Teenagers who work and do not play sports: a snapshot of educational poverty in Naples

As far as the opinion of the school is concerned, 59.4% of the sample rated the availability of services such as remedial courses and cultural activities 'favourably', while the opinion of school infrastructures such as gyms, digital tools and libraries was negative, with 43.3% of the sample considering them 'unsatisfactory'. But inside the school walls there are also 12% of the interviewed pupils who claim to have been bullied.

Almost half of the boys and girls, 46.5 %, have not read any books in the last year, apart from school textbooks, while 33.4 % claim to be connected to online devices for more than 5 hours a day and 54.9 % from 1 to 5 hours a day. 42.8 % do not engage in any sporting activity and only 13.1 % attend an association.

The study adopted a mixed methodological approach, combining large-scale data collection with qualitative interviews with experts and practitioners.

With respect to the territory, the interviewees indicate among the reasons for dissatisfaction, the cleanliness of the streets (63%), the perception of insecurity with respect to episodes of crime (41.6%), and isolation due to the scarcity of public services (27.7%). Hope (29.6%) and anxiety (27.4%) are the two prevailing states of mind with which young people look to the future: the condition of anxiety afflicts girls most of all (34%), while about 10 % of those interviewed state that they do not think about their tomorrow. From the sample analysed, it emerges that young people do not think they can have a 'fulfilling' future staying in Italy or in their place of residence, while they look with more confidence at a future abroad. 50.9 % of those interviewed are convinced of the need to support boys and girls in difficult economic conditions, so that they can continue their studies and enter the world of work through quality training courses in order to have stable contracts and adequate pay (49.1 %).

The survey therefore highlights that the obstacles to young people's growth lie in systemic and multidimensional deprivations. The 'Invisible Barriers' thus represent the complex network of social, family and environmental failures that limit the development of children's potential.

"We tackled an important topic with the aim of contributing to the definition and measurement of educational poverty," explained Cristina Davino, research coordinator, "and providing data that the research team makes available to everyone. An interesting and also innovative aspect of the research was to assess not only the opportunities provided by family, school and territory, but also to understand the outcomes, future aspirations, and dreams of our students. There is a considerable gap between aspiration and expectation, and there is always the desire to go and look elsewhere for a better future. The lack of opportunities has an impact not only on academic performance but on an individual's life from the point of view of emotional skills, relationships, stress management. We have done work with the students, listened to their voice, because only by measuring a phenomenon can we really get to know it and take action on it".

"First of its kind in Italy, this widespread survey would not have been possible without the leading role played by schools, local institutions and the third sector. And, above all, thanks to the boys and girls who have guided us to identify those 'invisible barriers' that hinder their future _ points out Raffaela Milano, Research Director of Save the Children _ Together with the Federico II University, we want to make this wealth of data and analysis available to the entire educating community. In the hope that today's is only a first stage of comparison and in-depth analysis and that this research can guide strategies to combat educational poverty in an increasingly targeted manner'.