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Lessons in happiness

Apr 18 2006 by Brian Amble
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Pupils at Wellington College, an independent school in the UK, are to receive lessons in happiness.

Anthony Seldon, the head of the boarding school, said: "We are introducing classes on happiness. We have been focusing too much on academics and missing something far more important. To me, the most important job of any school is to turn out young men and women who are happy and secure.

"Celebrity, money and possessions are too often the touchstones for teenagers but these are not where happiness lies. Our children need to know that as societies become richer they do not become happier, a fact regularly shown by social science research."

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