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School Security FundamentalsHOW SERIOUS IS THE PROBLEM OF SCHOOL SECURITY?Despite occasional high-profile tragedies, children in the United States are safer in schools than outside them. Of all violent deaths that occur among school-age children, less than 1 percent occur at or en route to school or school-sponsored events (Kachur and others, cited in Berner and others 1999). Ninety percent of all public schools reported no serious violent crimes during the 1996-97 school year. Although 57 percent reported at least one incident of crime or violence to law-enforcement officials, less-serious and nonviolent crimes such as theft, vandalism, and fights not involving weapons were by far the most common (National Center for Education Statistics 1998). Some types of school violence are declining, along with overall youth violence in the nation. Berner and others (1999) found significant decreases in several types of violence-related behaviors among high school students between 1993 and 1997, including a 28 percent decrease in self-reported weapon carrying and a 9 percent decrease in fighting on school property. They also note that the percentages of such behaviors occurring on school property were much lower than the total percentages. The number of students expelled for bringing guns to school declined 31 percent between the 1996-97 and 1997-98 school years (U.S. Department of Education 1999). Reductions in violence did not occur in all subgroups, however. For example, levels of fighting remained the same among Hispanic students, Berner and others report. Their study also found no significant decreases in the percentages of students who reported being victims of theft or deliberate damage of property at school, feeling too unsafe to attend school, and being threatened or injured with a weapon on school grounds.
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