PERCEPTION OF STUDENTS ABOUT RESPONSES OF SCHOOL STAFF IN SITUATIONS OF SCHOOL VIOLENCE

Abstract

The consequences of school violence to victimized students have been studied in detail: symptoms of depression, anxiety, low school performance, school dropout, as well as further aggressive behaviors. This paper intends to analyze students' perception of school staff in respect to responses to school violence episodes. A self-report questionnaire developed by the authors with questions about experiences of school victimization and offenses within the last six months was employed in three schools in Southern Brazil. Participants, who had different social and economical backgrounds, involved approximately 220 students per school (in total 669); 53.7% were girls and 46.3 % were boys, with a mean age of 12.9 years, from grades 5-8. No significant differences among schools regarding the protection provided by employees were found. In the presence of employees, an average of 78% students were called names by other students (chi-square, d.f.=4, Z=7.892, p=0,096); 54% received threats (chi-square, d.f.=4, Z=2.742, p=0,602); and 54% were beaten (chi-square, d.f.=4, Z=8.181, p=0,085). When students have problems in school, most of them tell their parents about it (63%), others tell their friends (55%), and teachers are the third option to be chosen (19%); in addition, there are students that do not tell anybody (11%). When students are not protected by staff when faced by school violence, they possibly try to retaliate or join gangues, accepting violence as a social norm.

Keywords: school violence; school staff; students’ perceptions.