Have the Dutch found the secret to happy teenagers?

Yara, Dani and Saffron were among the Dutch teens Senay Boztas met this week to find out why life satisfication among young people there is so high. Photograph: Judith Jockel for the Guardian

Have we reached peak ephebiphobia? The fear of young people is everywhere, with headlines and pundits stirring up anxiety that civilised society is going to hell in a handbasket thanks to a generation of emotionally stunted, smartphone addicted, narcissistic snowflakes.

And yet everywhere there are stories that restore faith, not least the eloquent and fearless students taking on the US gun lobby. So this week we present tales of teens turning the tide, and what we all can learn from them.

Report after report reveals that some of the happiest young people among OECD nations are in the Netherlands, amid an uptick in depression and anxiety among teenagers in the US and UK. In Amsterdam, Senay Boztas uncovered what the Dutch are getting right.

Pupils at La Gautrais middle school, where mobile phones have been banned, play football during a lunch break. Photograph: Francois Lepage for the Guardian

France is planning to ban mobile phones from schools from September, in response to fears that teenagers have become addicted to their screens. With similar bans being proposed around the world, Angelique Chrisafis visited a school in rural Brittany that banned the devices four years ago to see what difference the policy made – and what pupils made of it.

When two successful music industry professionals set up an internship scheme at their company, only middle-class kids applied. So Nick Stillwell and David Court decided to try something different. The music school they created, Supajam, has had remarkable success with young people left behind by the education system, as Emma John discovered.

Students at the SupaJam music school. Photograph: Linda Nylind for the Guardian

Finally, Gary Younge reflected on an extraordinary year reporting on knife crime in the UK and set out how policymakers could tackle the issue - if they really want to.

What we liked:

This Washington Post report on the growing work opportunities for people with disabilities in the US.

What we heard:

Thanks for your story on Dutch teenagers. As a teacher at a Dutch secondary school, I felt you summed up nicely the reasons why Dutch kids seem so content. Personally, I’m always amazed that when they are asked during English oral exams: ‘What do you enjoy about the place where you live compared to other places?’, my students invariably talk about the sense of freedom they get from being able to go everywhere by bike and not depending on their parents to take them.

Paul wrote to us by email about our article on teenagers in the Netherlands

Where was the upside?

In Gifu, Japan, where amateur female sumo wrestlers are taking on the ban on women in the professional arena.

Eight of the current nine members of the Asahi University women sumo team pose for a group photo. Photograph: Laura Liverani for the Guardian

If there is a story, innovation or trailblazer you think we should report on, write to us at theupside@theguardian.com.