Highest number of school shootings to date
reported in 2020–21 while cyberbullying rates doubled in over a
decade
WASHINGTON, June 28,
2022 /PRNewswire/ -- There were a total of 93 school
shootings with casualties at public and private elementary and
secondary schools during the 2020–21 school year, more than in any
other year since data collection began, according to the Report
on Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2021. The annual
report released today by the National Center for Education
Statistics (NCES), within the U.S. Department of Education's
Institute of Education Sciences (IES), also shows that
cyberbullying in public schools increased to 16 percent in 2019–20,
versus 8 percent in 2009–10.
"Although the rate of nonfatal violent victimization at school
for 12- to 18-year-olds was lower in 2019 than in 2009, there were
more school shootings with casualties in 2021 than in any other
year since data collection began in the early 2000's, increasing
from 11 in 2009 to 93 in 2021," said NCES Commissioner Peggy G. Carr. "While the lasting impact of
these crime and safety issues cannot be measured in statistics
alone, these data are valuable to the efforts of our policymakers,
school officials, and community members to identify and implement
preventive and responsive measures."
In the 2020–21 school year, the total of school shooting
casualties included 43 school shootings with deaths and 50 school
shootings with injuries only. According to the report, school
shootings are defined as incidents in which a gun is brandished or
fired on school property. During the coronavirus pandemic, "school
shootings" also included those that happened on school property
during remote instruction.
The incidence of several discipline issues at public schools
declined in the decade between the 2009–10 and 2019–20 school
years, with lower prevalence of student bullying (15 vs. 23
percent), student sexual harassment of other students (2 vs. 3
percent), and student harassment of other students based on sexual
orientation or gender identity (2 vs. 3 percent). In higher
education, the rate of criminal incidents on campus declined in
that time from 23 per 10,000 full-time-equivalent students to 18.7.
The rate of forcible sex offenses on campus increased during that
decade from 1.7 per 10,000 students in 2009–10 to 8 per 10,000
students in 2019–20.
The Report on Indicators of School Crime and Safety:
2021, which is developed in a joint effort with the U.S.
Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS),
examines topics such as school shootings, criminal victimization,
bullying, disciplinary problems and actions, fights, weapons,
availability and student use of drugs and alcohol, student
perceptions of personal safety at school, the presence of security
staff at school, and criminal incidents at postsecondary
institutions. This report is a synthesis of key findings from
individual school crime and safety indicators, which can be browsed
in The Condition of Education Indicator System
online. The Report on Indicators of School Crime and Safety:
2021 is a compilation of statistical information collected and
assembled from other statistical products. For more information on
the data sources, please visit
https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/sources.
NCES plans on releasing new data from the upcoming School Survey
on Crime and Safety (SSOCS), the primary source of school-level
data on crime and safety for the U.S. Department of Education,
which includes a nationally representative cross-sectional survey
of about 4,800 public elementary and secondary schools. The survey
is scheduled to be released this July
2022.
The full report can be viewed at
https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2022092.
Key Findings:
Criminal Victimization Experienced
by Students
- Between 2009 and 2019, the total victimization rate at school
decreased from 51 to 30 victimizations per 1,000 students. From
2019 to 2020, the total victimization rate at school continued to
decline to 11 victimizations per 1,000—an annual decrease of more
than 60 percent in the first year of the pandemic.
Incidents and Discipline Problems
Reported by Public Schools
- Lower percentages of public schools in 2019–20 than in 2009–10
reported that each of the following discipline problems occurred at
least once a week: student bullying (15 vs. 23 percent), student
sexual harassment of other students (2 vs. 3 percent), and student
harassment of other students based on sexual orientation or gender
identity (2 vs. 3 percent).
-
- However, the percentage of public schools that reported
cyberbullying was roughly double in 2019–20 compared with 2009–10
(16 vs. 8 percent).
Discipline, Safety, and Security
Practices
- In the 2019–20 school year, about 52 percent of public schools
reported having a written plan for procedures to be performed in
the event of a pandemic disease. This percentage was higher than
the percentage reported in 2017–18 (46 percent).
Mental Health Services Provided by
Public Schools
- About 55 percent of public schools (45,600 schools) reported
providing diagnostic mental health assessment services to evaluate
students for mental health disorders.
-
- Forty-two percent of public schools (35,200 schools) offered
mental health treatment services to students for mental health
disorders.
Postsecondary Campus Safety and
Security
- Between 2009 and 2019, the rate of criminal incidents on
college campuses decreased from 23.0 to 18.7 incidents per 10,000
full-time-equivalent students. However, the rate of reported
forcible sex offenses on campus increased from 1.7 incidents per
10,000 students in 2009 to 8.0 incidents per 10,000 students in
2019.
- In 2019, a total of 757 hate crimes were reported on the
campuses of postsecondary institutions. More than half of hate
crimes at postsecondary institutions were motivated by race or
ethnicity.
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a
principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, is the
statistical center of the U.S. Department of Education and the
primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to
education in the U.S. and other nations. NCES, located within the
Institute of Education Sciences (IES), fulfills a congressional
mandate to collect, collate, analyze, and report complete
statistics on the condition of American education; conduct and
publish reports; and review and report on education activities
internationally.
The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) is the independent
and nonpartisan statistics, research, and evaluation arm of the
U.S. Department of Education. Its mission is to provide scientific
evidence on which to ground education practice and policy and to
share this information in formats that are useful and accessible to
educators, parents, policymakers, researchers, and the
public.
CONTACT:
Josh Delarosa, National Center for
Education Statistics, Aris.nces@ed.gov
James Elias, Hager Sharp, jelias@hagersharp.com
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content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-nces-data-show-increases-in-school-shootings-and-cyberbullying-in-k12-schools-over-the-last-decade-301576062.html
SOURCE National Center for Education Statistics