Frequency of School Violence
In the last several years, violent crimes at school have declined, and fewer students are carrying weapons to school or getting into fights. A 2001 national survey of high school students reported:
- 6% of students (and 10% of male students) said they had carried a weapon to school in the last month - a decrease of 45% since 1993[1];
- Almost 13% said that they had been involved in a physical fight on school property in the past year - a decrease of 23% since 1993[1]; and
However, students tell us that bullying continues to be a serious problem, particularly in middle schools. In 2001, about 14 percent of 6th graders reported being bullied, compared with about 9 percent of 9th graders and about 2 percent of 12th graders.[2] The 2001 survey also found:
- 9% of students said they had been threatened or injured with a weapon on school property in the past year;
- Almost 7% said they had missed at least one day of school in the last month because they felt unsafe at school or when traveling to or from school - an increase of 50% from 1993.[3] [4]
In terms of risk for homicide, schools are about the safest place for teens - safer than their homes or their neighborhoods - and violent deaths at schools or school events are extremely rare. In the 1998-99 school year, less than 1% of the violent deaths of children and youth in the United States were school-related. A total of 33 children and teens were murdered on school property, at a school event, or on their way to and from school.[5]
School-associated homicides involving a single victim have actually decreased significantly since the 1994-95 school year, but an increase in the rate of multiple-victim homicides has lead to a small but significant rise in the overall number of deaths. Homicides at school continue to be extremely rare, however.[6]
- Calculated from data reported in Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Youth 2001 Online: Compare Results from Within A Location Over Time.
- Reported in DeVoe, J., Peter, K., Kaufman, P., Ruddy, S., et al. (2002). Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2002. U.S. Departments of Education and Justice. NCES 2003-009/NCJ 196753. Washington, DC: 2002, p. 2. SOURCE: Special tabulation using preliminary data from the School Associated Violent Deaths Study, 1998-1999; Special tabulation using the FBI Supplementary Homicide Reports, 1998 and 1999; Special tabulation using preliminary data from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, Vital Statistics of the United States, 1998 and 1999.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2002). Youth risk behavior surveillance - United States, 2001. In: CDC Surveillance Summaries, June 28, 2002. MMWR, 51(SS-4), pp. 5-6.
- Calculated from data reported in Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Youth 2001 Online: Compare Results from Within A Location Over Time.
- Reported in DeVoe, J., Peter, K., Kaufman, P., Ruddy, S., et al. (2002). Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2002. U.S. Departments of Education and Justice. NCES 2003-009/NCJ 196753. Washington, DC: 2002, p. 2. SOURCE: Special tabulation using preliminary data from the School Associated Violent Deaths Study, 1998-1999; Special tabulation using the FBI Supplementary Homicide Reports, 1998 and 1999; Special tabulation using preliminary data from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, Vital Statistics of the United States, 1998 and 1999.
- Anderson, M., Kaufman, J., Simon, T., et al. (2001). School-associated violent deaths in the United States, 1994-1999. Journal of the American Medical Association, 286(21), 2695-2702