ACHILD with his or her own DVD player, computer games console and parents who work full-time might appear to have it all.

But the same child might rarely see its parents, feel lonely, lack self-esteem and want a cuddle far more than the latest hi-tech game.

Worries at home can lead to difficulties in school, but Bolton's Behaviour Support Team is on hand to try and stop children developing problems in the first place, to work with the youngsters if they have emotional or behavioural difficulties and also help their parents if they need support.

The support team, which includes secondary and primary school teachers, behaviour support workers (BSWs), a youth worker, counsellors and family practioners, help youngsters from nursery class age up to the age of 18 and are based at the Castle Hill Centre, Tonge Moor.

Their aim is to keep the children in mainstream education and to stop them from running into problems later in life.

They deal with children from all sorts of backgrounds, including youngsters who might be lavished with material gifts, but never see their parents because they work full-time, youngsters from a family split by divorce or children with conditions such as attention deficit disorder.

Before individual help is given, their classroom environment is assessed to look at the dynamics of the group and how the child interacts with others.

Every support team visitor brings a "no blame" attitude which means neither the child, parent or school feels intimidated by the outside intervention.

Behaviour support workers can be brought in for a six week placement to provide extra help, but emphasis is placed on helping the child in a group session surrounded by their peers who can act as a good example and to stop the youngster from becoming too dependent on the BSW.

Some of the youngsters are so used to a lack of positive adult role models in their lives that they call the BSWs "mum" and become attached to a friendly face.

The counsellors and family practitioners deal with emergency referrals in extreme cases such as when a child has been bereaved or might have even tried to commit suicide and need immediate advice and support.

They also work closely with parents in their own homes as well as running parenting classes at schools and community centres all over Bolton.

Parenting classes are based on giving out common sense advice to parents who might need support because of the way they have been brought up themselves.

The classes explore language, child development, the importance of play, how to listen to children and encourage parents to think about what they say to their children.

Senior counsellor and family practitioner, Shirley Macdonald, said: "Parents can be shy when they first come to the classes, but they just need to hear some common sense advice.

"For example, instead of shouting at a child for scribbling on the walls and saying "don't do that", they should think about saying something positive such as "scribble on this bit of paper" which gives the child a firm message without being negative.

"We only copy what we know and lots of parents are just following the way they've been brought up."

She added: "Modern society places lots of different pressures on children and parents. Children are under pressure to achieve, but if things aren't right at home, then school can be a very difficult place.

"In lots of cases the children have poor self-esteem and we need to change their perceptions.

"There is lots of labelling of children, but we bring an objective view in and take a holistic approach."

Youth worker Ossie Susiwala works with groups of vulnerable youngsters who could be in danger of being excluded, have problems at home or just need more time and space than their peers for personal development.

He runs games clubs at secondary schools to help build-up the confidence of youngsters in a fun way as well as visiting primary school pupils to help them prepare for the big move to secondary school.

"We get a good reaction from the kids because we come in as an impartial and non-threatening group, they know we've got nothing to do with the school and that makes them more willing to open up and speak to me" he said.

Senior primary teacher, Anne Strong, helps schools to develop their own preventative work to ensure the classroom is a positive place to learn.

She said: "Our aim is to eventually put ourselves out of a job! We're training the teachers and support staff to spot problems quickly.

"For a child to be tagged with the label of having "emotional, behavioural difficulties" is a real burden for them and if we can help to get that tag removed, then we're successful.

"The job is rewarding, but it can be sad because we're dealing with vulnerable young people."