School is a socially interactive environment. Most children have twenty-nine other people to get along with in their class alone, not to mention all the children they come across in the playground. Schools encourage and promote social development as essential to community living.

Children need to learn to respect other children’s needs and feelings and to be able to share and co-operate with others. They must learn to take turns when playing with games and with equipment. It is important for the child to understand that someone else may have a different point of view from themselves and that this is not only acceptable but has to be tolerated.

Children need to develop a real understanding and empathy with other people’s feelings. This involves being aware of their own feelings and being able to describe them so they can articulate their own needs and consequently also be able to put themselves in someone else’s shoes. Children also have to learn to manage the frustration that comes when people do not do what they want!
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