A SURVEY released this month tries to find out what life is like for Syrian teenagers. As part of a UN initiative, Mercy Corps, a charity, managed to interview 120 teens, along with 200 or so parents and local community figures. Even in relatively safe areas, some of the interviews had to be finished in the street after buildings were shelled. But the authors also spoke to teens in more dangerous places - territories still changing hands between government and opposition forces, or where the opposition has fully taken control. (The latter, subject to brutal regimes as well as devastation, are often worse than the areas under siege.)

Syrian teens do very little apart from go to school. Only about 20% go out in the evening, usually boys. Girls almost never leave the house unaccompanied (at least, not to see friends – some gripe that, when it comes to getting aid from one of the relief-points, the rules are more relaxed). Most teens were keen on doing something extra-curricular but said it wasn’t safe enough. Leaving the house brings with it the danger of being hit by cross-fire, or being stopped at one of the check-points which spring up overnight. All interviewees said that the risk of being coerced into joining one of the fighting groups, particularly by religous zealots, is increasing. So although teens seize any opportunity to use the internet and social media, says one interviewer, they do not use them to engage in political discussions or social movements. Only a handful expressed any interest in such things.

Though school is regarded by everyone as an absolute priority (many rank it above health), it is precarious. A quarter of the schools in Syria have been destroyed, according to UNICEF. Pupils and teachers alike struggle to make it to the schools that have survived. Of the 98 teens studying at the moment, all but five report that their studies are ‘under threat’ of ending. About a fifth had to drop out to support their families. In rural areas, that can mean back-breaking work. A shocking number of teens – just under half – have had to go to hospital in the past year, usually for injuries or stomach bugs. But as the war continues, fewer medical facilities are available. Eight in ten said they have no hospital to go to at the moment. When teens do get to engage in extra-curricular activities, learning first aid is usually top of the list.

The report conveys an extremely tense atmosphere in which normal frictions between adults and teens are made deadly serious by the fighting. Some parents spoke with desperation about teens climbing out of the window to go out at night - given the dangers, this is seen as a death-wish rather than a normal act of adolescent rebellion. Really traumatised adolescents can lose sense of the risks, say interviewers. But for those teens that are really troubled, joining the fighting is probably not the first outlet: about 30% of interviewees, including the adults, said they fall into lawbreaking (which usually means stealing), rebeliousness and depression; 20% mentioned armed groups; and about 10% mentioned drugs.