School violence in the United States

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According to the U.S. National Center for Education Statistics, school violence is a serious problem. [1] [2] In 2007, the latest year for which comprehensive data were available, a nationwide survey, [3] conducted biennially by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and involving representative samples of U.S. high school students, found that 5.9% of students carried a weapon (e.g. gun, knife, etc.) on school property during the 30 days antedating the survey. The rate was three times higher among men than among women. In the twelve months preceding the survey, 7.8% of high school students reported having been threatened or injured with a weapon on school property at least once, with the prevalence rate among male students twice that as among female students. In the twelve months preceding the survey, 12.4% of students had been in a physical fight on school property at least once. The rate among males was twice the rate found among females. In the thirty days preceding the survey, 5.5% of students reported that because they did not feel safe, they did not go to school on at least one day. The rates for males and females were approximately equal.

Contents

The most recent U.S. data [4] on violent crime in which teachers were targeted indicate that 7% (10% in urban schools) of teachers in 2003 were subject to threats of injury by students. According to the data, 5% of teachers in urban schools were physically attacked, with smaller percentages in suburban and rural schools. Other members of school staffs are also at risk for violent attacks, with school bus drivers being particularly vulnerable. [5]

During 2007–2008, teachers’ reports of being threatened or physically attacked by students varied according to the instructional level of their school. Secondary school teachers reported being threatened with injury by a student at slightly greater percentage, at 8%, than elementary school teachers, at 7%, and this pattern held for teachers in suburban schools as well as for teachers in rural schools (figure 5.2 and table 5.1). [6]

Controversies

Lax school authorities

In 2005, on a school bus in Montgomery County, Maryland, an 11-year-old girl was attacked by a group of several older boys, who the girl said grabbed her breasts and feigned sex acts. Also in 2005, on a school bus in Colonial Heights, Virginia, south of Richmond, three boys and two girls aged 8 to 13 held an 11-year-old girl down in the back of the bus and sexually assaulted her. [7] In the Maryland case, the child's mother called the police, not the school, although a school administrator did notify the girl's mother (the students were not charged with sexual assault because the police mishandled the paperwork). In the Virginia case, the girl told her mother and was taken to a police station, prompting coordinated investigations by the police and the school. The bus driver testified that she saw the incident happening, but never stopped the bus. The girl was dropped off at her normal bus stop.

In 2008, the Baltimore School District failed to intervene in an act of violence committed against a teacher. A student had taken a video of a peer beating her art teacher. School officials ignored the problem until the video was posted on MySpace. [8] Some cases of school violence have not been brought to the attention of the authorities because school administrators did not want their schools labeled unsafe under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. [7] With or without NCLB, in the US, there has been a history of underreporting violent incidents occurring in schools. [9] [10] [11]

The media

School shootings are rare and unusual forms of school violence, and account for less than 1% of violent crimes in public schools, with an average of 16.5 deaths per year from 2001–2008. [2] There exists an uneven number of male versus female perpetrators of school shootings, where males outnumber females. [12] Some commentators claim that media coverage encourages school violence. [13] On the other hand, the press would likely have been faulted if it did not cover serious threats to public safety such as the Virginia Tech massacre, Columbine massacre, and Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

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The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the part of the United States Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES) that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics on education and public school district finance information in the United States. It also conducts international comparisons of education statistics and provides leadership in developing and promoting the use of standardized terminology and definitions for the collection of those statistics. NCES is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System.

School violence includes violence between school students as well as attacks by students on school staff. It encompasses physical violence, including student-on-student fighting, corporal punishment; psychological violence such as verbal abuse, and sexual violence, including rape and sexual harassment. It includes many forms of bullying and carrying weapons to school. The one or more perpetrators typically have more physical, social, and/or psychological power than the victim. It is a widely accepted serious societal problem in recent decades in many countries, especially where weapons such as guns or knives are involved.

Sex differences in crime are differences between men and women as the perpetrators or victims of crime. Such studies may belong to fields such as criminology, sociobiology, or feminist studies. Despite the difficulty of interpreting them, crime statistics may provide a way to investigate such a relationship from a gender differences perspective. An observable difference in crime rates between men and women might be due to social and cultural factors, crimes going unreported, or to biological factors for example, testosterone or sociobiological theories). The nature of the crime itself may also require consideration as a factor.

Rape by gender classifies types of rape by the sex and/or gender of both the rapist and the victim. This scope includes both rape and sexual assault more generally. Most research indicates that rape affects women disproportionately, with the majority of people convicted being men; however, since the broadening of the definition of rape in 2012 by the FBI, more attention is being given to male rape, including females raping males.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gun violence in the United States</span> Phenomenon of gun violence in the United States

Gun violence is a term of political, economic and sociological interest referring to the tens of thousands of annual firearms-related deaths and injuries occurring in the United States. In 2022, up to 100 daily fatalities and hundreds of daily injuries were attributable to American gun violence. In 2018, the most recent year for which data are available, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics reported 38,390 deaths by firearm, of which 24,432 were suicides. The national rate of firearm deaths rose from 10.3 people for every 100,000 in 1999 to 11.9 people per 100,000 in 2018, equating to over 109 daily deaths. In 2010, there were 19,392 firearm-related suicides, and 11,078 firearm-related homicides in the U.S. In 2010, 358 murders were reported involving a rifle while 6,009 were reported involving a handgun; another 1,939 were reported with an unspecified type of firearm. In 2011, a total of 478,400 fatal and nonfatal violent crimes were committed with a firearm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gun violence</span> Method of violence

Gun-related violence is violence committed with the use of a firearm. Gun-related violence may or may not be considered criminal. Criminal violence includes homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, and suicide, or attempted suicide, depending on jurisdiction. Non-criminal violence includes accidental or unintentional injury and death. Also generally included in gun violence statistics are military or para-military activities.

