since the development of the positive psychology movement under Martin Seligman and developments in neuroscience, we now know how to teach wellbeing, and have empirical evidence of its effectiveness

Furedi says ‘No’ saying “there is no evidence that it works” and suggesting that:

Children are highly suggestible, and the more they are required to participate in wellbeing classes, the more they will feel the need for professional support.

Advertisement