Embedding safe body culture and child voice in responses to child‑on‑child behaviour in early childhood services

In early childhood education settings and family care contexts, the issue of child‑on‑child behaviour is often discussed in terms of “bullying”, “peer conflict” or “inappropriate behaviour”. However, a deeper lens is required, one that engages children’s histories, environmental risk factors, safe body culture and the child’s voice.

Educators, service managers and families alike must recognise that behaviours between children may reflect underlying vulnerabilities, relational dynamics, developmental challenges or unmet needs. 

 

It is therefore both a moral and professional imperative to respond proactively, embed safe body frameworks across the program and ensure that children’s perspectives are heard and valued.

 

Understanding risk and context

When considering child‑on‑child behaviour, it is insufficient to adopt a purely behavioural discipline approach. Rather, the environment must be examined, the individual child’s background contextualised, and the relationships within the service and family explored.

 

 

For example, the resource Traffic Lights® Framework used in the NSW Department of Communities and Justice (NSW) “See, Understand and Respond” kit encourages adults to recognise that behaviours should be understood in developmental, social and cultural context.

 

 

It also emphasises that certain behaviours may signal increased risk, for example when there is an age‑ or power‑difference; persistence; frequency; secrecy; coercion; or the involvement of a child with disability.

In early childhood services, environmental risks may include: inadequate supervision, mixed age groups without appropriate scaffolding, insufficient adult mediation of peer interaction, unclear boundaries around body contact, or limited educator awareness of children’s prior experiences, including trauma or domestic stress.

Knowing children’s background matters, for children who have experienced instability, trauma, family violence, neglect or disability, peer interactions may escalate more easily into harm or distress. Educators therefore need to embed a trauma‑aware lens and be alert to subtle indicators that a child may be both a victim and/or perpetrator of child‑on‑child behaviours.

 

Embedding safe body culture in programs

 

 

This approach aligns strongly with the Child Safe Standards, which require services to embed child safety in organisational leadership, governance and culture; promote child and family participation; and ensure children understand their rights and feel safe to speak up. Embedding safe body culture is a practical way to enact these standards through everyday practice and program design.

Key components include:

 

• Clear, developmentally appropriate discussion and education about personal boundaries, what kinds of touch are safe and unsafe, the right to privacy, and how to raise concerns with peers and adults.
• Program design that allows agency and voice for children: reflective group times, responsive experiences, respectful peer play, safe routines.
• Adult supervision and mediation of peer play: supervising and guiding children’s body‑based interactions so that consent, respect and peer voice are foregrounded.
• Professional development for educators: noticing emerging behaviours, recognising risk factors, applying frameworks such as Traffic Lights or the guidance from the NSW kit.
  For example, the Traffic Lights handout describes “green light” behaviours as spontaneous, curious, light‑hearted play among equals, while “orange” and “red” behaviours signal concern, such as secrecy, coercion or developmental mismatch. 

 

Listening to children’s voices and relational aspects

 

 

Children’s voices must be central. Too often child‑on‑child behaviour is dealt with as though the children are objects of management rather than active participants in their relationships. 

 

Embedding children’s voice means giving children opportunities to reflect on and articulate their peer interactions: what made them feel safe or unsafe, what they want their friendships to look like, how they resolved conflict.

 

 

Educators can build into daily practice: open invitations to children to share their perspectives, peer mediation frameworks, class or group discussions about friendship, emotions and respect. 

 

This enhances children’s capacity to self‑regulate, recognise when they are uncomfortable, and ask for support.

 

 

From a relational perspective, the educator role shifts from only mediator to co‑learner and facilitator of respectful peer culture. This links directly to the philosophies underpinning the Education and Care Services National Law and Education and Care Services National Regulations, which emphasise children’s agency, relationships with peers and educators, and a responsive environment.

 

Shared partnerships: families, children, educators

 

 

Effective responses to child‑on‑child behaviour involves three interconnected spheres: the child, the family and the service. If behaviour emerges in the service, it is informative to connect with the child’s family to understand: the child’s history, their temperament, peer relationships, any prior trauma or safeguarding concerns, and the family’s perspective on support and resilience.

 

 

Organisational policy needs to reflect this shared approach: transparent reporting, reflection on peer dynamics, consistent language across home and service, educator reflection and professional supervision. Educators must communicate with families not only when behaviour is harmful, but proactively about how safe body culture is embedded, how peer relationships are supported, and how children’s voices are heard.

 

 

Identifying risks in the environment and responding appropriately

 

 

While many peer interactions are developmentally appropriate, some peer-to-peer behaviours may pose a risk of harm. 

 

Proactively identifying environmental risk factors enables educators to reduce potential harm and support safer learning environments.

 

Practical environmental checks can include:

 

• Physical layout: Are there unsupervised spots where children might interact without adult observation?
• Grouping: Are children of widely different developmental levels mixed without scaffolding or peer support?
• Adult:child ratios and supervision patterns: Are educators actively circulating, observing peer‑body interactions, intervening when necessary?
• Curriculum: Are safe body discussions explicitly planned not just incidental? Are peer relationships discussed, peer mediation facilitated?
• Documentation & reflection: Are incidents of child‑on‑child behaviour tracked, reflected on, connected to environmental or relational triggers, and used to inform future planning?
  When behaviour is deemed risky or harmful, the service must respond under relevant legislation/regulation: risk assessment, notification if required, support for all children involved (victim, other child, wider peer group), and review of support.

Child‑on‑child behaviour presents complexities beyond simple peer conflict. When early childhood services embrace the full spectrum, environment, children’s backgrounds, safe body culture, children’s voices, educator‑family partnerships, they create a relational culture of respect, agency and safety. 

 

These practices also align with the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations, which underpin the legislated Child Safe Standards in most states and territories. Embedding child voice, ongoing risk assessment, and responsive practice supports compliance and strengthens a centre’s overall child safe culture.