2How Does Witnessing Domestic Violence Affect a Child’s Academic

as well as Behavioral Performance at School? Public awareness is rapidly growing regarding the serious psychological and physical harm that witnessing domestic violence can cause to children. In the past, most of the focus has been on the grave harm that domestic violence causes to the battered women and very little attention on the harm suffered by millions of children who witness it. However, there is a growing concern about how exposure to violence impacts a child. Research suggests that between 3.3 million and 10 million children in the United States are exposed to domestic violence each year (Carlson, 1992). Exposure to family violence has significant negative repercussions for children’s social, emotional, behavioral, and academic functioning. These problems may be seen in the different realms of the child’s life, especially regarding his/her performance at school. While several researchers have already shown that domestic violence disrupts a child’s academic as well as behavioral performance at school, I wanted to find out how this process occurs. Exactly how does the violence among family members at home translate into a child’s school life? Although many researchers agree that millions of children are exposed t