They sit among dozens of classmates every day and share dining halls and sports with them.
Yet most still feel extremely lonely and emotionally cut off from the people around them.
That is the painful irony for most Nairobi children, researchers have said after speaking to 1,972 young people aged between 14 and 25 in schools and colleges in Nairobi. The researchers asked the students how often they felt lonely at school and at home.
They found that most young people in Nairobi are lonelier at school than at home, yet school is often the place with the largest social circle in their lives.
Most urban families today have one to three children, which means many teenagers actually spend more time around age mates in school than at home. Yet the place with the most people around them appears to be where loneliness is strongest.
Prof David Ndetei, a psychiatrist at the University of Nairobi who led the study, said this raises concerns about the emotional climate inside Kenyan schools.
“These findings come at a critical time as concerns about youth mental health continue to rise highlighting loneliness as an urgent but often overlooked public health issue among young people in Kenya,” he said.
“This study calls for immediate action to strengthen psychosocial support systems within school environments including the implementation of comprehensive anti-bullying strategies peer support programs and interventions that promote inclusion belonging and meaningful social connections.”
The findings, titled ‘A Comparative Study on the Intensity of Loneliness among Kenyan Youth in School and Home Environments’ were published in the journal Global Mental Health.
“These findings highlight that Kenyan youth experience significantly higher levels of loneliness in school environments compared to home identifying schools as a key setting for targeted mental health and social support interventions,” Prof Ndetei said.
The researchers found that loneliness appeared across nearly every part of school life.
More than half of participants said no one really knew them well at school. Nearly half felt that people were around them “but not with them”.
Others described feeling excluded misunderstood and emotionally disconnected from classmates.
Across all 20 questions used in the loneliness scale students consistently reported higher loneliness scores in school settings compared to home environments.
“In our study, students reported higher levels of loneliness at school as reflected in the greater frequency of responses such as ‘often’ and ‘sometimes’ across multiple items compared to the home setting where ‘never’ responses were more common,” the researchers wrote.
“This aligns with global research identifying school as a context where social stressors such as peer exclusion identity formation and academic pressure contribute to heightened loneliness among adolescents and young adults.”
The findings suggest that crowded schools and constant social interaction do not necessarily protect young people from emotional isolation.
Researchers said bullying may be one major reason.
“Our findings suggest the possibility that shifting family dynamics urbanisation and reduced communal support structures have made the school less protective for many young people for example the high prevalence of bullying in Kenyan schools,” the study says.
“This raises the question of whether school environments may have become less socially protective potentially reflecting perceived increases in bullying and psychosocial stressors rather than objectively measured changes in school safety.”
The study also found the problem may be particularly severe in boarding schools where young people spend long periods away from family support systems.Researchers warned that separation from home combined with pressure to fit in socially can intensify loneliness among students.
The research said girls initially appeared to report higher loneliness than boys both at school and at home.
However, when researchers adjusted for social and economic conditions male participants reported slightly higher loneliness overall. Older youth aged between 19 and 25 also experienced greater loneliness than younger adolescents.
Poverty also shaped emotional wellbeing.
Young people from poorer households reported higher loneliness compared to those from middle-income homes.
Access to electricity, piped water and cooking gas was linked to lower loneliness scores, especially at home. Television ownership also appeared to reduce loneliness possibly because families spend time watching together.
“Loneliness is not simply an individual emotional experience. It is shaped by social environments economic conditions and relationships requiring coordinated action across schools families and communities,” Ndetei said.
Researchers also raised concerns about smartphones and social media. While digital platforms may help young people stay connected they may also increase isolation inside homes and reduce meaningful face-to-face interaction.
“However the increased availability of smartphones and access to social media has the potential to increase loneliness among family members and less loneliness across social contacts. Only further studies will unravel this complexity,” the study says.
The loneliness being reported in Kenya mirrors experiences elsewhere around the world. In Britain universities have reported rising levels of student loneliness despite busy campus life. In Japan, researchers have linked youth isolation to social withdrawal and growing mental distress.
The Kenyan researchers acknowledged several limitations. The study focused only on youth in Nairobi Metropolitan Area, which may limit comparisons with rural Kenya.
Because the study captured experiences at one point in time it could not prove direct cause and effect. Researchers also noted that self-reported questionnaires can sometimes be influenced by social desirability bias.
“Addressing loneliness requires a holistic approach that combines school-based inclusivity programs family-centred support and broader policy initiatives to strengthen social bonds and emotional well-being,” they said.
