Is school participation good for children? Associations with health and wellbeing Aingeal de Ro ´iste, Colette Kelly, Michal Molcho, Aoife Gavin and Saoirse Nic Gabhainn Health Promotion Research Centre, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland Abstract Purpose – There is increasing recognition of children’s abilities to speak for themselves. School democracy, as demonstrated by genuine participation, has the potential to benefit both teachers and students; leading to better relationships and improved learning experiences. The aim of this study is to investigate whether participation in schools in Ireland is linked with perceived academic performance, liking school and positive health perceptions. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected via self-completion questionnaires from a stratified random sample of 10,334 students aged 10-17 years in Irish schools. The questions included encouragement to express their views in class, participation in the organisation of school events; taking part in making school rules; liking school, perceived academic performance, self-rated health, life satisfaction and self-reported happiness. Associations between school participation and other measures were expressed by odds ratios from logistic regression models, conducted separately for girls and boys. Findings – More than 63 per cent of participating students reported that they were encouraged to express their views in class, 58 per cent that they were involved in organising school events and 22 per cent that they had been involved in making school rules. All forms of participation were lower among older students. Participation in school was significantly associated with liking school and higher perceived academic performance, better self-rated health, higher life satisfaction and greater reported happiness. Research limitations/implications – These data are all cross-sectional and relationships cannot imply causality. Practical implications – These findings underscore the relevance of school participation for students in Ireland. Originality/value – The paper illustrates that, in general, positive relationships between school participation and health and wellbeing are demonstrated among Irish children. Keywords Schools, Participation, Health promoting schools, Health, Wellbeing, Children (age groups), Young people, Ireland Paper type Research paper Introduction With the growth in the recognition of children’s rights there is an increased acknowledgement of children’s abilities to speak for themselves. This can be partly attributed to the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nations, 1989). Adults are now obliged to ensure that children are enabled and encouraged to contribute their views on all matters relevant to them (Lansdown, 2001) but also to ensure that their views have appropriate influence and impact (Leitch and The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/0965-4283.htm HE 112,2 88 Received 15 November 2010 Revised 8 June 2011 Accepted 20 June 2011 Health Education Vol. 112 No. 2, 2012 pp. 88-104 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0965-4283 DOI 10.1108/09654281211203394