Study shows that cool kids at school do worse in later life

Let's face it, we were all deeply envious of the cool kids at school.

They were usually good-looking, good at sport, popular with girls and generally seemed to have everything we didn't. But it turns out that, really, us losers were playing the long game.

A study, published in the journal Child Development and titled 'Whatever Happened to the Cool Kids?' has shown that children who were popular at school had a higher risk of experiencing problems as adults, such as alcohol, drug abuse and involvement in crime.

180 teenagers in America were studied over a decade, from the age of 13, and it turns out that, despite excelling socially at school, they appeared 'less competent' by the time they reach young adulthood. So, while you were dreaming of being Ferris Bueller, you should really have been aiming for McLovin.

Professor Joseph Allen, professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, explained: "It appears that while so-called cool teens’ behaviour might have been linked to early popularity, over time, these teens needed more and more extreme behaviours to try to appear cool, at least to a sub-group of other teens.  These previously cool teens appeared less competent – socially and otherwise – than their less cool peers by the time they reaches young adulthood."

To be fair, there's evidence everywhere you look. D'you think Chris Martin was cool at school? We doubt it, and now he's playing stadiums and (allegedly) dating Jennifer Lawrence.

Keep your nerve geeks. For you shall inherit the earth.

(Image: AllStar)