This paper focuses on the impact of peer mediation as a strategy for promoting social inclusion in primary school settings. Peer mediation constituted one of the interventions in the UK Government-sponsored On Track programme and evaluative data from this project are reported. The paper reports on trends in bullying and anti-social behaviour in…

Sexual harassment is a significant issue in the lives of students. Understanding how young adolescents feel about sexual harassment and their coping strategies is a central element to guide school nursing interventions promoting sexual health. This study explored the sexual harassment experiences of young adolescents in Taiwan. A qualitative…

Children who begin school with less knowledge in letter knowledge, phonological sensitivity, familiarity with rudiments of reading, and language ability are likely to have more difficulty learning to read. Additionally, parent involvement has been directly linked with reading achievement. All of the sixty-seven four- and five-year-old children…

With 338 fifth-grade students as subjects, this study found the variations in the relation between school bullying and social preference as a function of gender and types of aggressive behavior utilized. Aggressive boys were likely to be rejected by peers, whereas aggressive girls were both rejected and accepted by peers. Children nominated…

This article reports a U.S. Supreme Court decision last week which supports the parents of a Massachusetts student who claimed that school officials failed to respond adequately to sexual harassment of their daughter--then in kindergarten--by a 3rd grade boy on her bus. The parents sued the district under both Title IX and Section 1983. In the…

Providing individual and group counseling has become an identified role for school psychologists working in the school setting. There is an extensive research base that highlights positive outcomes and supports the use of a variety of counseling methods when working with children and adolescents. However, there may exist a host of other outcomes,…

According to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center, approximately 3 out of every 10 students in today's schools are affected as bully, victim, or both. Olweus (1993), a leading authority on bullying, defines a bully as a person who demonstrates repetitive aggressive…

The first comprehensive survey of 7,025 Chinese primary schoolchildren found that 24% of respondents reported that they had sometimes physically bullied another child. When children observed school bullying, 56% said they immediately reported it to their teachers. Another 20% tried to stop the bullying by approaching the bullies. The study also…

This column explores bullying from the viewpoints of the bully and the victim. It recommends an approach that goes beyond immediate follow-up to a broad-based effort that includes holding class meetings, building an encouraging classroom, and modeling inclusive group spirit. The authors cite research and illustrate their view through vignettes.…

Childhood is a unique and critical stage of life. All children share the same basic needs for safety, health, nurturance, and dignity. The Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI) is committed to supporting children's development; respecting individual differences; helping children learn to live and work cooperatively; and…

It is known that the incidence of bullying reported by primary school children varies greatly between schools. It has also been shown that schools in which staff express a greater level of concern with managing the problem generally experience lower levels of bullying. This study examines the children's, rather than the teachers', views about the…

"Dramatherapy with Children, Young People and Schools" is the first book to specifically evaluate the unique value of dramatherapy in the educational environment. A variety of highly experienced dramatherapists, educational psychologists and childhood experts discuss the benefits to the children and young people, and also in relation to…

Two third-grade Taiwanese students at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders participated in a pull-out, small-group social skills training program developed to promote their skill acquisition and maintenance. Using a multiple baseline across skills design, the authors demonstrated that both participants made marked performance improvement in…

One of the major aims for the inclusion of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) within the mainstream classroom is to reduce prejudice and increase social interaction among children. Nevertheless, research has consistently shown that pupils with SEN remain less accepted by and may experience greater loneliness than their non-SEN peers. This…

Selective mutism is defined as "the consistent failure to speak in specific social situations despite the ability to speak in other settings" (American Psychiatric Association, 1994 as cited in Zelenko & Shaw, 2000). For many years, selective mutism was considered to be a very rare disorder amongst individuals, and little attention…