Objective
Estimating the prevalence of violent events in the experience of students aged between 11 and 15 years regularly attending public schools.
Methods
A cross-sectional study with a random sample group of children from public schools. The questionnaire called Child Abuse Screening Tool Version (ICAST-C) was administered to 288 children aged between 11 and 15 years randomly selected. The types of violence analyzed were abuses of physical, psychological and sexual nature.
Results
The fragmentation of the nuclear family was frequent, with less than 50% of children living with both parents; frequent feelings of insecurity in schools, associated with a high prevalence of physical violence (85.4%), psychological (62.5%); and violence of a sexual nature (34.7%).
Conclusion
There was high prevalence of various forms of violence in the family and school environment of these children.
Violence; Child; Adolescent; Prevalence; Domestic violence; Schools