Local pupils suffer more violence at schools than youngsters in the United States, Europe and Taiwan, with boys the main culprits, a survey shows.
About 70.8 per cent of 1,800 pupils from eight secondary schools polled by the department of social work at Chinese University between January and April said they had been victims of school violence, slightly higher than in the West and Asian regions.
Similar surveys conducted in the US, Britain, the EU, Israel and Taiwan showed that the rates of victimisation ranged from 53 to 68 per cent.
The survey, commissioned by the Hong Kong Family Welfare Society, also showed that verbal attacks were the most common form of school violence, others included physical violence, social violence such as boycotting, sexual violence, intimidation and blackmailing.
Dr Chen Ji-kang, assistant professor in the department who conducted the survey, said the rate in Hong Kong was only slightly higher than in other regions and the difference was because of error with different study methods, but the situation deserved public attention.
'School violence has a great negative impact on pupils and will affect their academic results, intention to go to school and their normal school life. So we should pay close attention to it,' Chen said.
He said school violence would also cause students mental and behavioural problems, which may lead the victims to become bullies in the future.