School Safety: By the Numbers

• NCJ Number: 251173
• Date Published: November 2017
• Length: 2 pages
• Agencies: NIJ
• Publication Type: Statistics; Issue Overview; Factsheet

Annotation

Drawing on data from the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice, as well as other federal agencies, this report presents statistics on trends in school safety and violence from 1992 through 2013.

Abstract

Nationally, school crime rates have decreased since the early 1990s. Although violent crime against students K-12 increased from 2010 to 2013, the student victimization rate declined 70 percent between 1992 and 2013. Student fear of being harmed has also decreased. Although school shootings have received much attention, students are less likely to be threatened or injured with a weapon, including a gun, at school than they were 10 years ago. Since 1992, the percentage of youth homicides that occur at school has not changed, consisting of less than 3 percent of the total number of youth homicides. This report indicates that since national data on school violence began in 1989, school violence is not a new phenomenon, but rather has gained attention in the past 20 years. School officials have become more concerned about student safety, partly due to high-profile school shootings. School security measures have increased since the Columbine shooting of 1999; however, shootings are just one of many traumatic events that children may experience at school, such as bullying, natural disasters, fires, or pandemics. There are some national data on the use of social media and emails to threaten students; however, additional research is needed to determine whether social media is a primary means of threatening school violence. 6 exhibits