This issue of Child Care in Practice presents an eclectic range of articles each focused on a particular aspect of children's lives. Several of the articles are international submissions; however, the United Kingdom is well represented, with papers from England and Northern Ireland included. The difficulties each stage of childhood and adolescence presents are explored in this progressively ordered issue. Whilst each article includes scholarly evidence, the majority seek to inform practice by evaluating the impact a specific intervention program can have either directly or indirectly on children's lives. The authors concludes that although many mainstream schools have attempted to address this matter, this has been done within the existing framework of drugs education for all school children. Whilst this could be interpreted as addressing the needs of special education students within mainstream education, alternatively it may not be achieving this to its full potential.