The mid-winter gloom has been deepened here by UNICEF's report on 'child well-being in rich countries'. Britain's children are the unhappiest in the developed world. We beat the USA into bottom place by slavishly following their (post-Reagan) social and economic model. More than half of our children answered 'no' to the question 'do you find your peers kind and helpful'. Not surprising when they're pitched against each other in our fiercely competitive schools. By the age of seven they're comparing test results in the playground.