Other data, reported in the CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), found that between 1999 and 2001 the percentage of students who reported being bullied at school rose from 5% to 8%. In 2001 the greatest number of students (14%) reported bullying occurred in sixth grade. Bullying incidents declined to about 2% by twelfth grade. (See Figure 4.11.)
Eight percent of female high school students and 17.1% of male students reported being in a fight on school property in 2003, according to YRBS data. Fighting was more prevalent among ninth graders and decreased significantly in tenth through twelfth grades. About 5% of all high school students reported one or more days in which they did not go to school because of safety concerns. Almost 30% of all students reported having had property stolen or deliberately damaged at school. (See Table 4.8.)
FIGURE 4.8
Weapons in Schools
In the YRBS report, 6.1% percent of all high school students reported carrying a weapon on school property, and 9.2% said they had been threatened or injured with a weapon on school property. Male students in ninth grade were more likely to have been injured or threatened with a weapon (15.4%), while more than 10% of eleventh- and twelfth-grade males carried weapons. (See Table 4.9.)
Among high school students, 5.8% reported that they had used marijuana on school property. In addition, more than one-fourth of all high school students said they had been offered, sold, or given an illegal drug on school property during the past year. Hispanic male students had the highest rates in each category, both for marijuana use on school property (10.4%) and if they had been offered, sold, or given an illegal drug on school property (40.6%). (See Table 4.10.)
Violence against Teachers
Indicators of School Crime and Safety, 2002 also considered the safety of teachers. In the 1999–2000 school year, 305,000 (9%) of all elementary and secondary school teachers were threatened with injury by a student, and 135,000 (4%) were physically attacked by a student. From 1996 through 2000, teachers were victims of more than one million thefts and 599,000 violent crimes (rape or sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault) at school. In 2001 forty-nine senior and junior high teachers per one thousand were victims of violent crimes at school—mostly simple assaults—compared to
FIGURE 4.9
fifteen elementary teachers per one thousand. Urban teachers were twice as likely as rural teachers to be victims of violence at school—thirty-six per one thousand compared to seventeen per one thousand.
Other Factors Contributing to Violence
In a 2000 report titled Youth Gangs in Schools from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention of the U.S. Department of Justice, one-half of teens surveyed said there were guns in their homes and about half
FIGURE 4.10
FIGURE 4.11
said it was at least somewhat important to know how to shoot a gun. Six percent of teens surveyed said it was very or somewhat important to belong to a gang or "posse." Thirty-seven percent of students reported there was a gang presence at their school.
Decline in Juvenile Violence
The level of juvenile violence in America during the 1980s and early 1990s caused predictions of a national crisis of violent youth. According to a 2002 report by the Urban Institute, the number of juvenile arrests for violent crimes—murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault—rose 64% between 1980 and 1994. The tide turned in 1994, and by 2000 arrests for violent crimes by all age groups had declined significantly. Arrests for murder declined most significantly for the under-eighteen age group (71%) and the eighteen to twenty-four age group (41%).
TABLE 4.8
| Percentage of high school students who were in a physical fight on school property1, who did not go to school because they felt unsafe at school or on their way to and from school2, and who had their property stolen or damaged on school property, 20033 | |||||||||
| Engaged in a physical fight on school property | Did not go to school because of safety concerns | Property stolen or deliberately damaged on school property | |||||||
| Category | Female % |
Male % |
Total % |
Female % |
Male % |
Total % |
Female % |
Male % |
Total % |
| 1One or more times during the 12 months preceding the survey. | |||||||||
| 2On ≥1 of the 30 days preceding the survey. | |||||||||
| 3For example, car, clothing, or books. | |||||||||
| SOURCE: Adapted from "Table 14. Percentage of High School Students Who Were in a Physical Fight on School Property, Who Did Not Go to School Because They Felt Unsafe at School or on Their Way to and from School, and Who Had Their Property Stolen or Damaged on School Property, by Sex, Race/Ethnicity, and Grade," in Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance—United States, 2003, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, vol. 53, no. SS-2, Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, May 21, 2004, http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/SS/SS5302.pdf (accessed July 27, 2004) | |||||||||
| Race/ethnicity | |||||||||
| White | 5.3 | 14.3 | 10.0 | 2.9 | 3.3 | 3.1 | 25.6 | 30.6 | 28.2 |
| Black | 12.6 | 21.5 | 17.1 | 9.0 | 7.9 | 8.4 | 27.0 | 33.9 | 30.4 |
| Hispanic | 13.8 | 19.3 | 16.7 | 10.0 | 8.9 | 9.4 | 27.6 | 37.0 | 32.3 |
| Grade | |||||||||
| 9 | 12.2 | 23.3 | 18.0 | 6.6 | 7.1 | 6.9 | 31.9 | 37.4 | 34.8 |
| 10 | 7.3 | 18.1 | 12.8 | 5.1 | 5.3 | 5.2 | 26.6 | 34.3 | 30.5 |
| 11 | 6.4 | 14.2 | 10.4 | 4.6 | 4.3 | 4.5 | 23.9 | 30.5 | 27.2 |
| 12 | 4.7 | 9.6 | 7.3 | 3.9 | 3.8 | 3.8 | 20.2 | 27.9 | 24.2 |
| Total | 8.0 | 17.1 | 12.8 | 5.3 | 5.5 | 5.4 | 26.2 | 33.1 | 29.8 |
Juvenile violent crimes declined more than crimes by young adults and older adults. Between 1994 and 2000 juvenile arrests for all types of offenses dropped 13%. Juvenile arrests for violent crimes dropped 34%, and arrests for property violations decreased 31%. During that same period, however, juvenile arrests for driving under the influence rose 54%, violation of liquor laws rose 33%, and drug abuse violations rose 29%.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that in 2002 more than 877,700 young people ages ten to twenty-four were injured from violent acts. Approximately one in thirteen required hospitalization. Homicide was the second-leading cause of death among young people ages ten to twenty-four overall. In 2001, 5,486 young people ages ten to twenty-four were murdered—an average of fifteen each day—and 79% were killed with firearms.
