Barbara A. Oudekerk, BJS Statistician, Lauren Musu, National Center for Education Statistics, Anlan Zhang, Ke Wang, Jizhi Zhang, American Institutes for Research

April 17, 2019    NCJ 252571

This annual report, produced jointly by the Bureau of Justice Statistics and National Center for Education Statistics, presents data on school crime and safety from national surveys of students, teachers, principals, and postsecondary institutions. It contains findings on 22 indicators of school crime and safety, including violent deaths; nonfatal student and teacher victimization; school environment; fights, weapons, and illegal substances; fear and avoidance; discipline, safety, and security measures; and postsecondary campus safety and security. Selected findings on opioids, bullying, and active shooter incidents in educational settings are also included. Data sources include the National Crime Victimization Survey, the School Crime Supplement to the NCVS, the School-Associated Violent Death Surveillance System, the School Survey on Crime and Safety, the Schools and Staffing Survey, the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, and the Campus Safety and Security Survey.

Highlights:

• Based on the 2017 National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), students ages 12 to 18 experienced 827,000 total victimizations (i.e., theft and nonfatal violent victimization) at school and 503,800 total victimizations away from school.
• From 2000 to 2017, there were 153 casualties (67 killed and 86 wounded) in active shooter incidents at elementary and secondary schools and 143 casualties (70 killed and 73 wounded) in active shooter incidents at postsecondary institutions.
• In 2017, about 6% of students ages 12 to 18 reported being called hate-related words at school during the school year, representing a decrease from 12% in 2001. This percentage also decreased between 2001 and 2017 for male and female students as well as for white, black, and Hispanic students.
• Between 2001 and 2017, the percentage of students ages 12 to 18 who reported that gangs were present at their school during the school year decreased overall (from 20% to 9%), as well as for students from urban areas (from 29% to 11%), suburban areas (from 18% to 8%), and rural areas (from 13% to 7%).
• During the 2015-16 school year, 47% of schools reported one or more crime incidents to police. The percentage of public schools reporting incidents to police was lower in 2015-16 than in every prior survey year.

Part of the Indicators of School Crime and Safety Series

Full report (PDF 4.9M)

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