Interesting+Statistics

=The National Survey of the Health and Wellbeing of New Zealand Secondary School Students.= [|www.youth2000.ac.nz]

This report presents findings about young people and violence from Youth’07: The National Survey of the Health and Wellbeing of New Zealand Secondary School Students. Youth’07 surveyed 9107 secondary school students throughout New Zealand in 2007 and the findings are thus representative of young people attending mainstream secondary schools, but not necessarily of all young people in New Zealand.

1. Most young people are not involved in violent behaviour.
• The majority of secondary school students are not involved in violent or anti-social behaviours • There were fewer violent and anti-social behaviours by secondary school students in 2007, than when the national survey was first conducted in 2001

2. However, violence is a part of life for many young people.
Students reported that in the previous 12 months: • 47.9% of males and 33.2% of females had been deliberately hit or physically harmed • 40.9% of males and 26.8 % of female students had hit or physically harmed someone else • 26.2% of males and 12.2% of females had been in a serious physical fight • 9.4% of males and 2.9% of females had carried a weapon • 3.6% of males and 1.1% of females had attacked someone using a weapon • 5.4% of males and 19.9% of females had unwanted sexual contact

3. Bullying at school is a common experience for young people.
• 7.1% of male students and 5.0% of female students reported that they were bullied at school once a week or more • 10.7% of male students and 8.9% of female students reported feeling afraid that someone would hurt or bother them at school • 6.8% of male students and 2.9% of female students reported that they bullied someone else once a week or more

4. Young people are commonly exposed to violence in their homes.
Students reported that in the previous 12 months, in their home: • 45.9% had witnessed an adult yelling or swearing at another child • 48.2% had witnessed adults yelling or swearing at each other • 16.6% had witnessed an adult hitting or physically hurting another child • 10.4% had witnessed adults hitting or physically hurting each other • 12.3% had themselves been hit or physically hurt • Students witnessing adults hitting or hurting each other in the home had increased in 2007 (10.7%) compared to 2001 (5.6%)

5. There is a high degree of association between different forms of violence.
Students who were exposed to or were victims of violence in their home, school or community environment were more likely to instigate violence and to be the victims of violence elsewhere as well

6. Exposure to violence has a significant negative effect on mental health.
Students who had experienced or witnessed violence in their home were much more likely to: • Have significant depressive symptoms (males 12.6% and females 25.9%) than students who had not experienced or witnessed violence in their home (males 5.7% and female 11.3%) • Have attempted suicide (males 7.3% and females 13.4%) than students who had not experienced or witnessed violence in their home (males 2.0% and females 4.5%) Students who had been bullied were much more likely to: • Have significant depressive symptoms (males 21.4% and females 51.8%) than those students who had not been bullied (males 5.8% and female 12.8%) • Have attempted suicide (males 8.8% and females 21.5%) than students who had not been bullied (males 2.5% and females 5.9%)

7. There are risk factors associated with higher levels of violence.
• For some forms of violence there is an association with socio-economic deprivation • Students from communities with greater deprivation levels are more likely to be exposed to, and to participate in, various types of violence • There is a strong association between patterns of alcohol consumption and violence. Binge drinkers were more likely to be involved in violence than students who were moderate drinkers or non- drinkers • There is a strong association between regular marijuana use and violence. Students who were regular users were much more likely than occasional users or non-users to have been involved in violence

8. There are protective factors associated with reduced levels of violence.
Students who had good relationships with parents, teachers and friends were less likely to have been bullied or physically harmed.

Students were most commonly hit or harmed on purpose by others their own age who they knew: 37.2% reported they had been hit or harmed by friends, 40.6% by someone their own age who they knew, but were not friends with, 25.0% had been hit or harmed by a parent or person acting as parent and 42.0% by siblings.