The findings show that more than 90% of children feel safe at home and that the feeling of safety in school declines as they get older, Marina Ajdukovic, a member of the survey team, said at the presentation of the findings on Wednesday.
Quality of peer relations and frequency of socialising declines as children get older
More than 90% of children are happy with their home but 42% of eight-year-olds often worry about their family's financial situation. More than 96% of children are happy with their family and 90% are happy with their friends, but the quality of peer relations and frequency of socialising outside of school decline as they get older.
The survey was conducted by the Zagreb Faculty of Law in cooperation with UNICEF Croatia last year, covering 3,507 children across Croatia.
It is part of the international Children's Worlds project which is being carried out in more than 40 countries. Ajdukovic said the possibility of comparing increases in dissatisfaction with school helped in the survey.
"If we didn't have a comparative framework with other countries, we could say it's only due to the beginning of adolescence and greater demands in school. It turns out that compared with other countries, our children in the second and fourth grades are among the most satisfied, whereas those in sixth grade are in the bottom half, among those who are satisfied below average," said Ajdukovic.
Something happens when they enrol in sixth grade, which is a significant indicator that something must be done about it, she added.
A significant number of children is exposed to peer violence on a daily basis which, as children grow older, turns from physical into psychological and relational violence and exclusion.
This survey should serve as a guide to the government and the relevant ministries so that firm decisions are finally made on the implementation of programmes like the fight against child poverty and peer violence.
"Eight years ago we had a great programme, 'Stop violence in school', which was also supported by UNICEF. However, the relevant ministry hasn't pursued it," Ajdukovic said, adding that people were surprised when there was a rise in violence among older children.
Survey should be viewed in the context of the pandemic
Speaking of peer and online violence, Science and Education Ministry secretary Tomislav Paljak said there was no single answer to that problem, except the good examples by some counties to introduce civil education which, he said, must not be ideological.
He welcomed the introduction of a new university course on the subjective well-being of children on which UNICEF and the Zagreb Faculty of Law are working and which will be available to all University of Zagreb students.
This survey should also be viewed in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, said Paljak. He recalled a UNESCO report which shows that preventing children from going to school has a strong effect on them, notably those socially vulnerable, which will serve as the basis for all future relevant surveys.