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Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2007
NCES 2008-021
December 2007

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Table 13.1.

Percentage of students in grades 9-12 who reported having been in a physical fight during the previous 12 months, by location and selected student and school characteristics: Various years, 1993-2005


  Anywhere   On school property
Student or school characteristic 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005   1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005
                               
Total 41.8 38.7 36.6 35.7 33.2 33.0 35.9   16.2 15.5 14.8 14.2 12.5 12.8 13.6
                               
Sex                              
Male 51.2 46.1 45.5 44.0 43.1 40.5 43.4   23.5 21.0 20.0 18.5 18.0 17.1 18.2
Female 31.7 30.6 26.0 27.3 23.9 25.1 28.1   8.6 9.5 8.6 9.8 7.2 8.0 8.8
                               
Race/ethnicity1                              
White 40.3 36.0 33.7 33.1 32.2 30.5 33.1   15.0 12.9 13.3 12.3 11.2 10.0 11.6
Black 49.5 41.6 43.0 41.4 36.5 39.7 43.1   22.0 20.3 20.7 18.7 16.8 17.1 16.9
Hispanic 43.2 47.9 40.7 39.9 35.8 36.1 41.0   17.9 21.1 19.0 15.7 14.1 16.7 18.3
Asian (2) (2) (2) 22.7 22.3 25.9 21.6   (2) (2) (2) 10.4 10.8 13.1 5.9
American Indian 49.8 47.2 54.7 48.7 49.2 46.6 44.2   18.6 31.4 18.9 16.2! 18.2 24.2 22.0
Pacific Islander (2) (2) (2) 50.7 51.7 30.0 34.4   (2) (2) (2) 25.3 29.1 22.2 24.5
More than one race (2) (2) (2) 40.2 39.6 38.2 46.9   (2) (2) (2) 16.9 14.7 20.2 15.8
                               
Grade                              
9th 50.4 47.3 44.8 41.1 39.5 38.6 43.5   23.1 21.6 21.3 18.6 17.3 18.0 18.9
10th 42.2 40.4 40.2 37.7 34.7 33.5 36.6   17.2 16.5 17.0 17.2 13.5 12.8 14.4
11th 40.5 36.9 34.2 31.3 29.1 30.9 31.6   13.8 13.6 12.5 10.8 9.4 10.4 10.4
12th 34.8 31.0 28.8 30.4 26.5 26.5 29.1   11.4 10.6 9.5 8.1 7.5 7.3 8.5
                               
Urbanicity                              
Urban 38.2 37.0 36.8 35.5   15.8 14.4 14.8 14.8
Suburban 36.7 35.0 31.3 33.1   14.2 13.7 11.0 12.8
Rural 32.9 36.6 33.8 29.7   14.7 16.3 13.8 10.0
— Not available.
! Interpret data with caution.
1 American Indian includes Alaska Native, Black includes African American, Pacific Islander includes Native Hawaiian, and Hispanic includes Latino. Respondents who identified themselves as being of Hispanic origin are classified as Hispanic, regardless of their race.
2 The response categories for race/ethnicity changed in 1999 making comparisons of some categories with earlier years problematic. In 1993, 1995, and 1997, Asian students and Pacific Islander students were not categorized separately and students were not given the option of choosing more than one race.
NOTE: "On school property" was not defined for survey respondents. The term "anywhere" is not used in the YRBS questionnaire; students are simply asked how many times in the last 12 months they have been in a physical fight. Population sizes from the Digest of Education Statistics, 2005 and 2002 (NCES 2006-030 and 2003-060) for students in grades 9–12 are 13,093,000 students in 1993; 13,697,000 in 1995; 14,272,000 in 1997; 14,623,000 in 1999; 15,061,000 in 2001; 15,723,000 in 2003; and 16,286,000 (projected) in 2005.
SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS), various years, 1993–2005.