Thinking Allowed - 09/09/2009

New research on a group of high achieving 12 and 13-year-old children could provide insight into why children underachieve in school. Laurie Taylor talks to Becky Francis from Roehampton University, one of the authors of a new report into the uneasy relationship between being clever and popular. Laurie finds out how children negotiate being both academically successful and liked by their peers, and the differences in classroom experience for boys and girls. While a boy can avoid being bullied if he is both sporty and successful, girls are more likely to be picked on and seen as asexual if they do well in school. Does the risk of being bullied or labelled a 'swot' prompt children of both sexes to avoid performing to their best ability? Also, Laurie explores the letters sent home by soldiers in WWI and what they reveal about the emotional experience of war. He talks to Michael Roper and Joanna Bourke about the role of the connection between the home front and the battlefield, and why it was critical in helping soldiers cope with the horrors of war.