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School Safety Statistics

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• One in six teachers report having been the victim of violence in or around school. This compares to one in nine teachers five years ago. (The Metropolitan Life Survey of the American Teacher, 1999: Violence in America’s Public Schools - Five Years Later, Metropolitan Life, 1999)

 
• Twenty-five percent of students have been the victim of a violent act that occurred in or around school.  (The Metropolitan Life Survey of the American Teacher, 1999: Violence in America’s Public Schools - Five Years Later, Metropolitan Life, 1999)

• Twenty-eight percent of students, twenty-three percent of teachers, and thirty percent of law enforcement officials think that violence in local public schools will increase in the next two years. (The Metropolitan Life Survey of the American Teacher, 1999: Violence in America’s Public Schools - Five Years Later, Metropolitan Life, 1999)

 
• Elementary school students are just as likely as those in secondary schools to be the victim of a violent act.(The Metropolitan Life Survey of the American Teacher, 1999: Violence in America’s Public Schools - Five Years Later, Metropolitan Life, 1999)

• High school seniors from metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas were about equally likely to report being victimized at school in the last twelve months. (The Condition of Education: 1999, National Center for Education Statistics, 1999)

• Thirty nine percent of high school seniors reported something being stolen from them. (The Condition of Education: 1999, National Center for Education Statistics, 1999)

• Although fewer school-associated violent deaths have occurred in recent years, the total number of multiple victim homicide events has increased. (1999 Annual Report on School Safety, U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice, 1999)

• Twenty-five percent of high school students fear in-school violence. (Kids Voting USA Youth 2000 Initiative: Voices * Involvement * Voting, Kids Voting USA / Behavior Research Center, 1999)

• Peer group pressure is cited by fifty percent of seventh through twelve graders as a major factor in why violence occurs in schools. Drugs or alcohol is cited by thirty-nine percent, lack of parental supervision is cited by thirty-six percent, and lack of family involvement by twenty-five percent. (The Metropolitan Life Survey of the American Teacher, 1999: Violence in America’s Public Schools - Five Years Later, Metropolitan Life, 1999)

• Twenty percent of parents worry a great deal about their children’s safety in school and traveling to and from school. (Are We Safe?: The 1999 National Crime Prevention Survey, National Crime Prevention Council, 1999)

• The juvenile gang problem affects communities of all sizes and all regions in the United States with the number of gang members rising in small cities and rural counties in the late 1990s. (OJJDP Research: Making a Difference for Juveniles, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 1999)

• The violent victimization rate for students in schools where gangs were reported was almost eight percent compared to the three percent rate for students in schools with no reported gang presence. (Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1999 National Report, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 1999)

• Violent crimes by juveniles peak in the afternoon between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m., the hour at the end of the school day. (Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1999 National Report, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 1999)

• Nationwide, fifteen percent of high school students had participated in a physical fight in the past twelve months. (Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1999 National Report, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 1999)

• Four percent of high school students felt too unsafe to go to school in the past thirty days. (Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1999 National Report, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 1999)

• Nine percent of high school students carried a weapon on school property in the past month.(Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1999 National Report, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 1999)

• Seven percent of students were threatened or injured with a weapon on school property in the past twelve months. (Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1999 National Report, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 1999)

• Thirty percent of teens say they have been offered drugs at school. (Partnership Attitude Tracking Study (Spring 1999): Teens in Grades 7 Through 12, Partnership for a Drug-Free America, 1999)

• Nine percent of students reported that they avoided one or more places at school because of fear for their own safety. (Indicators of School Crime and Violence: 1999, U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice, 1999)

 
• Although overall criminal victimization at school generally did not rise in the 1990s, violent victimization rose slightly. (Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1999 National Report, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 1999)

• Three percent (about 800,000) sixth through twelfth grade students carried a gun to school in the last year. (The 12^th Annual Parents’ Resource Institute of Drug Education (PRIDE) National Survey of Student Drug Use and Violence, Parent Resource Institute of Drug Education, 1999)

• A total of 3930 students were expelled from school for bringing a firearm to school according to the most recent Gun-Free Schools Act Report. (Gun-Free Schools Act Report: 1997-1998, U.S. Department of Education, 1999)

• Fifty-seven percent of expulsions for bringing firearms to school involved high school students, thirty-three percent involved junior/middle school students, and ten percent involved elementary school students. (Gun-Free Schools Act Report: 1997-1998, U.S. Department of Education, 1999)

• Nineteen percent of students reported being hit, slapped, or kicked by another student. (The 12^th Annual Parents’ Resource Institute of Drug Education (PRIDE) National Survey of Student Drug Use and Violence, Parent Resource Institute of Drug Education, 1999)

• Forty percent of students say they have bullied other students with threats of hitting, slapping or kicking; six percent have threatened other students with a gun or other weapon. (The 12^th Annual Parents’ Resource Institute of Drug Education (PRIDE) National Survey of Student Drug Use and Violence, Parent Resource Institute of Drug Education, 1999)

• Young people who carry guns exhibit high rates of other disturbing behaviors with forty-six percent reporting that they used illicit drugs in the last month, sixty-one percent reporting having been in trouble with the police, and eighty-six reporting having been in trouble at school. (The 12^th Annual Parents’ Resource Institute of Drug Education (PRIDE) National Survey of Student Drug Use and Violence, Parent Resource Institute of Drug Education, 1999)

• Forty percent of students indicated that the behavior of other students in their school definitely or somewhat interferes with their performance. (State of Our Nation’s Youth, The Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, 1999)