Home » Posts » Survey finds large percentage of school children grapple with anger management issues

Survey finds large percentage of school children grapple with anger management issues

by Anesta Henry
4 min read
A+A-
Reset

The findings of a survey conducted in secondary schools in October and November 2021 show that too many students are angry and several of them have reported that they have suicidal thoughts.

According to the report 16 748 students, from 19 of the 21 secondary schools participated in the survey, which was facilitated by Supreme Counselling for Personal Development. However, only 6 337 students completed the questionnaire, giving a participation rate of 38 per cent.

Several negative responses were highlighted in all 11 constructs of the survey, with 26 per cent of all respondents having negative perceptions of self.

During a press conference at the Hilton Resort, this week, Chief Executive Officer of Supreme Counselling Shawn Clarke, revealed that an average of 2 956 students or 47 per cent of the respondents showed that they all have anger management concerns.

He said the report highlighted that 1 052, or 17 per cent of the respondents blame others for their problems and some 70 per cent, or 4 429 indicated that when they are angry, they make mistakes while 4 029 said they get angry when they make mistakes.

“Also, of concern is that a total of 2 481, or 39 per cent of the surveyed students confessed that they could not manage their anger, while some 862 noted that they do not show empathy towards others. Anger is a significant concern across all 19 schools surveyed,  in that anger management was number one in all participating schools,” Clarke said.

The psychologist also revealed that the results from the mental health segment of the study remained worrying for the management of his organisation. He said out of the total respondents, 2 173 students indicated that they are depressed most of the time. He added that 2 079 disagreed with the statement “I am happy most of the time”.

“The responses to the statement ‘I have suicidal thoughts often’ saw 25 per cent or 1 598 respondents agreeing with this statement. This gives us, on average, 1 950 students showing some mental health deficiencies. Thirty-one per cent of the population cannot be ignored,” he said.

Clarke explained that the survey provides the Ministry of Education, the schools, and Supreme Counselling, with essential data on the self-esteem levels of students, show how they resolve conflict, their level of self-awareness, how angry they are, and how they perceive themselves, while also speaking to their critical-thinking skills, emotional intelligence, and mental health.

He said the information gathered will assist Supreme Counselling in advising the schools on the most prevalent student concerns in the selected areas and assist in putting modules in place for teacher training.

“When observing the self-esteem of the 6 337 students responding to the five statements making up the Self Esteem construct, an average of 1 632 students indicated that they have self-esteem issues, a total of 26 per cent,” he said.

The survey also sought to assess teachers’ perceptions and observations of their students using the same constructs. The teachers’ questionnaire consisted of 65 statements using a Likert Scale and asked the respondents to indicate whether they were very satisfied, satisfied, neutral, unsatisfied and very unsatisfied. One thousand, eight hundred and forty-four teachers were invited to participate in the study. Of this number, 21 per cent or 2 065 teachers completed the questionnaire.

Clarke said the study revealed some disparity between the self-reported students’ scores and the observations of the teachers. He indicated that the teacher/student comparison for self-belief indicated that 86 per cent of students believe in themselves.

“In contrast, only 16 per cent of the teachers fully agreed. Markedly, 35 per cent of the teachers remained neutral on this statement. On the other hand, students gave themselves a better rating, indicating that they have more maturity of feelings when compared to their teachers’ rating.

“Also, of note, when comparing the teachers’ and students’ perspectives on understanding the reaction of others, 79 per cent of the students believe that they are good at understanding the reactions of others. In comparison, only 31 per cent of the teachers are in complete agreement.

“Remarkably, 44 per cent of the teachers remained neutral on this statement. Students, therefore, are giving themselves a better rating, indicating that they can understand the reaction of others more so than what their teachers believe,” he said.

Clarke also disclosed that while 61 per cent of students admitted to being easily angered, 42 per cent of the teachers agreed, with 39 per cent of the teachers who participated remaining neutral on the statement. anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb

You may also like

About Us

Barbados Today logos white-14

The (Barbados) Today Inc. is a privately owned, dynamic and innovative Media Production Company.

Useful Links

Get Our News

Newsletter

Barbados Today logos white-14

The (Barbados) Today Inc. is a privately owned, dynamic and innovative Media Production Company.

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER

Newsletter

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Accept Privacy Policy

-
00:00
00:00
Update Required Flash plugin
-
00:00
00:00