By ELLIE MULLAN, aged 17

IT has been proven that British young people are bored – so much so that they’re moving abroad to get away.

In a survey conducted by youth travel and work organisation Smaller Earth UK, more than a third of young people said they are choosing to leave the country.

The organisation placed more than 6,000 young adults on its Camp Leaders programme in the United States in 2013, an increase of almost 20 per cent on the previous year.

The findings also revealed that, alongside boredom, the lack of jobs available in the UK are pushing young people to seek work overseas.

The survey of 1,000 young people aged 18-30 highlighted how 65 per cent had a clear idea about their future career, but felt that the opportunity to work and travel overseas would enhance their prospects of competing in the employment market.

Smaller Earth UK chief executive Bastian Weinberger said: “The continuing uncertainty of the UK jobs market is driving many people aged 18-30 to go off in search of a great adventure.”

These discoveries truly show the danger the UK is in, so much so that it’s driving away teens to other countries in search of a brighter future.

Of course, I would argue that your teenage years are the perfect time to see the world – you have no commitments, no responsibilities, and most of your life has probably been confined to a small town.

The sense of adventure and the unknown is a real incentive for many young people, and I think this should be celebrated.

Yet, the disconcerting feeling about these findings is that young people are not just moving away for adventure, but to escape the ‘dull’ environment of Great Britain, with its poor weather and lack of job opportunities.

It is true that the job prospects for school leavers and graduates are falling and it’s more competitive than ever to land that perfect job. We need to address this issue – not by sending our best young people away – but by enticing them in.

The UK is an incredible place to live and work, and young people need to be shown this, rather than being bombarded by depressing news concerning the lack of youth employment.

We need to highlight the strengths of this nation, and by doing so young people will still travel the world – but at the end of their adventure, they will return home.