Violence against children and education

Abstract

In most countries around the world, children and adolescents spend more time in school than any other single location besides the family home. Whether or not children and adolescents are able to attend school, whether they are safe in school and whether they leave school with necessary learning and skills, are affected by their experiences of violence—at home, at school and in the community. Before children get to school, they are often exposed to violence at home. Analysis of the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys data from 28 countries shows that 43% of children aged 2–14 years in African countries, and 9% in ‘transitional’ states, have experienced severe physical violence from caregivers. 1 There are a host of negative health and social consequences associated with exposure to physical violence in childhood, especially during this early period. These include increased risk of depressive disorders and suicide attempts, 2 poor educational attainment 3 and increased risk of perpetrating or experiencing intimate partner violence in later relationships. 4, 5 Particularly for children who have also experienced violence at home, first experiences of the school environment are likely to be important in determining whether they are shunted down a trajectory towards later poor outcomes, including use of violence in their relationships, or if they are able to overcome negative exposures in their early childhood. Yet, school itself can also be a violent place. Levels of peer violence are high with 5–45% of boys and girls reporting bullying across 40 countries mainly in Europe. 6 Recent national surveys suggest that, at least in some settings, violence from school staff maybe animportant but overlooked contributor to the overall health burden associated with violence against children. More than 50% of men and women reported physical violence from teachers when they were aged 0–18 years in Tanzania, 7 and in Kenya more than 40% of 13–17 year olds reported being punched, kicked or whipped by a teacher in the past 12 months, versus 13–15% for parents. 8 For many adolescents, secondary school is a time and place where they will initiate their first romantic relationships. Unfortunately, recent analysis of Demographic and Health Survey data show that intimate partner violence also starts early—on average, first incidents of intimate partner violence among girls