Youth Violence Project - National Statistics http://youthviolence.edschool.virginia.edu/violence-in-schools/n...

National Statistics

School Violence Myths | National Statistics | Virginia Statistics | College Campus Violence
Do We Need Zero Tolerance? | School Crisis Response Resources

Serious Violent Crime Rate in U.S. Schools

Contrary to public perception,

violent crime in schools has
declined dramatically since
1994. The annual rate of
serious violent crime in 2007
(40 per 1,000 students)was
less than half of the rate in
1994. These data are victim
reports collected as part of
the National Crime
Victimization Survey and are
not derived from school
records.
Rate Per 1,000 Students Ages 12-18

Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization
Survey (NCVS), 2007. Cited in Figure 2.2 in Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2007; National
Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education (http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov
/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=1762)

Homicides in U.S. Schools: 1992-93 to 2009

1 of 8 8/19/10 3:16 PM
Youth Violence Project - National Statistics http://youthviolence.edschool.virginia.edu/violence-in-schools/n...

The rate of homicides in

U.S. schools has declined
substantially since the
early 1990s. There was
an apparent interruption
in the downward trend
during a period of highly
publicized shootings that
may have generated
some copycat shootings.

Homicides on school grounds during school day

Source: These are cases identified from records of the National School Safety Center.
(http://www.schoolsafety.us/) Each case in this chart represents an incident with one or more fatalities
that was perpetrated by a student on school grounds. Cases not involving student perpetrators or
occurring off school grounds (i.e., near a school) are not included.

Juvenile violence is not increasing

The dramatic
decline in
juvenile
homicides (and
other juvenile
violent crime) in
the 1990s
demonstrates
that the observed
decline in school
violence is part of
a larger national
trend. This
decline cannot be
attributed to a
decline in the
juvenile
population
because the
juvenile
population
Juvenile Arrests for Homicide: 1993 to 2007
increased. There
are likely

2 of 8 8/19/10 3:16 PM
Youth Violence Project - National Statistics http://youthviolence.edschool.virginia.edu/violence-in-schools/n...

multiple factors
responsible for
the drop,
including
declining
violence
associated with
drug gangs,
effective
community-
oriented law
enforcement
efforts, as well as
numerous school
and
community-based
efforts to prevent
violence.

Source: Arrest statistics from the annual FBI Uniform Crime Reports. http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm. These trends show
that the downward trend in school violence is part of a larger downward trend in violent juvenile crime during the 1990s
that has appeared to level off in recent years.

Students Threatened or Injured with a Weapon at School

The overall percentage of

students who report being
threatened or injured with a
weapon at school has
remained relatively stable
since 1993. Boys experience
almost twice as many
incidents as girls.

Source: Cited in Table 4.1 in Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2009; National Center for
Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education (http://nces.ed.gov/) .Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion,
Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS), various years, 1993–2007.

School Bullying

3 of 8 8/19/10 3:16 PM
Youth Violence Project - National Statistics http://youthviolence.edschool.virginia.edu/violence-in-schools/n...

Bullying at school is
a pervasive
problem that
affects millions of
students every
year. Of those who
were bullied, a
subgroup also
reported being
physically injured
(bruise, cut, bloody
nose, etc.) by the
bullying. Because
bullying is so
commonplace and
ranges so widely in
severity, its
importance is often
overlooked.

Source: Data from Table 11.2 in Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2009; National Center for Education
Statistics, U.S. Department of Education (http://nces.ed.gov/).

Rates of Bullying and other School Discipline Problems

Student bullying is one of

the most frequently
reported discipline
problems at school: 21%
of elementary schools,
43% of middle schools,
and 22% of high schools
reported problems with
bullying in 2005-06. This
data was provided by the
principal or the person
most knowledgable of
crime in the school.

Source: Cited in Table 7.2 in Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2007;
National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education
Expulsions for Firearms Violations at School, 2003-04 school year
(http://nces.ed.gov/) . U.S. Department of Education, National Center for
Education Statistics, 2005–06 School Survey on
(http://www.ed.gov/about/reports/annual/gfsa/index.html Crime
on the and Safety
Implementation (SSOCS),
of the 2006. Act In the States and Outlying Areas; 2007)
Gun-Free Schools

4 of 8 8/19/10 3:16 PM
Youth Violence Project - National Statistics http://youthviolence.edschool.virginia.edu/violence-in-schools/n...

5 of 8 8/19/10 3:16 PM
Youth Violence Project - National Statistics http://youthviolence.edschool.virginia.edu/violence-in-schools/n...

This table presents

numbers of students
expelled from school
for firearms
violations under the
federal Gun-Free
Schools Act. The
most recent data in
the 2007 report are
for the 2003-04
school year. State-
by-state differences
in the numbers of
students caught with
firearms at school
may be attributable
to many factors,
including differing
practices in
enforcement,
detection, record
keeping, and official
reporting. For
example, it seems
doubtful that in the
02-03 school year
that a state the size
of Virginia really has
more students
bringing firearms to
school than states
the size of California,
New York, or Texas.
Virginia ranked
highest of all states
for number of
students expelled for
firearms violations in
the 2002-03 school
year and second
highest in 2003-04.

6 of 8 8/19/10 3:16 PM
Youth Violence Project - National Statistics http://youthviolence.edschool.virginia.edu/violence-in-schools/n...

Percentage of Students Who Carried a Weapon to School, By Gender

The percentage of students

who report carrying a
weapon to school during the
previous 30 days has been
gradually decreasing since
1993.

Source: Cited in Table 14.1 in Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2009; National Center for
Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education (http://nces.ed.gov/) . Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion,
Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS), various years, 1993–2007.

Percentage of Students Who Feel Afraid at School or on the Way to School, By Ethnicity

In general, ethnic minority

students report more fear at
school. However, reports of
feeling afraid have declined
in all groups.

Source: Cited in Table 17.1 in Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2009; National Center for
Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education (http://nces.ed.gov/) . U.S. Department of
Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime
Victimization Survey, various years, 1995–2007.

Home | Staff | Research | Violence in Schools | Bullying | Threat Assessment | Prevention | Juvenile

7 of 8 8/19/10 3:16 PM
Youth Violence Project - National Statistics http://youthviolence.edschool.virginia.edu/violence-in-schools/n...

Violence | Media Interviews | Links

Virginia Youth Violence Project, School of Education, University of Virginia

Telephone: 434-924-8929 Email:

Youth Violence Project Homepage

8 of 8 8/19/10 3:16 PM