Student loneliness is on the rise - and it's not about isolation

School is supposed to be where friendships grow. Yet new research suggests the opposite can happen. Many young people feel emotionally isolated inside busy classrooms and corridors.

The study argues that loneliness is shaped by harmful social dynamics, not just by a lack of company.

A team working with young people found that bullying and other unwanted interactions are powerful drivers of loneliness.

The key insight is simple and sharp: being surrounded by peers can still feel unsafe. That feeling can stick, shaping how students see school, themselves, and each other.

Loneliness beyond missing friends

“Unlike older people, young people are often forced to spend extended periods around others they don’t get along with,” said lead author Ben Lohmeyer, a scientist at Flinders University.

“So rather than loneliness being about isolation, in this case it can be about being surrounded by people who make you feel unsafe.”

That flips a common script. We often tell students to “get out there” and “join in.” But if the crowd includes people who belittle, exclude, or police status, the fix can backfire. Proximity without safety doesn’t soothe loneliness. It can deepen it.

Student loneliness and emotional harm

The study was co-designed in partnership with the South Australian Youth Forum. That matters. It centers the voices of the people who live the school day.

Those accounts point to more than one-off cruelties. They describe patterns – who sits where, who speaks, who gets mocked, who gets overlooked – that repeat and accumulate.

The researchers draw on Pierre Bourdieu’s sociology to name this pattern “affective violence.” That phrase captures the way emotional harm can flow from systems and habits, not only from individual bullies.

It’s the social architecture of school life – hierarchies, rituals, and rules – that can make some students feel precarious even when no one is shouting.

Inequality embedded in schools

“Our findings challenge traditional approaches that frame loneliness and bullying as individual problems,” Lohmeyer said. “Instead, the study positions them within broader patterns of inequality and emotional harm that are embedded in school systems.”

That lens aligns with a wider shift. Internationally, scholars and policymakers increasingly define bullying as a systemic issue shaped by culture, policy, and power.

This work argues loneliness deserves the same treatment. The question becomes: how do we reshape the daily experience of school so fewer students feel exposed and alone in plain sight?

School spaces that foster belonging

“We believe that loneliness deserves similar attention in education policy and practice,” Lohmeyer said.

The team points to practical moves that give students room to breathe. Quiet rooms. “Third spaces” away from hot spots. Opt-in zones where staff model calm, respect, and repair.

“We’d like to see more qualitative research into loneliness and practical interventions, such as creating safe spaces in schools for students to retreat from harmful interactions, an approach already used in the Specialized Assistance School for Youth (SASY),” he added.

These aren’t escape hatches that hide problems. They are pressure valves and starting points. Students need places to step back, reset, and re-enter on their terms. Done well, safe spaces can be bridges to wider belonging.

Student loneliness is social violence

“Recognizing loneliness as a form of social violence opens up new ways to support student wellbeing and challenges us to create emotionally safe and inclusive school environments,” Lohmeyer explained.

Naming it matters. It turns a vague ache into a policy issue. It gives teachers and leaders a shared language to redesign routines, rethink supervision, and rebalance power.

Small changes can ripple. Staggered break times can defuse flashpoints. Mixed-age mentoring can scramble rigid hierarchies. Restorative practices can replace performative punishments.

Staff training can focus on status dynamics, not just slogans about “kindness.” Every change asks the same question: does this make the day feel safer for the student least sure of their place.

Limitations of the study

This was a small study. The researchers are the first to say it. More schools, more students, and more detailed methods would help confirm and refine the findings. Lived experience is messy. No single fix will fit every campus.

That’s exactly why they call for “multiple strategies” and more research. The core signal – that loneliness can grow in crowded rooms and that social design fuels it – remains strong and actionable.

How schools can ease loneliness

If school loneliness isn’t simply about “not enough friends,” then the solution can’t just be “more group work.”

Start with safety. Walk through the school day as if you were the student on the margins. Where does pressure build? Who holds power in each space? What escape routes exist when someone needs to step away?

Next, layer in choice: where to sit, who to work with, how to take part. Choice creates dignity, and dignity reduces threat. When the threat recedes, loneliness begins to ease.

Finally, listen. Co-design works because young people know where the hurt happens. Invite them to show you the staircase corners, the canteen queues, the bus stops, the digital backchannels. Fix what they point to. Bring them back to see what changed.

Schools can both connect and isolate. This study shows how loneliness can thrive not in the silence of empty school rooms, but in the noise of crowded ones. The fix isn’t simply “more social.” It’s safer social.

Fewer forced interactions with “undesirable peers.” More spaces to reset. A culture that notices status harm and moves to reduce it. That’s how you turn a building full of people into a place where more young people actually feel they belong.

The study is published in the journal Critical Studies in Education.

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