US Schools Doing More to Combat School Violence and Bullying

The federal government revealed that school violence is down across the country, but it still remains a problem.

According to a report released by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and the US Justice Department, approximately three percent of students between the ages of 12 and 18 indicated that they had been victims of crimes on school grounds in 2014. Moreover, teachers and school administrators reported that roughly 1.3 million students were suspended from school for various offenses ranging from alcohol violations to violence.

Stopping School Crime in the US

The NCES report shows that schools are getting creative in the fight to stop school crime and violence against students. For example, roughly 75 percent of schools surveyed indicated that they use security cameras, while 90 percent said that they limit access to school buildings.

A number of US schools also mandate that students wear IDs so that they can be identified before walking onto campus. Other schools impose dress codes on students.

The NCES report concluded that schools need to do more to ensure that campuses are “safe havens for teaching and learning, free of crime and violence.” School violence, indicated the report, “not only affects the individuals involved, but also may disrupt the educational process and affect bystanders, the school itself and the surrounding community.”

What do the Numbers on School Violence Mean?

Peggy G. Carr, the acting commissioner for the NCES, commented on the study results and said that they show that a great deal of progress is being made in the fight to curb school violence in this country. However, Carr also declared that “it’s not enough” that school crime and school bullying are down. More still needs to be done to protect children against violence on school campuses.

One of the problems with the data, said Ken Trump of the National School Safety and Security Services, is that the federal government does not mandate that elementary schools, middle schools or high schools report crime numbers. That’s why the recent NCES report had to rely on surveys of students and teachers to determine just how much school violence is being committed at schools.

The reporting of statistics on school violence is less of an issue for colleges because the Clery Act requires these schools to report and distribute data on crimes committed on campus.

For further information, read the Yahoo.com article, “Government Report: Crime Dropped Overall in Nation’s Schools.”

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