UNICEF released a report on Sept. 6 that found about half of the 13 to 15-year-old students across the world or 150 millions of schoolchildren have experienced violence, such as physical fighting or bullying, in the very premises of their schools.
The report also found that about 720 million schoolchildren suffered beatings from their teacher because they live in countries where corporal punishment is still allowed in schools. These countries also still acknowledge that adults in positions of authority can use physical violence as a way of discipline.
For the report, UNICEF measured the number of students who shared their experience of bullying that lasted for a month or of being involved in a physical fight in the last year. The survey revealed that the school environment can also be a dangerous place for the students. Worse, younger children are in fact learning and living in fear as they go to school every day.
Specifically, there are more than one in three students between the age of 13 and 15 who endured bullying and about one in three has been involved in brawls.
The report also found that as much as there are a staggering number of children being bullied in school, there are shockingly 17 million adolescents across 39 schools who admitted that they were the ones who bully others in school.
Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director, said the negative emotional and psychological effects of school violence on children are the same, whether they live in rich or poor countries. She explained that school violence may come in the form of online harassment, violent discipline, sexual harassment, and even armed violence. All of these can lead to depression, anxiety, and even suicide.
The worst form of school violence in and around the schools is experienced by children living in the war-torn nations. The UNICEF report found that about 158 million children and adolescents between 6 and 17 are residing in war-torn countries.
The report said the United Nations Security Council has witnessed numerous grave attacks against schools in armed-conflicted regions. In 2017 alone, the United Nations confirmed 396 schools were attacked in the Democratic Republic of Congo. There were also 26 attacks on schools in South Sudan in the same year while there were 67 and 20 in Syria and Yemen respectively.
The report is released as part of UNICEF's #ENDViolence campaign that calls for governments and institutions to improve the school environment for students. UNICEF appealed for the cooperation of new legislation, prevention and response measures in the schools, and the involvement of the whole community.
