‘You have to stand out’: six Dagenham teenagers on their future prospects

Final year students from Goresbrook school talk about housing, higher education and social media – as well as hopes and fears

• Young people becoming less happy than older generations, research shows
• Social media is like driving with no speed limits, says US surgeon general

Zainab Shehzadi has a long list of worries: robots stealing jobs from humans, the damage wreaked on the climate by previous generations, turmoil in other countries, fighting fierce competition to secure a job that pays enough to live a comfortable life.

It’s a lot for a 17-year-old to take on, but she sees it as a reflection of the uncertain world she has grown up in. “We’re living in an age where everything is changing very rapidly,” she says.