‘No one knew what was happening’: new research shows how domestic violence harms young people’s schooling
- Written by The Conversation
Every school around Australia is almost certain to have students who are victim-survivors of family and domestic violence.
The 2023 Australian Child Maltreatment Study found neglect and physical, sexual and emotional abuse of children is widespread. Among Australians aged 16–65 years, 32% experienced physical abuse, 28.5% experienced sexual abuse, 39% experienced emotional abuse and 9% had been neglected during their childhoods.
As the place where children spend the bulk of their time outside home, schools could be an important source of help and support. But are they equipped to do this?
Our research, published in the Australian Journal of Social Issues, explores the impact of domestic and family violence on young people’s education. Our findings show just how significant the disruption to a young person’s education can be, including how safe or supported they feel at school.
Our study
Our study draws on data from the Adolescent Family Violence in Australia project. This is a national survey of more than 5,000 young Australians aged 16–20 years old. We focused on a subset of 1,651 respondents who had experienced domestic and family violence, either by experiencing violence between other family members or being directly subjected to it.
The survey asked both structured and open-ended questions to explore the impacts of domestic and family violence.
Family violence disrupts school attendance and participation
Our study showed family violence has a significant impact on school attendance. Young people told us they missed classes or dropped out of school during their experiences of violence.
For some young people, attending school while coping with trauma, fear and instability at home was too overwhelming.
A 19-year-old woman shared how she became so anxious in the presence of teachers and other authority figures she could only manage one day of school per week in a secluded setting.
Another young woman described missing classes regularly to care for her mother after violent episodes, while a 20-year-old man said he stayed home to protect his mother.
Even when young victims did attend school, the emotional toll of family violence often meant they were socially withdrawn. Some spoke about losing friends due to frequent house moves and school shifts, while others withdrew socially because of anxiety and trauma. One 17-year-old explained:
I don’t talk a lot to male teachers and don’t really have close friendships with girls at my school, so I tend to stay home.
Some participants described school as a safe haven away from their abusive home. But even in these cases, learning was often still difficult. One young person commented:
Yes, I wanted to go to school to get away from home, but felt very alone and isolated because no one knew what was happening.
Family violence and homework
The effects of family violence extend beyond the classroom. Many young people told us how the chaos, fear and emotional exhaustion of life at home made it difficult, if not impossible, to complete homework or study for exams. One young woman remarked:
I can’t do any homework at home because it’s not a safe environment for me.
Another young person described being kept up late listening to fighting or because of police visits, leaving them physically and emotionally exhausted in the morning.
In some cases, abusive parents directly prevented their child from attending school or doing homework. Other young people described not having access to the tools they needed, like a working computer or internet connection – sometimes withheld deliberately by a parent.
These accounts show how for some children experiencing family violence, learning at home is not just difficult, it is fundamentally unsafe.
A missed opportunity
It can be difficult for schools to fully understand and appreciate what’s happening for students at home.
Few of the young people we surveyed proactively disclosed their experiences to school staff, including teachers and counsellors. Disclosure rates ranged from just 12% to 17%, depending on the type of violence the young person reported experiencing.
For those young people who did disclose, their experiences varied. Some young people described school staff as a lifeline – listening without judgement, offering helpful information and taking action where needed.
Others described being ignored, dismissed or harmed further by insensitive responses. As one young person said, the “school counsellor told me I needed to understand dad’s behaviour and keep my head down”.
The help students received seemed to depend on the individual teacher or school counsellor, their knowledge and training. This inconsistency represents a major barrier to effective and early intervention.
What needs to change
As well as learning, schools can also provide safety, stability and healing. We need schools to be supported to provide more effective and consistent care for students experiencing family violence.
As other research has similarly found, responses need to be trauma-informed (recognising the impact of trauma on students) and student-centred (focusing on individuals’ needs). This involves:
providing trauma and domestic violence-informed training to all school staff
ensuring schools have clear processes to follow if a student disclosures domestic violence, including referrals to appropriate external supports
adopting flexible attendance and academic policies for young people impacted by domestic violence
building collaborative partnerships with community-based domestic violence and mental health services.
The National Sexual Assault, Family and Domestic Violence Counselling Line – 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) – is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for any Australian who has experienced, or is at risk of, family and domestic violence and/or sexual assault. The Men’s Referral Service (1300 766 491) offers advice and counselling to men looking to change their behaviour.
