Drugs and alcohol trigger violence say Kiwi children

Media release

21 November 2013

Drugs and alcohol trigger violence say Kiwi children

Kiwi children point the finger at alcohol and drugs as key triggers of violence in New Zealand.

A global study conducted by ChildFund Alliance reveals that over half of the 1000 Kiwi children surveyed placed alcohol and drugs as the two most common contributors to violence in our society.

These results reveal the remarkably well-developed understanding Kiwi kids have of the world they live in, with current statistics in New Zealand showing around one half of serious violent crimes are related to alcohol.

Kiwi children‘s thinking echoes that of children worldwide who demonstrated a mature knowledge of conflict and the precursors contributing to violence in their respective countries. Twenty percent of American children ranked guns as a major cause of violence and 50 percent of Kenyan children acknowledged social conflict as the main cause in their country. Afghani children believed war and fighting was the main reason for violence in their country.

ChildFund New Zealand Chief Executive Paul Brown says these results reinforce the importance of letting small voices be heard.

“Children understand more than we give them credit for and when given a voice, offer new insights into what we need to consider. ChildFund New Zealand is constantly engaging with children in the communities we work in to ensure our services and priorities are continually aligned with those who need it the most.”

The fourth annual Small Voices, Big Dreams survey, commissioned by the ChildFund Alliance, is one of the most comprehensive polls of children's views in the world. This year’s survey asked 10-to-12-year-olds in 47 countries across the Americas, Europe, Africa, Pacific and Asia about their view on socio-political issues facing their country.

Kiwi children were also aware that violence is often role modelled by parents. Many children commented that children learn from their parents and can ‘take that behaviour into the playground’. This view supports a number of academic studies which highlight how early experiences of violence can lead to violent behaviour in later life.

A variety of solutions for eradicating violence towards children were also shared by some of our clever young Kiwis, such as:

-   Having less alcohol in shops
-   Giving kids a safe house and only they know the code
-   Having an alarm that goes off when you get smacked
-   Expelling anyone from the city who is creating violence
-   Banning alcohol and bad TV programmes and movies

Children living in poverty in the developing world see improving their education to help themselves and their family as more important than having access to food. Over one in 10 (12 percent) of children in developing countries believe a lack of education is linked to violence in their countries, whereas in developed countries, only two percent of children make the same connection.

Seventeen percent of children in developing countries also said they would improve education to protect children from violence – 11 percentage points higher than those in developed countries.

And forget Richie McCaw, Lorde or One Direction, over half of the Kiwi kids surveyed said their number one hero was a family member. Parents came out on top, because they protect their children from danger, teach them life skills and support them in everything they do.

The significance of families as role models and educators was a common theme between the developed and developing world, with 48 percent of children in the developed world and 44 percent from developing countries saying their families or family members were their heroes.

Secretary General of the ChildFund Alliance, Jim Emerson, says these findings reinforce the understanding that children in both the developed and developing worlds have an intelligent view of their environments.

“As adults, we’ve been reminded of the importance to stop and listen to what children have to say.”

Ends

The following link will take you to the full report and other resources https://www.childfund.org.nz/small-voices-2013

Key global findings reveal how societal issues are keenly felt by respondents:

•          70 percent of Afghani children reported war and fighting were the main causes of violence, which may be indicative of the war-torn climate in which they’ve grown up
•          20 percent of children from the US and 11 percent of children in Canada reported guns were the main cause of violence, suggesting that the high presence of gun violence and mass shootings impact children’s view of the world they live in
•          90 percent of children in Cambodia and over half (53 percent) of children in Mongolia said alcohol was the main cause of violence, suggesting high levels of alcohol exposure contribute to children’s concerns about violence
•          Almost half (45 percent) of Australian children said they were concerned about alcohol-fuelled violence; New Zealand (35 percent) and Ireland and Taiwan (28 percent) also ranked this highly
•          17 percent of Japanese children and 13 percent of French children reported bullying as a main cause of violence, these were the two highest results worldwide compared to the average of 4 percent
•          Drugs were a concern for children in the Americas with 17 percent, compared to the lower rates in Africa (5 percent) and Asia (7 percent).

The 47 countries that participated in the survey were:

About the Small Voices, Big Dreams Survey
The Small Voices, Big Dreams survey was undertaken by the ChildFund Alliance during May-September 2013. The survey was conducted in 47 countries with children aged 10 to 12. This included 36 developing nations in Africa, Asia and the Americas as well as 11 developed countries. A total of 6,499 children were surveyed – 3,766 children in developing countries and 2,733 children in developed nations. Five of the six questions were open-ended, meaning the children were not given a list of answers to choose from. The sixth question encouraged children to choose six of 16 possible responses. All translated responses were provided to GfK Roper, a global research company, to process the data. Code frames were developed by GfK Roper’s global research team and approved by ChildFund. The data was then compiled, coded and tabulated by GfK Roper.

About ChildFund New Zealand and ChildFund Alliance
ChildFund New Zealand is a member of the ChildFund Alliance, a worldwide network of 12 international development organisations providing assistance to more than 16 million children and their families in 58 countries. With a focus on child-centred development programs, the ChildFund Alliance dedicates $590 million NZD annually to its work with deprived, excluded and vulnerable children. These programmes seek to bring positive outcomes for children in every stage of their lives, from infancy to adulthood. ChildFund also responds to humanitarian emergencies and natural disasters with precise focus on the special needs of children in the midst of crisis.

ChildFund New Zealand works for the well-being of children by supporting locally led initiatives in countries such as Zambia, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Timor Leste and Vietnam, that strengthen families and communities, helping them overcome poverty and protect the rights of their children.

About GfK Roper
GfK Roper is one of the world’s largest research companies, with more than 11,000 experts working to discover new insights about the way people live, think and shop, in over 100 markets, every day.

GfK Roper Public Affairs & Corporate Communications is a division of GfK. The group specialises in customised public affairs and public opinion polling, media and corporate communications research, and reputation measurement in the U.S. and globally. The division also serves as the official polling partner of the Associated Press conducting the AP-GfK Poll (www.ap-gfkpoll.com).

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