Study: Finnish schoolchildren fight less than pupils in other countries
Worst scuffles in Central and East Europe
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Schoolchildren in Finland are again at the top of an international comparative study. This time, the research has shown that children in Finland have less of a tendency to fight than those in other countries.
Although the information is based on a survey conducted by the World Health Organisation a few years ago, the results made headlines only recently, when the medical publication Pediatrics published a follow-up study on the basis of the extensive material.
School pupils aged 11, 13, and 15 from 35 countries were asked in 2002 how many times they had been in an altercation involving physical violence in the previous year.
In the overall averages, 58 percent of the boys and 24 percent of the girls had been in at least one fight. In Finland, the figures were lowest: 37 percent for boys, and 13 percent for girls.
The highest violence rates were recorded in Eastern and Central European countries. In some of them, including Poland, Latvia, and Ukraine, violence among girls was quite rare. Fighting among girls was most common in Hungary.
"It is certainly a comforting result that Finns are not very violent when they are young", says Lasse Kannas, Professor of Health Education at the University of Jyväskylä.
"However, Finland is known as a country of violent young adults. Something strange happens when people grow up", Kannas points out, and notes that every violent episode during youth should be prevented.
Finland was not among the nine countries where the respondents were asked with whom the clashes take place.
Usually friends or family members are involved. However, in Macedonia, for instance, it was fairly common for fights to break out among complete strangers.
The Finns were also not asked about the use of weapons. In the United States, for instance, more than 20 percent of boys said that they had carried a weapon of some kind with them in the previous 30 days.
Usually a knife of some kind is involved. Firearms are also used, mostly in the United States.
According to the article, a propensity to get into fights while of school age can be an early indicator of later violent behaviour.
Studies show that practising social skills and anger management at as early a stage as possible has brought good results.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 20.2.2006 - TODAY |
 Study: Finnish schoolchildren fight less than pupils in other countries
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