Flinders University research examines when and where school students feel most lonely, isolated
New research reveals Australian students are experiencing intense loneliness at school, even when they’re surrounded by their peers.
Large Australian schools can welcome thousands of students on campus each day but new research has found they may still be “lonely spaces” for students.
Interviews with teenagers have explored when and where they feel most isolated and revealed that one of the most influential factors is not how many other students are around – but which kind.
Flinders University’s Dr Ben Lohmeyer said attending school meant young people “are often forced to spend extended periods of time around others they don’t get along with”.
“So rather than loneliness being about isolation in this case, it can be about being surrounded by people who make you feel unsafe,” he said.
Dr Lohmeyer is urging education authorities to recognise the harm this kind of loneliness can cause and to consider “creating safe spaces in schools for students to retreat from harmful interactions”.
He partnered with the South Australian Youth Forum to interview a group of 15 to 19-year-olds about loneliness at school.
They gave examples including:
WORRYING about being judged for sitting alone, such as on the bus or while eating their lunch.
AVOIDING crowded spaces filled with “popular kids”.
BEING separated from their friends by being assigned to different classrooms.
One teen who experienced this said: “The teachers in the school never put me in the same classes as my friends. So, I was just always by myself.”
Another explained: “You gotta look like you’re doing something. Because if you’re just sitting, looking around … you also feel lonely.”
And the researchers found that these circumstances could “cause sufficient worry” that the feeling of loneliness would seep into a Sunday, as students fretted about returning to school the next day.
Analysis by the University of Queensland’s Dr Damon Thomas has found that despite being well-connected in the digital world young people, particularly Gen Z, are experiencing “a steady rise in loneliness, making them feel more alone and isolated than those aged 65 and older”.
In Adelaide, Loreto College Marryatville has introduced a wellbeing program designed to give students dedicated time and skills to build stronger connections with their peers.
The Social, Emotional and Academic Development (SEAD) program is run in every year level and tailored to students’ age.
Year 11 student Iris Hamilton said it gave students “moments where we can sit with our peers and be vulnerable and really express ourselves”.
“Social media does connect us … but it can also make everyone feel like they have to fit in … to act a certain way,” the 17-year-old said.
Year 10 boarding student Phoebe Yates, 15, said making time to talk to classmates through the SEAD program “makes you feel less alone”.
Fellow boarder and year 11 student Marissa Clark, 16, said: “No one wants to feel lonely. I don’t think it’s necessarily a subject that’s talked about enough, but it should be.”
Aleeza Khan, also in year 11, said the culture at Loreto encouraged the girls to check in on each other.
“If you see someone sitting by themselves we have that instinct to go up to them and say ‘Hey, are you OK?’,” the 16-year-old said.
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Originally published as Flinders University research examines when and where school students feel most lonely, isolated
