Brothers and Sisters: A Source of Support for Children in School?

Whilst UK schools move towards U.S "big brother" style mentoring systems for children, are actual brothers and sisters becoming an invisible source of support to deal with bullying in everyday life? This paper reports on research with children aged 7-13 about their experiences and understandings of their relationships with their brothers and sisters, both at home and at school. Some children talked about the importance of having older and younger siblings in school as a source of support in times of bullying, particularly those children from minority ethnic backgrounds. However, some children welcomed the space school gave them to be separate from their siblings. Others talked of the difficulties that association with their siblings at school caused them. (Contains 3 notes.)