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Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2001
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Hello, and welcome to today's
StatChat. I'm sure that you have many questions regarding the recent
release of the Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2001, so let's
get right to them... |
| Gery from Lansing, Michigan asked: |
| I have 2 questions: 1.
How was the data collected and who reported? 2. Is there state
specific data breakouts? |
| Kathryn Chandler & Michael Rand: |
The 19 indicators are drawn from a
number of different datasets. Some are surveys of students, some are
surveys of schools, and some are surveys of teachers. All of the
datasets are Federal programs and were selected because they are the
most up to date and ongoing data collections to enable presentation
of trend estimates. You can read about the different datasets in
Appendix B (pdf file) of the Indicators report at:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2002/crime2001/pdf/AppB.pdf
Only one of the
datasets, the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, can produce State level
estimates, for 22 States and 14 local areas (in 1999). You can find
YRBS State level estimates at the following website:
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dash/yrbs/index.htm
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| Martine from Rockville, MD asked: |
| Now that the report is
in its fourth year, have you seen any notable changes in the
utilization of the data? |
| Kathryn Chandler & Michael Rand: |
The reports have become important
reference sources for information about crime and safety in schools.
They are among the most frequently downloaded reports from our
websites. Having up-to-date data is important to policymakers and
the public. |
| Charol from Huntington, New York asked: |
| What do we know about
adult to student sexual crimes in schools? Teacher sexual abuse?
Also peer sexual crimes? |
| Kathryn Chandler & Michael Rand: |
This report covers student reports of
victimization, incluing violent crime and crimes of theft. Included
in violent crime are rapes and sexual assaults. However, we do not
have information about whether the perpetrator was a teacher. While
some of the datasets can be used to produce data on
victim/offender relationship this was not part of our analysis. We
do know that most crimes against youth are committed by other young
people. For information about this you can visit the Bureau of
Justice Statistics website:
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/ |
| Ronnie from Comanche TX asked: |
| How is the student
atmosphere at Columbine High School in
Colorado? |
| Kathryn Chandler & Michael Rand: |
We do not have any information on this
particular school or any other individual
school. |
| Charles from Portland, Oregon asked: |
| Given the amount of
data from different sources that you are collecting have you noticed
any disturbing trends that the public needs to be made aware
of? |
| Kathryn Chandler & Michael Rand: |
The recent trends are quite favorable.
Victimization of students in school has decreased through the 1990s.
Many other indicators also show
improvement. |
| Frank from Omaha, Nebraska asked: |
| Have you collected any
data from private schools? If not why not? It would be nice to know
the differences between public and private
schools. |
| Kathryn Chandler & Michael Rand: |
The National Crime Victimization
Survey, because it finds students in their homes, covers both public
and private school students. The same holds for the School Crime
Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey. Data for some
of the indicators are shown separately for public and private school
students. The survey of principals covers public schools only.
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| Janet from Albany, NY asked: |
| Is there information
you can report on hate related crimes against
kids? |
| Kathryn Chandler & Michael Rand: |
In Indicator 14, we present data on
reports of students being called hate-related words and seeing
hate-related graffiti. See:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2002/crime2001/14.asp?nav=4
The Bureau of
Justice Statistics is working to develop questions about
hate-related crimes against children and adults as part of the
National Crime Victimization Survey. |
| Ellen from Austin, Texas asked: |
| Is there any specific
funding that schools can apply for that can be used to help combat
school viloence and to help the school
environment? |
| Kathryn Chandler & Michael Rand: |
We suggest that you contact the
Department of Education's Safe and Drug Free Schools Office for that
information:
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/SDFS/
The Department of
Education's main website would also be a good resource:
http://www.ed.gov |
| Trent from Springfield, Mass. asked: |
| Have you noticed any
relationship between school uniform policy and the incidence of
school crime and violence? |
| Kathryn Chandler & Michael Rand: |
According to our report, only about 3%
of all public schools required students to wear uniforms in 1996-97.
See Appendix A (pdf file) of our report:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2002/crime2001/pdf/AppA.pdf
We do not have
data to test the relationship between school uniform requirements
and the incidence of school crime and violence.
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| Tim from South Bend, Indiana asked: |
| According to the data
you have collected are drugs or alcohol the bigger problem among
school children today? |
| Kathryn Chandler & Michael Rand: |
Indicators 17 and 18 in our report
cover alcohol and marijuana use, respectively. We did not do the
statistical tests to compare use of the two. However, use on school
property appears to be similar. This would have to be tested. See:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2002/crime2001/17.asp?nav=4e
and,
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2002/crime2001/18.asp?nav=4.
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| Wendy from Austin, TX asked: |
| What do you think are
the significant findings of the study? |
| Kathryn Chandler & Michael Rand: |
We have highlighted the most
significant findings in our Executive Summary. See:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2002/crime2001/.
Among the most
significant findings are those showing improvements in school
safety. Crime rates are down. There were decreases in the percentage
of students reporting being in a fight on school property in the
previous 12 months and in carrying a weapon on school property
during the previous 30 days. |
| Martine from Rockville, MD asked: |
| How close does the data
in the report come to being able to track any changes that might be
resulting from recent increased attention to the problem of
bullying? |
| Kathryn Chandler & Michael Rand: |
We cannot attribute any changes that we
detect to any particular policy or program. Our data are
cross-sectional in nature and cannot be used to determine
causality. |
| Florence from Birmingham, Alabama asked: |
| Are there any best
practices that schools can follow to reduce the amount of crime and
violence in their school? |
| Kathryn Chandler & Michael Rand: |
The Departments of Education and
Justice have produced two very good reports--Early Warning Timely
Response, A Guide to Safe Schools and Safeguarding our Children: An
Action Guide. Both are valuable resources for schools, communities,
parents, and students. See:
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSERS/OSEP/Products/earlywrn.html
and,
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSERS/OSEP/Products/ActionGuide/
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| Robin from Dover, Delaware
asked: |
| With a reported decline
in overall victimization & students reporting they feel safer or
safe, are they then asked a follow-up question as to why? For ex:
prevention programs from outside agencies, curriculum in
bullyproofing schools, effective interaction
skills...etc. |
| Kathryn Chandler & Michael Rand: |
That's a good question. Right now the
surveys do not contain the question you suggest. It would be a good
question to consider as we develop future surveys.
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| Nicolás from Buenos Aires, Argentina
asked: |
| How do you expect
policymakers to take notice of yor report? Is there any specific
changes you recommend in the education system in order to improve
security at school? |
| Kathryn Chandler & Michael Rand: |
Policymakers are always looking for
good data. The reports are widely circulated. They are sent to
officials in the Executive and Legislative branches at all levels of
government, National, State and local. It is not the purpose of this
report (or of our Statistical agencies) to recommend specific
policies. The strength of these reports is that they provide
accurate, up-to-date data that the public and policymakers can use
to evaluate the need for programs and to develop effective programs
when necessary. |
| Kathy from New York, NY asked: |
| Do you think the data
gathered supports the need for stricter gun control
laws? |
| Kathryn Chandler & Michael Rand: |
This will be the last question that we
have time for. As we discussed in the previous question, our report
does not provide policy guidance. It does, however, provide data
that people can use to document the extent to which crime is a
problem in our schools. |
| Thanks for all of your
excellent questions. Unfortunately, we could not get to all of them,
but please feel free to contact either of us if you need any
assistance. I hope that you found this session to be helpful and the
report to be interesting. |
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