• In 2001, 33 percent of students in grades 9 through 12 reported that they had been in a physical fight anywhere⁴ in the last 12 months (table 5.1). In that same year, about 13 percent of all students said that they had been in a physical fight on school property.
• The percentage of students who reported being in a fight anywhere declined from 1993 to 2001-from 42 percent in 1993 to 33 percent in 2001 (figure 5.1 and table 5.1). Similarly, the percentages of students who reported fighting on school property for these years also declined, from 16 percent in 1993 to 13 percent in 2001.
• In all survey years, males were more likely than females to have been in a fight anywhere and on school property (figure 5.1 and table 5.1). In 2001, 43 percent of males said they had been in a fight anywhere, and 18 percent said they had been in a fight on school property. In that same year, about 24 percent of females reported they had been in a fight anywhere, and 7 percent said they had been in a fight on school property.
• Of 9th- through 12th-grade students, those in lower grades reported being in more fights than students in higher grades anywhere and on school property in all survey years (figure 5.2 and table 5.1).
• In 2001, Asian students were less likely than students from other racial/ethnic backgrounds to report being in a fight anywhere (22 percent for Asian students compared to 32 to 52 percent for all other students) (table 5.1). However, in 2001, no difference could be detected in the percentage of students who reported being in fights on school property by race/ethnicity. ⁵

*This indicator has been updated to include 2001 data.
4 The term "anywhere" is not used in the YRBS questionnaire. Rather, students are simply asked how many times in the last 12 months they had been in a physical fight.
5 While there appear to be large differences among racial/ethnic groups, these differences are associated with large standard errors and should be interpreted with caution.