New Report on School Safety

Posted by on June 25, 2007

Report on School Safety Indicates Violent Crime Down, But Gangs Up

Last week, the Department of Justice and the National Center for Education Statistics released a report on school safety during the 2004-2005 schoolyear, providing detailed statistics from a variety of perspectives on crime and safety at schools and on the way to and from school. Some highlights:

Compared to 2003, violent crimes at schools decreased, mirroring a similar decrease in violent crimes against students outside of school. The number of students reporting gang activity in their schools increased, however.

Comparative statistics about teachers were not apparent in the summary, but teachers at urban public schools were found to be nearly twice as likely as those at suburban, rural or private schools to be threatened or physically attacked.

Another evident problem was bullying, with 27% of schools and 28% of students reporting regular incidences. However, the percentage of students who reported fearing harm or attack at school dropped since the 1995- 2001 period.

http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2007003