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Student Victimization in U.S. Schools: Results From the 2015 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey

NCJ Number
253692
Date Published
January 2018
Length
29 pages
Annotation
This report presents statistical estimates based on data collected through the 2015 School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), which is obtained from students in NCVS households, including questions about their experiences with and perceptions of crime and violence at their schools, on school grounds, on the school bus, and going to or from school.
Abstract
The SCS contains questions in areas not included in the NCVS, such as student reports of being bullied at school; the presence of weapons, gangs, hate-related words, and graffiti in school; the availability of drugs and alcohol in school; and students' attitudes related to fear of victimization and avoidance behavior at school. The data presented focus on how reports of criminal victimization at school vary by student characteristics; whether reports of bullying at school vary among students reporting and not reporting criminal victimization at school; whether reports of other unfavorable school conditions vary among students reporting and not reporting criminal victimization; and how fear and avoidance behaviors at school vary among students reporting and not reporting criminal victimization. One key finding is that in school year 2014-15, about 2.7 percent of students ages 12-18 reported they were victims of any crime at school in the previous 6 months; an estimated 1.9 percent reported being victims of theft, 0.9 percent reported violent victimization, and 0.2 percent reported serious violent victimization. Overall, reports of criminal victimization were accompanied by higher rates of reported fear and avoidance behavior. 12 tables, 5 figures, and 12 references