Pupils struggling with hunger and emotional problems in classroom
SOME pupils are coming to school hungry while a sizeable number are suffering from emotional and sleep problems, research shows.
But poverty is only one reason for the lack of food, according to the research project. In some cases, poor sleeping patterns and anxiety were to blame, while anorexia was a possible factor for girls.
Dr Paul Downes, of St Patrick's College of Education in Drumcondra, Dublin, was involved in research in a number of disadvantaged schools where, on average, 10pc of first-year pupils were not getting enough food to function effectively in class.
Many pupils said they had no one to talk to about problems ranging from substance abuse to bereavement, sexual abuse, or divorce of parents. A quarter of first years in post-primary schools said they were not treated fairly by teachers.
Owing money for drugs was also a matter of concern to some young people and there was an explicit link between such debt and suicide, according to Dr Downes.
He said the focus in schools was all too often on misbehaviour by students, rather than the students' experiences.
Dr Downes was critical of the shortcomings on the new National Behaviour Support Service (NBSS), which was set up three years ago and operates in 62 schools.
The focus in behaviour-support classrooms, he said, was on avoiding negative behaviour and there was little conflict resolution.
"A potentially vital service to engage potential early school leavers is narrowed to a focus on their behaviour," he told a conference organised by SIPTU and the teachers' union ASTI.
Dr Downes, director of the Educational Disadvantage Centre in St Patrick's, also called for a mental health strategy for pupils at risk.
- John Walshe
Irish Independent
