Prevalence of Exposure to Violence among Primary School Children and their Related Knowledge | ||
| Journal of High Institute of Public Health | ||
| Article 4, Volume 42, Issue 1, April 2012, Pages 45-62 PDF (270.12 K) | ||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/jhiph.2012.20124 | ||
| Authors | ||
| Wagida Wafik* 1; Salwa Abass2; Lamia Amen3; Nadia El-Adeham4 | ||
| 1Community Health Nursing, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt | ||
| 2Community Health Nursing, Zagasig University, Zagasig, Egypt | ||
| 3Community Health Nursing, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt | ||
| 4Community Health Nursing, Fayoum University, Fayoum, Egypt | ||
| Abstract | ||
| Background: School violence constitutes a serious problem particularly among primary schoolchildren. About one half of the boys and one-fourth of the girls in Egypt are exposed to such violence at this age. Objectives: to study the prevalence of, knowledge about and factors relevant to violence among primary schoolchildren in Manzala district, Dakahlia Governorate. Methods: A cross-sectional analytical design was used on 500 schoolchildren from 5 randomly selected primary schools in the setting. Data were collected through an interview questionnaire covering sociodemographic characteristics, history of exposure to violence and scholastic achievement as well as pupil knowledge about violence. Fieldwork was done in the period of November 2009 - January 2010. Results: most of schoolchildren have been exposed to violence (70.4%) mainly the physical one (72.4%), committed it (89.4%), had a satisfactory total knowledge level (60.8%) and significantly (p<0.001) recorded higher absenteeism (78.6%). In multivariate analysis, age, gender, birth order, father education, mother working status, and preference of video games were negative predictors while crowding index, mother education, family income, exposure to violence, and preference of violent movies were positive ones of knowledge score (p<0.001). Conclusion: The prevalence and frequency of exposure to violence was high and had a negative impact on school attendance. Knowledge was influenced by many personal and family characteristics. It is recommended that the Ministry of Education should develop national violence prevention programs along with training teachers in avoiding violence. The role of parents and school health nurse should be more emphasized. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| violence; Primary schoolchildren; Knowledge | ||
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