Q&A :: Temper, temper!

Photo: glowimages

The sanctuaries of learning are becoming a breeding ground for violence and a battlefield for kids.

A study by the Center for Education Development shows that over 10 percent of students from elementary schools have been beaten up, one in four have been excluded from a social network, while nearly a half have experienced insults or name-calling.

“About 20 percent of boys and ten percent of girls experience at least a few times in recent months physical aggression. And at the same time verbal [aggression] is more prevalent, because about a third of schoolchildren has experienced this at least a few times,” says Jadwiga Przewłocka, from the Educational Research Institute, meanwhile, citing the NGO’s own statistics.

Perplexed by the problem, the Polish government seeks to combat it with its Safe and Friendly School programme and by co-funding monitoring systems installed on the school premises.