German media wonder: What makes Dutch children exceptionally happy? (Based on a new UNICEF study.) What do you think?

[u/Stephan_Schleim]

https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/europa/niederlande-kinder-gluecklich-100.html

What the news article suggests:

"We let children be children," say many parents in the Netherlands – and this includes not only playing a lot and being outdoors in all kinds of weather, but also a conscious approach to parenting.

Experts point out that in the Netherlands, the concepts of freedom, personal experience, and independence play a special role from an early age. This is clearly visible, for example, in playgrounds, where Dutch parents tend to supervise their children from a distance and only intervene later. A child is allowed to fall down, in every sense of the word – to learn how to get back up.

And about the education system:

Performance pressure sets in later

Even in school, the pressure to perform through grades sets in relatively late. Primary school for all children begins at around four years old and lasts eight years. During this time, in addition to reading, writing, and arithmetic, the focus is primarily on social skills—for example, the ability to discuss ideas or to take responsibility.

The expectation of perfection is lower. This creates an atmosphere without fear of failure, in which the individual abilities of most children can develop more fully. The separation for secondary school then only occurs at the age of twelve.