CRITICS of today's youth may find it difficult to believe, but young people in this country are remarkably well disciplined. You need only look at the exams taking place right now. This year almost 135,000 teenagers are sitting either Junior Cert or Leaving Cert for the first time. Most are feeling tense and highly pressured, yet the chances are that, as in other years, discipline problems in schools will be kept to a minimum.

When problems do occur they can make the headlines. However, when you talk to school principals about discipline problems during exams many of them respond with "Problems? What problems?"

It's remarkable that the exams run so smoothly given the large number of candidates and the relatively low levels of supervision. Supervision of exam halls is the responsibility of the Department of Education, but maintaining discipline in school grounds and corridors is the school's responsibility. In many schools the principal is expected to take sole charge of the school during this time.

Ensuring that exams are hitch free is something that has to be worked at well in advance. "It's vitally important to maintain the intense: businesslike atmosphere that normally operates in schools," says Mr Jack Harte, principal of Lucan Community School in Co Dublin. "We talk to our students well in advance of the exams and point out to them how important it is not to get into a holiday mood once school dispands.

"It's an issue that we have to address every year with each cohort of students. They respond well once they understand why we're insisting on a normal routine."

It is, of course, extremely difficult for young people to keep a stiff upper lip and concentrate on work when the weather heats up and the rest of the world is wearing shorts and Tshirts. Maintaining a working atmosphere in school helps students concentrate on the job in hand, says Mr Harte.

It is Junior Cert students who have the potential to provide schools with the biggest headaches. This is their first State exam and they can be thrown into a panic very easily. One person bailing out of an exam early can cause a stampede.

At Crescent College Comprehensive, Limerick, the parents and teachers of Junior Cert candidates are notified if they leave exams early. "The threat of a letter acts as a deterrent and it works," says the principal, Fr Liam O'Connell. Although Junior Cert students are required to wear uniform, Leaving Cert students are allowed wear their own clothes. "It works well for us," he says. "The Leaving Certs appreciate it and the Junior Certs look forward to it."

CLARITY, communication and cooperation between parents, students and school form the basis of a welldisciplined school, according to Ms Jean Geoghegan, principal of Christ the King Secondary School in Cork. "You have to build up a relationship of respect and trust over the years with both students and their parents," she says. "It's important that these are maintained during the exams. But the supposition that schools are draconian during the exam period is unreasonable.

"All our efforts are concentrated on providing a calm atmosphere so that exams can proceed without a hitch. A tiny slip could be a disaster for a single child. It's our job to ensure that everything goes smoothly."