The Changing Social Worlds of 13-year-olds

Abstract

The findings point to a significant shift in screen time, with boys in Cohort '98 spending longer on other (non-TV, non-gaming) screen time than girls but this pattern reversing among Cohort '08, a pattern that merits further investigation. Gendered attitudes to subjects are also evident, with girls more positive about language-based subjects and boys more positive about Maths and Science. The widening gender gap in interest in STEM is concerning, given the policy effort in encouraging girls into STEM, and highlights the importance of inclusive curriculum and pedagogy from an early age.At the age of nine (Smyth, 2022), 13-year-olds with a disability have much poorer outcomes across the main domains studied here. Further research is planned on the increase over the decade in the proportion with a disability and the implications for their experiences and outcomes.The study was not designed to look at the effects of the pandemic on adolescent outcomes and, given the timing of data collection, it is not possible to discern whether any impact is long-lasting or not. Nonetheless, the findings point to poorer peer relations and more emotional difficulties among this cohort, especially among girls. There is tentative evidence that this gendered pattern of emotional difficulties is related to greater relative conflict with parents and less positive views of school among girls. Further research is merited to identify the risk and protective factors to inform policy development in a context where school principals report much poorer wellbeing and school attendance among students (Smyth, 2023) in the post-pandemic period.