STATISTICS
Center for the Prevention of School Violence
STATS 2000:
SELECTED SCHOOL VIOLENCE RESEARCH FINDINGS
• In the last half of the
1990's, there was a steady decline from seventeen to twelve in
the percentage of students in grades nine through twelve who reported
carrying a weapon to school on one or more days during the previous
month. (2000 Annual Report on School Safety, Department of Education
and Department of Justice, 2000)http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/SDFS/annrept00.pdf
• Physical attacks without a weapon,
theft or larceny, and vandalism are much more common in schools than are the
more serious incidents. Forty-four percent to forty-nine percent of all schools
reported crimes of these types to the authorities. (A National Study of School
Environment and Problem Behavior: The National Study of Delinquency Prevention
in Schools, Gottfredson Associates, Inc., 2000)http://www.gottfredson.com/national.htm
• Fights or attacks with a weapon are
more common in middle schools - twenty-one percent of middle school/junior high
schools reported these incidents for an estimated 7,576 incidents. (A National
Study of School Environment and Problem Behavior: The National Study of Delinquency
Prevention in Schools, Gottfredson Associates, Inc., 2000) http://www.gottfredson.com/national.htm
• There are one hundred times more guns
in the hands of children attending American schools than principals have been
reporting to Congress. (Guns in Schools, Hamilton Fish Institute, 2000) http://www.hamfish.org/about/pr091400.php3
• Thirty-seven percent of students reported
there was a gang presence at their school. (Youth Gangs in Schools, Office of
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 2000) http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/ojjdp/183015.pdf
• Larger schools were more likely to
report a criminal incident to police than small schools. (2000 Annual Report
on School Safety, Department of Education and Department of Justice, 2000) http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/SDFS/annrept00.pdf
• Seven percent of students nationwide
were considerably less likely to report carrying a weapon on school property,
while seventeen percent were less likely to report carrying a weapon anywhere.
(2000 Annual Report on School Safety, Department of Education and Department
of Justice, 2000) http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/SDFS/annrept00.pdf
• Thirty-six percent of students reported
seeing hate-related graffiti at school. (2000 Annual Report on School Safety,
Department of Education and Department of Justice, 2000) http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/SDFS/annrept00.pdf
• Students ages twelve through eighteen
were victims of more than 2.7 million total crimes at school. (Indicators of
School Crime and Safety 2000, U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department
of Justice, 2000) http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2001017
• Youth are far more likely to be victimized
by violence than to commit violence. (Less Hype, More Help Reducing Juvenile
Crime, What Works - and What Doesn't, American Youth Policy Forum, 2000) http://www.aypf.org/mendel/index.html
• Students were two times more likely
to be victims of serious violent crime away from school as at school. (Indicators
of School Crime and Safety 2000, U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department
of Justice, 2000) http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2001017
• Nearly five percent of students ages
twelve through eighteen reported that they had been bullied at school in the
last six months. In general, females were as likely as males to report being
bullied. Indicators of School Crime and Safety 2000, U.S. Department of Education
and U.S. Department of Justice, 2000) http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2001017
• In the past twelve months,
fifteen percent of students in grades nine through twelve reported being
in a physical fight on school property. (Indicators of School Crime and
Safety 2000), U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice,
2000) http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2001017
• Twelve percent of today's teens say
the behavior of students in their school was a positive influence, while forty
percent say it interferes with their performance. (State of Our Nation's Youth,
The Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, 2000) http://www.horatioalger.com/pubmat/surpro.htm
• Almost one in five students reported
being threatened with a beating, and again this was a more common experience
for middle school students (22%) than for high school students (16%). (A National
Study of School Environment and Problem Behavior: The National Study of Delinquency
Prevention in Schools, Gottfredson Associates, Inc., 2000) http://www.gottfredson.com/national.htm
• Forty-eight
percent of students who belong to groups reported being
subjected to hazing activities. (Initiation Rites in American
High Schools, Alfred University, 2000)http://www.alfred.edu/news/html/hazing
study.html
• The percentage
of schools reporting crimes was similar at the middle and
high school levels. At each level, about twenty percent
of the schools reported at least one serious violent crime,
and about fifty-five percent reported at least one less
serious violent or nonviolent crime, but no serious violent
crime. (Indicators of School Crime and Safety 2000) U.S.
Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice,
2000)http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2001017
• Seven percent of schools or an estimated
6,451 schools reported at least one incident of physical attack or fight with
a weapon to law enforcement personnel during a recent school year. (A National
Study of School Environment and Problem Behavior: The National Study of Delinquency
Prevention in Schools, Gottfredson Associates, Inc., 2000) http://www.gottfredson.com/national.htm
• According to public opinion, the second
biggest problem facing public schools is "Lack of Discipline." (The
32nd Annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll: Of the Public's Attitudes Toward the
Public Schools, 2000 http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/kpol0009.htm
• Eleven percent of the public
thinks that "fighting, violence, and gangs" is the number one
problem facing public schools (The 32nd Annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup
Poll: Of the Public's Attitudes Toward the Public Schools, 2000) http://ww.pdkintl.org/kappan/kpol0009.htm
• Twenty-seven percent of teachers
report that student behavior keeps them from teaching a fair amount or
a great deal of the time. (A National Study of School Environment and
Problem Behavior: The National Study of Delinquency Prevention in Schools,
Gottfredson Associates, Inc., 2000) http://www.gottfredson.com/national.htm
• Only nine percent of violent
crimes against teenagers occurring in school were reported to the police
compared with thirty-seven percent of such crimes occurring on the streets.
(A National Study of School Environment and Problem Behavior: The National
Study of Delinquency Prevention in Schools, Gottfredson Associates, Inc.,
2000)http://www.gottfredson.com/national.htm
•Twenty-eight percent of secondary school
students and twenty-eight percent of teachers feel left out of things going on
around them at school. (The Metropolitan Life Survey of the American Teacher
2000, 2000) http://www.metlife.com/Companyinfo/Community/Found/Docs/2000pdf.html
