In a class with an 'average of 50 points,' there might not be a single child who scored 50. — UNICEF reports and the trap of statistics

Let's start with a little imagination.
Your child brings home a test from school.
The score is 50.
The teacher says,
'The class average for this test was 50 points.'

Hearing that, how do we as parents feel?
'Oh, my child is right in the middle.'
'They are in a very 'average' position, neither good nor bad.'
We might feel a little relieved thinking that.


But what if the breakdown of that class was actually like this?
• 10 students scored 100.
• 10 students scored 0.
• Only 2 students scored 50 (including my child).
The average is indeed '50 points' mathematically.

But if you look around a classroom with scores like that, the scene unfolding there is not a calm one where 'everyone is in the middle.'

It is a classroom with a stark divide, split sharply between 'kids who are doing great' and 'kids who are not doing well at all.'
In this situation, what is the point of evaluating the class as 'average' just because the average is 50?
And isn't it dangerous?


Through the magic of the average number, the SOS signals of the children suffering with 0 points might become completely invisible.

Looking at the latest report (Report Card 19) released by UNICEF this time, the fear I felt first and foremost was exactly this 'trap of the average value.'

'Satisfaction' has gone up, but...

The other day, UNICEF released a report on the well-being of children in developed countries.
Japan ranked 14th overall (out of 36 countries).
This is an improvement from the previous 20th place.

What is particularly noteworthy is the data on 'life satisfaction.'
While children's life satisfaction has been declining in countries around the world following the COVID-19 pandemic, Japan was reportedly the only country where satisfaction 'improved' since 2018.

Hearing just this, you might think, 'Amazing! Children in Japan have become happier!'
It is exactly a state where 'the average score has gone up.'
However, there is another piece of data here that cannot be overlooked.
It is the fact that despite this situation where they should be happier, the suicide rate for 15- to 19-year-olds is surging.

From 2018 to 2022, the suicide rate of young people in Japan increased by about 1.4 times, reaching nearly double the average for high-income countries.
'Life satisfaction (well-being)' went up.
But the 'suicide rate' also went up.

This phenomenon seems contradictory at first glance.
Two extreme ends.
I felt it was the same as the 'test score' story from earlier.
Could it be the result of polarization between the group whose 'satisfaction' increased due to more time with family during the pandemic (the 100-point side) and the group that lost their place and was driven into a corner (the 0-point side)?

※ From here on, this is merely my own 'speculation' based on what I felt in the field as an SSW (School Social Worker) looking at the numbers in this report, so it cannot be stated as fact.
But please, let me talk about it.

Is an increasing percentage equal to a higher 'hurdle for living'?

Standing from this perspective of 'polarization,' there is one more piece of data that must be looked at calmly.
That is the relationship between the 'declining birthrate' and 'percentages.'
In the first place, if the difficulty of the society in which children live has not changed from the past, the 'percentage (%)' of school non-attendance and suicide should not change, no matter how much the number of children decreases.
For example, let's say you jump over a vaulting box in a gym class.
If the height of the vaulting box remains the same, the probability of having 'kids who can't jump' should not change even if the number of students decreases from 40 to 20.
However, reality is different.
What the UNICEF data shows is the fact that this 'percentage' is clearly increasing.

Even though there are fewer children and life satisfaction has increased, the 'percentage' of children who stumble continues to rise.

What does this mean?
Does it mean that children's abilities are declining year by year?
Or is it that the hurdle called 'normal' required by society has become higher than it used to be?

'It's obvious you should be able to do this much'
'It's obvious you should have high communication skills'
'It's obvious you should be able to read the room'

What if those invisible hurdles have been raised to the height of an adult's shoulders before we knew it?
Perhaps that is why children who could have easily stepped over them and lived their lives in the past are now standing still in front of that wall, which is too high, and blaming themselves.

I feel that the 'increase in percentage' in the data represents not just changes in children, but the 'progression of intolerance' in this society.

A gaze that does not settle for the average value

As someone who has interacted with children as an educator, I feel that the situations of children are full of things that simply cannot be described by an 'average.'
There might not actually be an 'average 15-year-old' anywhere in the statistical data.

What is there is either a child who is blessed with their environment and fulfilled, or a child who is barely managing to live through the day.

'Japan is getting better overall'
'The average is going up'

If we feel relieved by such words, we might overlook the figures of children who are being pushed to the 'edges' of the distribution.

Behind the number 'average 50 points,' is there a child crying with 0 points?
In the shadow of the news that 'satisfaction has increased,' is there a child who has become unable to raise their voice?
I think what we adults should do is not nod while looking at the middle number, but shine a light on the places that have fallen out of that number.

Actually, in this report, children in Japan have achieved 1st place in the world in 'one area.'
That is 'physical health.'
Why do children think they 'want to die' even though they are in the country where they are least likely to die in the world?
Next time, I would like to think about this huge contradiction that this country holds: 'healthy but suffering.'

【Citations/Reference Materials】
Japan Committee for UNICEF
UNICEF Office of Research - Innocenti Report Card 19
'Children's Well-being in an Unpredictable World' (2025)
https://www.unicef.or.jp/report/rc19_jpnhighlights.html