More than half of Australian high school students believe “sometimes people deserve to be hit”, according to a slew of disturbing new figures highlighting teenage attitudes to violence.
A national survey by the Pat Cronin Foundation reveals that 45 per cent think “some things need to be solved by force”.
Equally as troubling, 30 per cent of males believe “most people respect others who use physical force”.
Foundation director Matt Cronin said the findings – based on recent pre-polling of 10,000 students attending the violence-prevention charity’s in-person presentations – underscored an urgent need for governments and communities to address how young people understand and respond to conflict.
“These results show we still have a long way to go when it comes to erasing ingrained attitudes to aggression,” said Mr Cronin.
“It’s unacceptable that so many students think violence is a way to resolve disputes,” he said.
“On the flipside, our post-presentation polling demonstrates a significant change in these mindsets, with these figures dropping by as much as 15 per cent after a single session.”
Mr Cronin said that three of the Foundation’s evidence-based presentations, Violence is Never OK, Rethinking Anger and Think Carefully, Act Kindly, were on track to reach over 80,000 young Australians in 2026 – including 1900 in schools in Victoria, Canberra and NSW this week – but broader uptake was needed.
“We’re encouraging all schools to partner with us to equip students with vital life skills, including managing anger and defusing conflict,” he said.
“I stress that schools don’t need to have a violence problem to benefit. The strategies that we offer are as much about staying safe as they are about regulating emotions and understanding their triggers.”
Additional survey findings reveaI 19 per cent of students said that if you witness violence, you shouldn’t report it. Nearly 16 per cent said they condoned violence, dropping to 6.5 per cent after a presentation.
More than 14 per cent of female students said that using physical force gets people’s respect, falling to 10.7 per cent post presentation.
The new research follows an earlier Foundation survey suggesting that one-third of students believe that fighting can be a way to have fun, with a similar proportion admitting they liked watching fights at school.
Since its inception, the Foundation has delivered in-person presentations to more than 370,000 young Australians across 750 schools as part of its National Curriculum-aligned Be Wise Program for Prep to Year 12.
Media contact: Darren Grant at darren@patcroninfoundation.org.au
