School violence has
become a serious public health issue during the last two
decades.
Consequently, researchers and policy makers have made substantial
efforts to understand
its causes and consequences and to identify effective methods
to reduce its occurrence.
While psychologists and other education researchers have long
been active in
school violence research, the topic has really been explored
by economists only in recent
years. This paper presents some evidence on this issue drawn
from the growing
economics literature and related disciplines. It shows that
the phenomenon has an adverse
effect on the level of educational attainment and labour market
outcomes.
Hence, reducing violence at schools not only eases life for
many students who suffer
because of it, but should also lead to more investment in human
capital. Finally,
some suggestions for future research are provided.
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