Teen Violence in Pacific Above Global Average, UNICEF Says

Students in most Pacific Island countries and territories have been found to face violence in and around the classroom at a much higher rate than the global average, said UNICEF after releasing a new report ‘An Everyday Lesson: #ENDviolence in Schools’ on 6 September.

The report is part of its global #ENDViolence campaign aimed at schools which found that peer bullying (physical fights and psychological), and corporal punishment as the causes.

Around 150 million or half of students worldwide, aged 13 to 15 years, have reported experiencing peer-to-peer violence in and around school.

In Tonga, peer bullying is experienced by one in every two students; in Samoa three in cour students aged 13-15; in Solomon Islands and Vanuatu two in three students; and between three to 4 in every 10 students in seven other Pacific Island countries. Globally, the report shows that figures are lower with slightly more than one in three students aged 1315 experiencing bullying, and about the same proportion are involved in physical fights. While girls and boys are equally at risk of bullying, girls are more likely to become victims of psychological forms of bullying and boys are more at risk of physical violence and threats.

With regards to corporal punishment at school, nearly 720 million school-aged children live in countries where it is not fully prohibited.

In 10 out of 14 Pacific Island countries and territories, corporal punishment is prohibited although it is not always enforced, because a substantial number of teachers haven’t been trained in alternative discipline methods. UNICEF executive director Henrietta Fore said that education is the key to building peaceful societies, and yet, for millions of children around the world, school itself is not safe.

Matangi Tonga