British
girls among most violent in world
http://education.guardian.co.uk/pupilbehaviour/story/0,,1692991,00.html
Guardian
- 23rd January 2006
British
girls are some of the most violent in the world, according to new
research.
England
and Scotland came fifth and sixth in a league table showing levels
of violence among 11 to 15-year-old schoolgirls in 35 developed
countries.
In both
the UK countries, almost one-third of the girls (29%) had been in
at least one physical fight in the previous year.
Britain's
"ladette" culture - in which women and girls imitate macho
behaviour - has been blamed for fuelling such violence.
Across all
the countries, the average number of girls who had been involved
in fighting was 23%. At 32%, the worst-scoring country, Hungary,
was not far ahead of England and Scotland.
Directly
below Hungary in the female violence stakes were Estonia, Lithuania
and Belgium. Wales was in 12th place, with a figure of 25%, while
Finland did best with 13%.
The study,
which surveyed 161,000 pupils, found that, while boys were more
violent overall, British schoolboys were further down the league
table than their female counterparts.
Scottish
boys were the most violent of the British, in 10th place on the
table with a rate of 60% who had been involved infights. English
schooolboys were not far behind, in 13th place, with a score of
59%.
Welsh youngsters
came 26th, 53% of boys having been in a fight.
The researchers
reported that girls were most likely to fight with friends and family
members, while boys were much more likely to engage in violence
with strangers.
They said
fighting among youngsters could indicate they would become violent
adults. They called for a reduction in violent imagery in the media
but said more research was needed to address the growing problem.
The study,
by child health experts from Canada, Scotland, Poland, Israel and
America and published in the journal of the American Academy of
Paediatrics, is based on research from 2001/02.
