Peer violence and student perception of school climate

Abstract

This paper analyses a survey on the experiences of students with peer violence and their perception of school climate. The research was conducted on a sample of 186 students of one primary school in Našice aged 11 to 15 years. The aim of this paper is to examine the relationship between experienced and committed peer violence at school with students’ assessment of school climate and to determine whether there are statistically significant differences in experiencing and committing peer violence with regard to gender, age and academic achievement. A statistically significant difference was found according to gender and academic achievement in the frequency of victimization and peer violence in the past seven days. A significant, weak connection between the frequency of experienced and committed peer violence at school and the perception of a negative school climate was also established. The results suggest the importance of focusing prevention programs on various components of school climate from students, teachers, parents and interpersonal relationships between all school stakeholders to the organizational structure of the school.