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There is a growing interest in the factors influencing bystanders' interventions in school-bullying. However, perceived social norms, beliefs about what others do (perceived descriptive norms), and what others think one should do (perceived injunctive norms) still require attention. The aim of this study was to investigate whether students perceived three defending behaviours (alert, care and opposition) and one passive reaction as falling within social norms. Results from 5445 middle- and high-school students showed that alert, care and opposition defending behaviours were viewed as falling within perceived social norms, contrary to passive bystanding. Alert and opposition were perceived mainly as injunctive norms, whereas care was viewed as a more general norm. Multiple regressions showed that perceived injunctive norms and, mostly, perceived descriptive norms were both strong predictors of the readiness to adopt the four witness behaviours targeted in the study. The implications of these results for informing future debate and practical actions in schools are discussed.

Students' engagement is known to be associated with academic success and to prevent school dropouts. While many studies have considered this variable when examining school trajectories, more research is needed to investigate the factors that may sustain and promote engagement in school, regarded as a multidimensional construct (affective vs. cognitive vs. behavioral engagement). In the present cross-sectional study, associations between students' perceptions of "school climate" dimensions and their level of engagement were explored. The differential effects on these associations of sex and social background were also examined. Results from a sample of 955 high-school students showed that a model incorporating six dimensions of perceived school climate explained a large proportion of the variance in students' engagement, especially affective engagement. The perceived climate of relations between teachers and students appeared to be highly predictive of students' engagement. Analyses also revealed that the predictiveness of school climate factors for affective, cognitive and behavioral engagement varied slightly according to sex and social background. These results highlight important levers associated with students' engagement in school.

Previous research suggests that single use of television, computer or game console may be associated with sleep problems. In practice, youngsters have a multiple rather than a single use of electronic media (EM) every day. This study examined the association between electronic stimulation throughout the day, the final evening activity every day of the week, EM availability in the bedroom and sleep problems in 332 middle-school children (girls = 53%; mean age = 12.9). Cell phones (odds ratio [OR] = 2.5 [1.20–5.38]) and MP3 players (OR = 2.5 [1.13–5.70]) were found to predict sleep problem. An evening screen time of one hour or more is associated with a higher risk of sleep problems (OR = 3.10 [1.24–7.78]), particularly going to bed late (OR = 3.4 [1.59–7.271]) and difficulty waking up (OR = 2.15 [1.01–4.6]). Possession and pattern of EM use by adolescents are associated with impaired sleep quality and late bedtimes, indicating the need to control adolescents' screen time. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]