LUNCHTIME at school was the worst, says 20-year-old Sheila*, recalling being excluded by friends when she was in fifth year at a West of Ireland co-ed school. You can feel excluded, and that may not be the other person’s intention. “Keeping calm, we give our children safety to feel their emotions, and strength to face hard things.”Anchoring: Help your child feel calm in themselves. Are there activities they could enjoy, where they wouldn’t be fully reliant on school friends? Remind them, ‘You don’t have to be liked by everyone to belong somewhere’.”Encourage them to find a mantra — a little sentence that helps them feel safe.

Source: Irish Examiner January 13, 2026 05:00 UTC