Children's views on teasing and fighting in junior schools

Summary

The Infant School Project at the Thomas Coram Research Unit followed the progress of all September entrants to reception classes in 33 Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) schools, until the end of their first year as Juniors (Tizard et al., 1988). When aged seven, a subsample were interviewed about school. This paper examines what children have to say about teasing and fighting at school during interviews for a follow‐up study of the sample at 11. It would seem that teasing is a common feature of school life, but how and why are children teased and what do they do about it? Who get involved in fights and why? How do children generally feel about fighting? The paper addresses these questions, with reference to sex, ethnic group and age differences.