Kindness is Oxford Children’s Word of the Year for 2024
- More than six in ten children choose kindness as their word of the year from surveys of over 6,000 children
- Word choice reflects children’s awareness of mental health and current affairs
- Research shows cautious optimism towards AI, as artificial intelligence is voted second choice by a quarter of children
- Slay is revealed as top slang word for 2024 as children use the term to support and affirm one another, followed by sigma and skibidi.
Kindness is Oxford Children’s Word of the Year for 2024 according to Oxford University Press (OUP). 61 per cent of children chose kindness, followed by a quarter opting for artificial intelligence and a small proportion (seven per cent) selecting conflict.
Awareness of mental health & the impact of current affairs
The research, which surveyed opinions from over 6,000 children aged 6-14 years across the UK, revealed mental health to be a reason for some children selecting kindness, with teachers also citing a growing awareness among young people of the wider impact of kindness on mental wellbeing. Numerous references to global violence and current conflicts further emphasised how attuned children are to current affairs; with words such as ‘need’ and ‘should’ frequently used in their responses.
A quarter of children choose artificial intelligence expressing cautious optimism
The research also demonstrated children’s enthusiasm in embracing AI, with artificial intelligence voted runner-up for Oxford Children’s Word of the Year by 25 per cent. Whilst children expressed concerns around fake online content and superintelligence, of those who selected artificial intelligence, 53 per cent gave positive responses, such as ‘excited’ and ‘optimistic’.
A study of the Oxford Children’s Corpus, the world’s largest database of writing by and for children in the English language containing over half a billion words, reveals AI is a keen topic of interest for children who express varying viewpoints on the subject. Analysis, which includes looking at the stories submitted for the BBC 500 WORDS 2024 story competition, shows the phrase ‘take over the world’ is commonly used in relation to AI, whilst there are also themes around AI machines being empathetic to humans.
Top slang word slay used by children to support and encourage peers
Children were also asked to choose their favourite slang word, with more than one in four (28 per cent) opting for slay, citing it as a term of approval and expression of support. Whilst slay has appeared on the colloquial shortlist for the past two years, 2024 saw a rise specifically in younger children voting for the word, with a 16 percentage point increase from 2023 among six-eight-year-olds. The terms sigma and skibidi were voted as second and third choices respectively (16 per cent and 15 per cent) highlighting the influential role social media plays on children’s language.
Andrea Quincey, Director Early Years and Primary Publishing, Oxford University Press
It is so encouraging that kindness has been voted—by a considerable majority—as the Oxford Children’s Word of the Year for 2024. We know from previous years that young people are very conscious of the big issues that can divide us as a society and attuned to the important role which language can play in bringing people together. This choice suggests something more personal: an awareness of mental health issues and of the hidden challenges others may be facing. It tells us that empathy, and tolerance and the language we use matter, and that kindness is not only a solution to so many problems but is something everyone and anyone can do to make a difference.”
For more than a decade, experts and academic researchers at OUP have been tracking Children’s Word of the Year, analysing the evolution of children’s language and how it is used to reflect their emotions and experiences. In response to the latest findings, the Children’s Language department at OUP have published the Oxford Children’s Word of the Year 2024 report, which will go live at 8am on the 22nd January here.
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