The CDC identified youth violence as a complex public health problem, describing it as widespread and highly visible, but preventable. The May 2002 World Report on Violence and Health [serial online] noted that, in addition to causing injury and death, youth violence undermined communities by increasing the cost of health care, reducing productivity, decreasing property values, and disrupting social services.
TABLE 4.9
| Percentage of high school students who carried a weapon on school property and were threatened or injured with a weapon on school property, 20031, 2, 3 | ||||||
| Carries a weapon on school property | Threatened or injured with a weapon on school property | |||||
| Category | Female % |
Male % |
Total % |
Female % |
Male % |
Total % |
| 1On ≥1 of the 30 days preceding the survey. | ||||||
| 2For example, a gun, knife, or club. | ||||||
| 3One or more times during the 12 months preceding the survey. | ||||||
| SOURCE: Adapted from "Table 12. Percentage of High School Students Who Carried a Weapon on School Property and Were Threatened or Injured with a Weapon on School Property, by Sex, Race/Ethnicity, and Grade," in Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance—United States, 2003, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, vol. 53, no. SS-2, Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, May 21, 2004, http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/SS/SS5302.pdf (accessed July 27, 2004) | ||||||
| Race/ethnicity | ||||||
| White | 2.2 | 8.5 | 5.5 | 5.8 | 9.6 | 7.8 |
| Black | 5.5 | 8.4 | 6.9 | 7.5 | 14.3 | 10.9 |
| Hispanic | 4.2 | 7.7 | 6.0 | 6.9 | 11.9 | 9.4 |
| Grade | ||||||
| 9 | 3.8 | 6.6 | 5.3 | 8.3 | 15.4 | 12.1 |
| 10 | 3.0 | 8.9 | 6.0 | 7.0 | 11.3 | 9.2 |
| 11 | 2.7 | 10.3 | 6.6 | 5.4 | 9.2 | 7.3 |
| 12 | 2.5 | 10.2 | 6.4 | 3.9 | 8.5 | 6.3 |
| Total | 3.1 | 8.9 | 6.1 | 6.5 | 11.6 | 9.2 |
TABLE 4.10
| Percentage of high school students who engaged in drug-related behaviors on school property, 2003 | ||||||
| Marijuana use on school property1 | Offered, sold, or given an illegal drug on school property2 | |||||
| Category | Female % |
Male % |
Total % |
Female % |
Male % |
Total % |
| 1Used marijuana one or more times during the 30 days preceding the survey. | ||||||
| 2During the 12 months preceding the survey. | ||||||
| SOURCE: Adapted from "Table 40. Percentage of High School Students Who Engaged in Drug-Related Behaviors on School Property, by Sex, Race/Ethnicity, and Grade," in Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance—United States, 2003, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, vol. 53, no. SS-2, Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, May 21, 2004, http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/SS/SS5302.pdf (accessed July 27, 2004) | ||||||
| Race/ethnicity | ||||||
| White | 3.1 | 5.8 | 4.5 | 24.5 | 30.2 | 27.5 |
| Black | 3.6 | 9.7 | 6.6 | 18.3 | 27.7 | 23.1 |
| Hispanic | 6.0 | 10.4 | 8.2 | 32.5 | 40.6 | 36.5 |
| Grade | ||||||
| 9 | 5.1 | 8.1 | 6.6 | 26.7 | 32.1 | 29.5 |
| 10 | 3.0 | 7.2 | 5.2 | 26.5 | 31.9 | 29.2 |
| 11 | 3.3 | 7.9 | 5.6 | 26.1 | 33.5 | 29.9 |
| 12 | 2.6 | 7.1 | 5.0 | 19.6 | 29.7 | 24.9 |
| Total | 3.7 | 7.6 | 5.8 | 25.0 | 31.9 | 28.7 |
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