A survey on violence among primary and secondary school students in Hefei city / 中华流行病学杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the features of violence among primary and secondary school students in Hefei, and to set up intervention measures for violence prevention.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Four schools in Hefei were randomly sampled in the study. A total of 3064 students completed a questionnaire.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>16.22% of the pupils reported having suffered from violence at least once every month. The rate was higher in boys than that in girls's (chi(2) = 25.13, P = 0.000). The major assaulters were from classmates (45.80%), with hand beating (37.42%), insulting (31.21%), threatening (20.88%), and 10.49% using sticks and sharp weapons. Most violence occurred at school (46.08%), followed by at home (28.41%) and outside of schools (25.51%), with significant difference (P = 0.000). As a result, 3.33% ended up with fractures, and 0.51% with disability. 97 pupils reported having assaulted others frequently (3.21%). Being irritated (47.38%) was the major reason for the violence to occur.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Violence among primary and secondary school students in Hefei city was serious that called for targeted education be strengthened and school environment be improved.</p>