The numbers of children raised by their grandparents are increasing. These alternate families often emerge following negative life events that result in high risk for adverse child outcomes. Modifications in the traditional roles and relationships of grandparent and child may exacerbate stressors experienced by both parties. The phenomenon has…

The Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning programme (SEAL), designed to develop children's social, emotional and behavioural skills in the primary school, was part of the Primary Behaviour and Attendance Pilot funded by the then Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and piloted in 25 Local Authorities in the UK. The data collected in the…

Higher education, as well as the larger society appears to be experiencing a serious decline in civility. In this article the author presents the case for introducing civility education in first-year general education courses. After citing some of the research documenting both faculty and student perceptions of incivility in the university and…

A recent meta-analysis found that across studies individual differences in aspects of children's emotionality predict social status [Dougherty, L.R., (2006). Children's emotionality and social status: a meta-analytic review. Social Development, 15, 394-417.]. In the present study we extended these findings by examining the emotion of interest and…

The present study examines the validity of the Dutch Children's Communication Checklist (CCC) for children in kindergarten in a community sample, in order to assess the feasibility of using it as a screening instrument in the general population. Teachers completed the CCC for a representative sample of 1396 children at kindergarten level, taken…

Social well-being is essential to overall health and quality of life for all children, youth, and adults. However, children and youth with disabilities are often at higher risk for experiencing lower levels of social, and related emotional, well-being than their peers without disabilities. They are among those more likely to be bullied and…

The development of social-emotional competence is of key importance during early childhood, particularly during the preschool years. We too often believe that early childhood education should focus on the promotion of academic skills to increase intelligence and, therefore, neglect the importance of social and emotional learning. Children who are…

In this article, the author describes Fun Hour, a social program for kids with disabilities. This YMCA program in Pennsylvania focuses on social interaction and peer relationships. The Fun Hour program started in March 2006 on Friday nights with 20 kids and their families. It has celebrated its first anniversary, and the kids that have been in the…

Citizenship and its education is again gaining importance in many countries. This paper uses England as its primary example to develop a Habermasian perspective on this issue. The statutory requirements for citizenship education in England imply that significant attention be given to the moral and social development of the learner over time, to…

School administrators want to believe that they are champions for the rights of the students they serve. They strive to provide students with a secure, enriching environment to aid in their intellectual and social development. Through their leadership, administrators have the responsibility to guide and redirect students to help them achieve at…

Previous research has demonstrated that 10-year-olds can provide interpersonal explanations for certain self-presentational tactics, but detailed information about the development of their understanding of these tactics is lacking. This research investigated children's understanding of the processes involved in ingratiation (used to indicate…

Although commonly cited as explanations for patterns of sibling similarity and difference, observational learning and sibling deidentification processes have rarely been examined directly. Using a person-oriented approach, we identified patterns in adolescents' perceptions of sibling influences and connected these patterns to sibling similarities…

Parent and sibling influences on children's development of conflict management strategies were examined. Data consist of naturally occurring, in-home sibling disputes of 37 families at two time points. The siblings were approximately two and four years old at Time 1, and four and six years old at Time 2. Parents' and children's use of conflict…

This article reports on new findings from a forthcoming research review which analyzes 207 studies of school-based programs designed to foster children's social and emotional skills. Roger P. Weissberg, the president of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, or CASEL, the Chicago-based group that sponsored the four-year…

During adolescence, friendship affiliations and groups provide companionship and social and emotional support, and they afford opportunities for intimate self-disclosure and reflection. Friendships often promote positive psychosocial development, but some youth learn and adopt antisocial attitudes and deviant behaviors through their friendships.…