Here Are A Few Things That ALL Children Have In Common Going Back To School!

It's that time of year for most of the world's children. Here are few things we hope they get to do, and one thing that we know they all experience.

They eat breakfast.

© UNICEF/NYHQ2010-0538crop/Zond

Two boys eat beans and bread for breakfast at school in rural South Africa in 2010.

They do their hair.

© UNICEF/NYHQ2010-0759/LeMoyne

On 29 April, a woman braids her daughter's hair before sending her off to school, outside their makeshift tent shelter, created after the earthquake in Haiti in 2010.

The put on their uniforms.

© UNICEF/NYHQ2011-1990/LeMoyne

Girls hold hands, at school in Sint Maartin in 2011.

They pack their bags.

© UNICEF/NYHQ2014-0153/Noorani

Susan, 13, helps her younger sister get ready for school inside the family's tent at a refugee camp in Turkey. Their family lived near Aleppo, Syria, and fled the fighting there two years ago.

They walk to class.

© UNICEF/NYHQ2010-0432/Cullen © UNICEF/NYHQ2010-0432/Cullen

And walk. And walk... like this first-grader, who hikes several kilometres to school in Mongolia in 2010.

They find their best buddy.

© UNICEF/NYHQ2009-0234/Estey

Two children from an indigenous community stand arm-in-arm in a class in Vietnam in 2009.

They raise their hands.

© UNICEF/AFGA2010-00325/Noorani

To respond to their teacher's question, children raise their hands in class in a village in Afghanistan in 2010.

They are all exposed to violence.

© UNICEF/NYHQ2005-1826/Pirozzi

Many are bullied.

© UNICEF/NIGB2010-00487/Pirozzi

More than one-third of all students are regularly bullied in early adolescence.

It's worse at home.

© UNICEF/NYHQ2010-2628/LeMoyne

4 out of 5 children aged 2-14 are subjected to some kind of violent discipline in the home. Around 3 in 10 adults believe physical punishment is necessary to properly raise or educate children.

© UNICEF/NYHQ2012-1459/Dormino

Any act of violence can alter a child's brain development and compromises their potential. When children are exposed to violence by their caregivers they are significantly more likely to bully their peers or use violence against their own families. The impact on society and a country's health and social services and economy is immeasurable.

© UNICEF/NYHQ2012-1032/Pirozzi

Violence against children is everywhere. But it is not inevitable. Learn more in our groundbreaking new report: http://uni.cf/endviolence

This back to school season, join UNICEF to #ENDviolence against children. It's in our hands.