Unintentional Injuries and Violence in Schools

Abstract

Approximately two thirds of all deaths among children and adolescents aged 5 to 19 years result from injury related causes. Unintentional injuries and violence at schools is one of the main categories of injury related causes. Schools have a responsibility to prevent these injuries from occurring on their premises, to provide students with sufficient knowledge on preventive measures, and to equip staff with all the measures and techniques to prevent such injuries. Omar Bin Khattab secondary school is the selected area of my internship project. Purpose: The project was done to study the causes and outcomes of injuries and violence at school, and to provide the school with a plan to prevent unintentional injuries and violence. Method: The assessment tools were used in this project: A school based action check list for unintentional injuries and violence, and a student injury form. Results: Results showed that the school does not have a representative health comity, consistent and follow up rules for disciplinary actions, a reporting system for bullying at school, a routine check for safe playgrounds, and awareness sessions for both students and sports teachers. Moreover results showed an odds ratio of 3.5 of gender difference which showed that males are more prone for injuries than females. 38.1% of cases were from the intermediate classes aged 13 to 15 years. Most of the injuries occurred during recess and sports classes in lower elementary and upper elementary while all cases in secondary classes happened during sports. Fractures, sprains and strains were the most types of injuries among all grades and upper and lower extremities were the most body part injured among the cases. Conclusion: A variety of preventive and control strategies were discussed and piloted in the project to ensure and follow the health and welfare of students and later on for the personnel.