Romania Ranks Second Among 37 States Regarding School Violence – WHO Survey

According to the research cited by non-governmental organization Save the Children Romania, 70% of the Romanian children admit they feel menaced by their colleagues’ aggressive behavior.

During the 2009-2010 school year, 55 cases of school violence were officially reported in capital Bucharest. A study released by the National Criminology Institute reveals that most of the teenagers who were brought before court were students when they committed offences (60.34%), and 84.3% of them were Romanian nationals and 10.69% were Roma ethnics.

Of the 423 students accused of school violence, 13.26% had normal relations with their colleagues and teachers and 47.64% had an aggressive behavior both towards their colleagues and teachers and faced integration and communication difficulties.

A poll conducted by the Bucharest Police in the summer of 2009 shows that 54% of students consider that school violence is a problem that occurs frequently, while 44% believe that it occurs only once in a while. Only 17% of the respondents tried to intervene in cases of school violence and 20% claim they were victims of school violence.

In 2007, the Prevention and Psycho-sociology Institute registered 16.417 cases of juvenile delinquency in Romania, and 50-55% of them were teenagers without activity.

Save the Children Romania, in partnership with the Education Ministry will unfold joint campaigns to prevent school abuses of any type.