School Violence and the Nigerian Child: Classroom Teacher Perspectives

Abstract

Violence is viewed differently by different authors, though World Health Organization (WHO) put forward a comprehensive definition of violence based on the different aspects. This study therefore, investigated teachers' perception of violence on the school child in Nigeria. The design was a descriptive survey. Six research questions and one null hypothesis guided the study. Sample was 264 serving teachers (192 females and 72 males) who were in their final year of a sandwich bachelor of education degree programme in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. A 34-item Teacher Perception of Violence on the child questionnaire (TPVCO) developed by the researchers was used to collect data. Data were presented using means scores, standard deviation while t-test was used to test the hypothesis. Results indicated that teachers have adequate perception of the nature and manifestation of violence on the Nigerian child. However, their perceptions were restricted to physical assaults and not psychological violations on the child's rights. Among the implications was the need to define violence on the child to embrace any violation of the child's rights that may impede total health and development of the child.