Violence at School

Josefa Aguirre (), Fernanda Ramírez-Espinoza () and Roman Andres Zarate ()
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Josefa Aguirre: PUC-Rio
Fernanda Ramírez-Espinoza: PUC-Rio
Roman Andres Zarate: University of Toronto

No 18126, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This paper estimates the impact of violence perpetrated by peers and school staff on student victims. Leveraging unique administrative data from Chile that links reports of school violence to individual educational records, we address longstanding data limitations that have constrained empirical research on this issue. Using a matched difference-in-differences design, we find that exposure to school violence has persistent negative effects: absenteeism increases by 46–64\%, grade retention rates double, and both grades and test scores decline significantly, with impacts lasting up to four years. In the longer term, victims are substantially less likely to graduate from high school or enroll in university, with violence perpetrated by adults having more severe consequences than peer violence. Complementary survey evidence reveals that reported incidents are associated with increased perceptions of violence and discrimination, as well as decreases in school belonging and teacher expectations. While these psychological and perceptual effects tend to fade after one year, the adverse educational consequences persist, underscoring how brief traumatic experiences can lead to long-lasting educational disadvantages.

Keywords: educational outcomes; school violence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I21 I28 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu and nep-lam
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