International Journal of Emotional Education

3 - 36

Authors: Paul Downes

OECD reports emphasise ten key steps to equity in education, with concrete targets related to low attainment and early school leaving. Such steps, however, neglect the importance of emotional dimensions to early school leaving and the consequent need for system level emotional supports. The current study involves qualitative research interviews with senior government officials and secondary school management representatives across eight European countries, with a particular focus on school climate and emotional support issues. Issues raised by interviewees for students at risk of early school leaving include supports for withdrawn children, for those at risk of suicide and those being bullied at school affecting their nonattendance. Other emerging themes include alternatives to suspension and teacher education for improving their conflict resolution skills. Some interviewees explicitly observe the dearth of emotional support services available in practice in their countries. The pervasive policy gaps across national levels for a mental health and emotional support strategy, as part of an early school leaving prevention strategy, requires serious and immediate attention.

50 - 56

Authors: Helen Cowie

Despite more than two decades of anti-bullying initiatives in schools, children and young people regularly mention relationships within the peer group as the major factor that causes them to feel unsafe at school. The situation is complicated by the fact that these interpersonal safety issues are actually generated by the peer group and often in contexts that are difficult for adults to control. The recent upsurge of cyberbullying is a case in point. Teachers and parents often feel powerless to intervene in the private world that children and young people create for themselves. This article explores the strategies that are commonly recommended for dealing with cyberbullying and examines what research tells us about their effectiveness. The conclusion is that, whatever the value of technological tools for tackling cyberbullying, we cannot avoid the fact that this is also an interpersonal problem. The implication for practice is that we already know many approaches for preventing and reducing cyberbullying and should build on this knowledge rather than treating the issue as something completely new.