Raising the issue of domestic abuse in school

Abstract

Previous studies suggest that around 30 per cent of children may witness domestic abuse, by which we mean physical or mental violence perpetrated by men on women. This paper reports the views of older children—a group from which there is little direct evidence available. Ninety-eight percent of pupils in a Scottish Secondary School consented to participate. Thirty-two per cent wrote that they were currently witnessing domestic abuse. We compared their responses with those of pupils who said they were not currently experiencing domestic abuse and found marked differences. For example ten ‘experiencing’ pupils said a young person might feel suicidal in this situation, a response that was not used at all by ‘non-experiencing’ pupils. This group also wrote a greater number and wider range of negative descriptors for how a young person might feel. These results have implications for the well-being of young people experiencing domestic abuse. There may be scope for building on this methodology for further education and training among school pupils and their teachers, and to highlight the crucial support that these pupils may need.