Which age range would you say is most difficult for kids re peer relationships/bullying?

[Tumty]

I know it varies for all children and depends on so many factors. But in general would you say primary easier and the first few years secondary harder? Do you think there is a peak age? Where is maybe gets easier afterwards?

For dd, it was Year 8 to 10. DS never really had any friendship issues

For anecdotal discussions I think those years do tend to have most issues. I would like to think things settle down maybe more in exam years when everyone is busy and has focus?

friendship bullying peer pressure etc problems first two-three years of secondary I think are the worst

Yep years 7-8 were tricky here. Primary school has it's issues but was mostly just down to personalities and learning social interaction rather than deliberate bullying. (Although one girl was pretty horrible)

Years 7 and 8 also.

we are in Scotland and I am not sure about England but after years 7 and 8 do you choose subjects? I wonder if that helps to an extent as you are with more like minded children interested in same subjects. Also just general maturity helps too

The end of Year 7 and all of Year 8.

currently have a child in year 7 with all the friendship and bullying issues. Never had this in primary!

For me, secondary school was hell pretty much all the way through, though the sixth form years were a bit better. Probably Yr 8 and 9 were the worst.

I was happy in primary school and happy at university.

IMHO age 14 / year 9 is the worst for girls.

Age 11-13, for girls anyway.

I have two DDs. For us, years 7-9 have been hard.

First year of secondary school.

Yeah, I would say around 11-14 maybe. We were lucky though as dd never had any issues, but that was the age when a kid of them seemed to be falling out.

I was just about to post this. With Year 8 and Year 10 not great but better. That is my memory anyway….

My dd is Year 8 at the moment so not looking forward to next year.

I'd say the early years of secondary school are the toughest on average - most children find the reshuffling of friendships uncomfortable, but then it generally settles down.

For a few children who don't find their social niche in years 7-8, I would say the later years could be just as bad.

Y7-8 equate to S1-S2 roughly first two years of secondary for most
at my DD's school S1 & S2 are only in sets for Maths otherwise it is with the whole class or for practical subjects maybe 2/3rds of the class
ours choose options for S3 so then they are mixed much more so easier to avoid certain fellow pupils at least some of the time but PE HWB and RPMS are still in class groups

DD: Y6 as they were all tired of being with the same people for 7 years

Secondary was actually a relief for us as DD found a new pack and was a lot happier. Yes there was some fall outs in beginning of Y8 but mostly it was ok, the school is very observant about things and a lot was squashed before it got too much.

She is in Y11, has a group of mates and 2-3 really close friends and is just ignoring the rest.

Covid had an effect on what ages were particularly hard. At both my children’s primary and secondary school members of the SLT said that, for example, behaviours that they would have expected in y9 were being seen in y10- 11. And at primary, the kids who basically missed Y4 and 5 were acting up in y6 and 7.

I was speaking to my DS’s housemaster about this and she said that although it has almost gone back to normal, they are still seeing ripples and the after effects of lock down.