TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2016//
TI  - Prevalence and correlates of violence among South African high school learners in uMgungundlovu District municipality, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
JO  - South African medical journal SAMJ
A1  - Khuzwayo, N.
A1  - Taylor, M.
A1  - Connolly, C.
SP  - 1216
EP  - 1221
VL  - 106
IS  - 12
N2  - BACKGROUND: Young people grow up in homes and communities where many are exposed daily to crime and antisocial behaviours. <br><br>OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence of violence and the demographic factors associated with such violence among South African (SA)high school learners in the uMgungundlovu District, KwaZulu-Natal, SA. <br><br>METHODS: In a cross-sectional study, we used stratified random sampling to select 16 schools in uMgungundlovu District. All Grade 10 high school learners (N=1 741) completed a self-administered questionnaire (Centers for Disease Control Youth Risk Behavior Survey). Data analysis was carried out using STATA 13 statistical software (Statacorp, USA). <br><br>RESULTS: Of the participants in this study, 420 (23.9%) had been bullied, 379 (21.7%) had missed school because of feeling unsafe, 468 (15.4%) had been involved in physical fights and 41 (2.4%) had carried weapons to school. There was a significant association between being in a physical fight and missing school (odds ratio (OR) 2.5, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.9 - 3.3; p<0.001). There were higher odds of male learners carrying weapons than female learners (OR 5.9, 95% CI 2.0 - 15.0). Among learners living in rented rooms, the OR of feeling unsafe was 2.7 (95% CI 0.8 - 3.0), in an informal settlement the OR was 0.8 (95% CI 0.3 - 2.0) and in reconstruction and development programme houses it was 2.7 (95% CI 1.0 - 5.0), compared with learners residing in Zulu homesteads. <br><br>CONCLUSION: Violence among learners attending high schools in uMgungundlovu District is a major problem and has consequences for both their academic and social lives. Urgent interventions are required to reduce the rates of violence among high school learners.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0038-2469
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -