Antisocial behaviour risk 'can be decreased through supportive teaching'

A new study suggests supportive teaching can help decrease the risk of children from disadvantaged backgrounds developing antisocial behaviour.

Looking at the teaching of children under nine, researchers found that a positive school experience can have an impact on the way a pupil behaves, reports Children & Young People Now.

The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) found that 90 per cent of children from families that put them at high risk of antisocial behaviour, failed to show signs of this when benefiting from good schooling.

And 79 per cent of these pupils showed signs of being more likely to grow up 'pro-social', notes the report.

Researchers identified supportive teaching, plenty of friends and partaking in clubs and activities as some of the factors influencing the kind of experience a child has while at school.

ALSPAC, conducted at Bristol University, is a long-term health research project of thousands of children born in the 1990s, looking at their health and development.