Crime, Violence, Discipline, and Safety in U.S. Public Schools

 

Preliminary statistics show that an estimated 857,500 violent incidents and 479,500 nonviolent incidents occurred in U.S. public schools during the 2021–22 school year. Sixty-seven percent of schools reported having at least one violent incident, and 59 percent reported having at least one nonviolent incident. The National Center for Education Statistics First Look report, Crime, Violence, Discipline, and Safety in U.S. Public Schools: Findings From the School Survey on Crime and Safety: 2021–22, examines a range of issues dealing with school crime and safety, including the frequency of school crime and violence, disciplinary actions, the presence and activities of school security staff, and school practices related to maintaining a safe school environment. Additional key findings include: Ninety percent of all public schools reported they increased social and emotional support for students in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Across regions, this percentage ranged from 88 percent of schools in the South to 94 percent of schools in the Northeast. During the 2021–22 school year, 92 percent of schools had a formal plan to prepare for and respond to multi-country or worldwide pandemic disease. Schools had plans describing the procedures to be performed in various other crisis scenarios as well. Some of the most commonly reported plans were for active shooters (96 percent), natural disasters (96 percent), suicide threats or incidents (94 percent), and bomb threats (92 percent). About 46 percent of traditional public schools had a School Resource Officer present at school at least once a week. This was higher than the percentage of charter schools (18 percent). In contrast, a higher percentage of charter schools reported having security guards or security personnel (35 percent) compared to traditional public schools (25 percent). Bullying at school at least once a week was reported by 28 percent of middle schools, compared to 15 percent of high/secondary schools and 10 percent of elementary schools.  Similarly, cyberbullying at school or away from school at least once a week was reported by 37 percent of middle schools and 25 percent of high/secondary schools, compared to 6 percent of elementary schools.