They experience ridicule, insults, physical violence and, in some cases, online bullying – a study has examined the situation of fourth graders in Germany.
According to a study, many children in Germany experience exclusion and violence in primary school. This emerges from an analysis published on Tuesday by the Institute for School Development Research (IFS) at the University of Dortmund, which is based on the representative international primary school reading study (Igloo) of fourth graders. Accordingly, almost half of the children in the fourth grade experience physical violence and over ten percent experience online bullying.
According to the study, among all forms of antisocial behavior, fourth graders particularly often experience being made fun of or insulted, which a good 52 percent of the children surveyed experienced at least several times a year. 54 percent said that they were not allowed to participate in games, for example. According to the data, almost every second child said that they had been beaten or that someone had hurt them at school by pushing or kicking them.
According to the IFS, around 39 percent of the fourth graders said they experienced lies being spread about them. About 10 percent said mean or hurtful information had been shared about them online. Experiences with antisocial behavior are about as pronounced in Germany as on average in all EU countries. Exclusion and physical violence occur more frequently in this country than in the EU, said IFS education researcher Rahim Schaufelberger.
A quarter cannot read properly
At the same time, a “very consistent” connection has been shown between experiences with antisocial behavior in the school environment on the one hand and reading skills on the other. “The lower the level of experience with antisocial behavior that children report, the higher their reading skills are,” it said. However, this connection does not allow any “causal conclusions”.
Educational policy and practice must focus on reducing antisocial behavior in schools, demanded IFS institute director Nele McElvany, who is also head of the representative Igloo study, which was presented in May 2023. According to this, 25 percent of fourth graders nationwide cannot read properly and cannot understand texts well. A team of researchers from the IFS regularly analyzes individual aspects of the igloo study in depth.
Source: Stern
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