Bulletin Reports

School Crime

A 2014 report entitled Indicators of School Crime and Safety provides data on crime and safety in schools from the perspectives of students, teachers, and principals. This annual report is a joint effort by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). It offers current detailed statistics on the nature of crimes in schools. The report contains 23 indicators of crime from a number of sources, including the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), the School Crime Supplement to the NCVS, the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, the School Survey on Crime and Safety, and the School and Staffing Survey. Topics covered include victimization at school, teacher injury, bullying and cyberbullying, school conditions, fights, weapons, availability and student use of drugs and alcohol, student perceptions of personal safety at school, and crime at postsecondary institutions. The report contains some important highlights.

  • In 2013 students ages 12 to 18 experienced approximately 1,420,900 nonfatal victimizations at school, including 454,900 thefts and 966,000 violent crimes.
  • Two percent of students reported thefts; 1 percent reported violent crimes; and less than 0.5 percent reported serious violent victimizations, such as rape, sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated assault.
  • In 2013 students between the ages of 12 and 18 experienced higher rates of nonfatal victimizations at school than away from school.
  • Also in 2013 nearly 22 percent of students between 12 and 18 reported being bullied at school, and 7 percent reported experiencing cyberbullying during the school year.
  • According to the most recent data, fifteen homicides of school-age youth, ages 5 to 18, occurred at school during the 2010 to 2011 school year.
  • Almost all students between the ages of 12 to 18 observed at least one security issue at their schools in 2013.
  • Three percent of students reported fearing attack or harm at school or on the way to and from school.

The entire report can be found at http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=5322, NCJ 248036.