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Teen dating violence is the physical, sexual, or psychological / emotional abuse within a dating relationship among adolescents. Intimate partner violence (IPV) has been a well examined and documented phenomenon in adults; however, there has not been nearly as much study on violence in adolescent dating relationships, and it is therefore not as well understood. The research has mainly focused on Caucasian youth, and, as of 2013, there are no studies which focus specifically on IPV in adolescent same-sex relationships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">School bullying</span> Type of bullying in an educational setting

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Gender inequality in India refers to health, education, economic and political inequalities between men and women in India. Various international gender inequality indices rank India differently on each of these factors, as well as on a composite basis, and these indices are controversial.

Rape in the United States is defined by the United States Department of Justice as "Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim." While definitions and terminology of rape vary by jurisdiction in the United States, the FBI revised its definition to eliminate a requirement that the crime involve an element of force.

Domestic violence against men is violence or other physical abuse towards men in a domestic setting, such as in marriage or cohabitation. As with domestic violence against women, violence against men may constitute a crime, but laws vary between jurisdictions. Intimate partner violence (IPV) against men is generally less recognized by society than intimate partner violence against women, which can act as a further block to men reporting their situation.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">School security</span> Measures for reducing threats to people and property in schools

School security encompasses all measures taken to combat threats to people and property in education environments. One term connected to school security is school safety, which is defined as the sheltering of students from violence and bullying, as well as exposure to harmful elements such as drugs, guns and gang activity. Along with other public places, schools are at risk for invasion from outside as well as attacks from students or faculty because of the high traffic of potential assailants and availability of victims.

Research consistently shows that the majority of rape and other sexual assault victims do not report their attacks to law enforcement. Reasons for not reporting include fear of reprisal, shame, uncertainty about whether a crime was committed, or a belief that an incident was not sufficiently serious enough to report. As a result, researchers generally rely on surveys to measure sexual violence that is not reported to the police. Estimates of campus sexual assault measured on surveys vary across populations and over time, however a recent review concluded that a "reasonable average" of around 1 in 5 (20%) of women were sexually assaulted during their time in college. And although much of the research on sexual assault has focused on college campuses, there is evidence that non-students of the same age are actually at higher risk than college students.

References

  1. ↑ National Center for Education Statistics. (2008). Indicators of school crime and safety. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
  2. 1 2 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2008). Understanding school violence. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
  3. ↑ Eaton D, Kann L, Kinchen S, Shanklin S, Ross J, Hawkins J, Harris WA, Lowry R, et al. (2008). "Youth risk behavior surveillance—United States, 2007". MMWR. Surveillance Summaries. 57 (4): 1–131. PMID   18528314.
  4. ↑ Dinkes, R., Cataldi, E.F., Lin-Kelly, W., & Snyder, T. D. (2007). Indicators of school violence and safety: 2007. Washington, DC: National Center for Education statistics and Bureau of Justice Statistics.
  5. ↑ Peek-Asa, C.; Howard, J.; Vargas, L.; Kraus, J. F. (1997). "Incidence of non-fatal workplace assault injuries determined from employer's reports in California". Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 39 (1): 44–50. doi:10.1097/00043764-199701000-00009. PMID   9029430.
  6. ↑ Robers, S., Kemp, J., and Truman, J. (2013). Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2012 (NCES 2013-036/NCJ 241446). National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, and Bureau of Justice Statistics, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Washington, DC.
  7. 1 2 Williamson, E., & Aratani, L. (June 14, 2005). As school bus sexual assaults rise, danger often overlooked. Washington Post. B01.
  8. ↑ Nuefeld, S. (April 10, 2008). School violence appalls officials]. Baltimore Sun.
  9. ↑ Schonfeld, I.S. (2006). School violence. In E.K. Kelloway, J. Barling, & J.J. Hurrell, Jr. (Eds). Handbook of workplace violence (pp. 169–229). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
  10. ↑ Office of the New York State Comptroller. (2006). Reporting of violent and disruptive incidents by public schools (Rep. No. 2005-S-38). Albany: Author.
  11. ↑ California Legislative Analyst Office. (2009). Review of school crime reporting. Sacramento: Author.
  12. ↑ Robertz, F.J. (August 1, 2007). "Deadly Dreams: What Motivates School Shootings?". Scientific American: 54–59.
  13. ↑ Brown, J.; Munn, P. (2008). "School violence as a social problem: Charting the rise of the problem and the emerging specialist field". International Studies in Sociology of Education. 18 (3–4): 219–230. doi:10.1080/09620210802492807. S2CID   143609241.
  14. ↑ Zarembo, A. (June 18, 2016). Are the media complicit in mass shootings? Los Angeles Times.
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