Student Victimization in U.S. Schools

Ω


In the 2008–09 school year, about 3.9 percent of students ages 12 through 18 reported that they were victims of a crime at school according to a report released by the National Center for Education Statistics. Data are collected on student criminal victimization through its sponsorship of the School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization Survey, administered by the Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics. The survey collects student reports of the presence of gangs and weapons and the availability of drugs and alcohol at school, traditional and electronic bullying, and fear and avoidance behaviors of crime victims and nonvictims at school.

Other findings include:
• About 2.8 percent of students ages 12 through 18 reported being victims of theft, 1.4 percent of students reported a violent victimization, and 0.3 percent of students reported a serious violent victimization.
• A larger percentage of males were victims of any crime at school (4.6 percent) than were females (3.2 percent).
• Higher percentages of students who reported any criminal victimization at school reported they were also the targets of traditional (63.5 percent) and electronic (19.8 percent) bullying than were student nonvictims (26.6 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively).
• The percentage of student victims of violent crimes who reported being afraid of attack or harm at school (22.7 percent) was higher than that of student nonvictims of violent crime (3.9 percent).