Report: 2,281 kids abused at home in 2007
National Council for the Child study says third of Israeli children hospitalized for domestic abuse suffer neglect, third suffer physical abuse. Data show 685 children attempted suicide in 2007, seven of them under age of nine
In 2007, 2,281 children suffering from domestic abuse were found in hospitals throughout Israel compared to 1,989 abused children in 2000, a National Council for the Child study published on Sunday showed.
The study, titled "Children in Israel 2008", revealed that 34.8% of the children hospitalized due to domestic abuse suffered from neglect, some 34.4% of them suffered physical abuse, and 13.2% were victims of sexual assault.
In 2007, there were 2,408,400 children living in Israel, making up 33.2% of the general population, compared to 33.8% in 2000. The population of children in Israel doubled between the years 1970 and 2007, and the population of Muslim children tripled in these years.
The Israeli town with the highest number of cases of at-risk children was Jerusalem, where 5,283 cases were reported in 2007. Netanya came in second place with 1,767 cases reported last year, and Bat Yam had 1,514 reports in 2007.
Suicide attempts among children were also examined. Data showed that in 2007, there were 557 suicides attempted by girls and 128 attempted by boys. There were 480 cases of attempted suicide among teenagers aged 15-17 years-old, 198 cases of children aged 10-14 years-old and seven cases of attempted suicide among children below the age of nine.
Education: Drop-outs big problem
The study dedicated an entire chapter to investigating the state of the Israeli education system. The report showed that one of the most concerning problems facing the education system is the rate of children dropping out of school.
The education system categorizes drop-outs in "official" and hidden numbers. The hidden drop-out rate refers to those students who are reportedly registered at schools, but do not attend classes.
The rate of "official" drop-outs in the ninth to eleventh grades, years in which the majority of drop-outs occur, in the 2006-2007 school year was 5.4% in the Jewish sector and 8.7% in the Arab sector.
Towns with an official ninth to eleventh grade drop-out rate over double the national average of 4.9% include Tel Aviv-Jaffa's Arab education with a 13.4% drop-out rate, Modiin Ilit with 17.3%, Zichron Yaacov with 14.6%, Jerusalem's Arab education with 12.6%, Lod's Arab education at 12.1%, and more.
Since the early 1990s there has been a slow decline in drop-out rates, from 7.6% to 4.8% in 2006, but numbers went back up to 5.4% in 2007.
In both the Jewish and Arab sectors, and in all grades, the drop-out rate of boys was higher than that of girls.
Pass-time habits: Israeli kids watch more TV
On the international scale, Israeli kids ranked first in the western world in the rate of 11-year-olds watching television, and ranked second place in the rate of 13-year-olds' TV habits. Israel came in fifth in the rate of 15-year-olds watching over two hours of television a day.
Israeli kids' favorite pass-times in June 2008 were playing with friends (56%), watching television (55%), and playing on the computer (48%).
Children were less fond of reading (11%) and sports (25%).
Most children (67%) aged six to 12-years-old said they watched over five hours of television a day.
Ten percent of children watch television in the morning before going to school and 17% of kids aged six to 12-years old said they watch television between the hours 9pm and midnight.
