Reaction of children and adults to violence in school

Abstract

The aim of this research is to describe the reaction of pupils and adults who work in school to violence. Reactions to violence, aimed at the child personally, have to be differentiated from the reactions to the violent scenes that the child witnesses. The analyzed data, collected in the questionnaires within the program of fighting violence which was started by UNICEF in 2005, comprise the answers of 25.056 pupils and 4.793 adults from 71 schools in Serbia. The results indicate that the pupils react to violence inconsistently and that in their repertoire they have both constructive and non-constructive ways of reacting. One half of the pupils are ready to seek help from others in case of being in danger, and widespread are also those reactions (answering by aggression or submissiveness) which substantiate further violence. Every tenth pupil who is a violence victim just tolerates and conceals violence. If they witness violence, 11% of the pupils consequently distance themselves from helping. The pupils who are violence victims do not feel abandoned by their peers, 73% of them said that their friends helped them. Although adults themselves estimate highly their own readiness and the ability to react to violence, the measures undertaken by them are not assessed well on the part of pupils. In the conclusion, there is the elaboration of all the measures which can be used to stop self-reproduction of violent behavior in school and the emphasis on the need for the programs for prevention of school violence which would be based on the inclusion of the whole school collective, and especially pupils.