Chapter 6
Students at Risk

WHAT DOES "AT RISK" MEAN?

In America's Children at Risk (September 1997), the U.S. Bureau of the Census identified six indicators of risk to children's welfare. These included poverty, welfare dependence, absent parents, single-parent families, unwed mothers, and parents who have not completed high school. Children who grow up with one or more of these conditions may be statistically at greater risk of dropping out of school, being unemployed, or, for girls, becoming teenage mothers.

AT-RISK CHILDREN

In school at-risk children are those who face significant obstacles, such as poverty or cultural and language barriers, that make it difficult for them to succeed academically. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2004 the poverty threshold for a family of four was $19,307. The poverty rate for children under age eighteen was 17.8% in 2004. The proportion of poor varied by race and ethnicity. In 2004 the percentage of African-American children who were living in poverty was 33.6%, and the percentage of Hispanic children living in poverty was 28.9%. By comparison, 10.5% of white children were living in poverty in 2004.

Families headed by only one parent were more likely to be living below the poverty level in 2004. While 5.5% of American households headed by married couples lived below the poverty level in 2004, 13.5% of households headed by fathers alone and 28.4% of households headed by mothers alone lived in poverty. Among whites, 3.9% of married-couple families lived in poverty, compared to 10.6% of families headed by a single father and 20.9% of households headed by single mothers. For African-Americans, the percentages were 9.1% for married-couple families, 21% for male-headed households, and 37.6% for female-headed households; for Hispanics, the proportions were 14.7 % for married-couple households, 15.9% for households headed by a single male and 38.9% for female-headed households.

At-risk students with language barriers are classified as Linguistically Isolated (LI), Limited English Proficient (LEP), or English Language Learners (ELL). LI students are those in homes where no person over thirteen years of age speaks proficient English. LEP indicates those who have difficulty reading, writing, or understanding English. The majority of LEP students are Hispanic.

Parents, educators, and government officials generally agree that disadvantaged children often need special help to prepare them for school, and both public and private services are available. Title I grants are allocated to states and school districts on the basis of their numbers of children from low-income families. According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office in Title I Funding: Poor Children Benefit Though Funding Per Poor Child Differs (January 2002), about half of the nation's 7,174 small school districts (those with fewer than 1,000 children enrolled) had 35% of their school population eligible for free or reduced-price meals in 2000. A full 9% of both small and large school districts (those having a student enrollment of at least 20,000) had between 75% and 100% of students eligible for assistance. About 60% of the 7,121 medium-sized districts in the United States (those having an enrollment between 1,000 and 20,000) had up to one-third of their students eligible for free or reduced-price meals.

Alternative schools and programs serve students who are at risk of dropping out of school. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in 2000–01 nearly 40% of public school districts had alternative schools and programs. Programs were more common in large districts, where 95% had them, than in smaller districts, where only 26% had them. Urban schools were more likely to have an alternative program than rural districts, with 66% of urban schools having them versus 35% of rural schools. Alternative schools were more common in the Southeast (80% of Southeastern schools had them) than in any other region.

MIDDLE SCHOOL AND JUNIOR HIGH—HIGH-RISK YEARS

Schools vary in how they define a "middle" student, but generally a middle school or junior high can include any grades from five through eight. Although there is no exact definition, middle schools usually serve students in either grades five or six through grade eight. Some districts have junior high schools instead of middle schools. Junior high school most often encompasses grades seven and eight.

The Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development published Turning Points (Report of the Task Force on Education and Youth Adolescents, New York) in 1989, which highlighted the importance of children's transition during the middle grades. The report sparked debate and additional research on the middle school years, including Great Transitions: Preparing Adolescents for a New Century (Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development, New York, 1995). These publications and other research pointed out that the organization and curriculum of middle and junior high schools are often inconsistent with students' intellectual, emotional, and interpersonal needs. For many young people, starting middle school or junior high means leaving the neighborhood elementary school to be thrust into a much larger, usually more impersonal, environment some distance from home.

The Carnegie Council's research concluded that the middle school curriculum does not encourage critical, complex thinking. To help remedy this, the Council encourages the creation of learning teams, a core academic curriculum, the elimination of tracking (sorting students according to their ability level into homogeneous classes, rather than placing them in classes containing a mixture of ability levels), and the hiring of teachers who have been specifically trained to teach in the middle grades. In 1998 the Center for Collaborative Education in Boston (CCE) began to develop a school reform design that would be based on the research and work of the preceding nine years. In 1999 the U.S. Department of Education awarded grants to seven organizations to develop models of school reform. This support, along with funding from private foundations, meant research continued on the issue. In Turning Points 2000 (Teacher's College Press, New York, 2000), Anthony Jackson and Gayle Davis examined the progress being made and the experiences of middle school teachers and administrators. Turning Points 2000 builds on the original Turning Points, with added emphasis on improving curriculum, assessment, and instruction.

The Turning Points model includes seven points for middle-grades school reform: rigorous standards and curriculum, equitable and excellent instruction, preparation and support of expert teachers, schools organized into small units and instructional teams, democratic governance, a healthy learning environment, and schools linked with parents and communities. According to the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform, in 2005 seventy-one schools in thirteen states (California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Wisconsin) were implementing the Turning Points model.

The National Forum to Accelerate Middle School Reform reports that in Illinois there was a rise in student achievement and fewer student behavior problems, and in Massachusetts middle schools the Turning Points schools demonstrated gains in the Massachusetts Educational Assessment Program.

According to the RAND corporation (Rand Education, "Problems and Promise of the American Middle School," Rand Research Brief, Santa Monica, California, 2004), in spite of these reform efforts, middle schools continue to face challenges. The transitions required of young people by a separate middle school may cause problems that affect students' development and academic achievement. RAND recommends that states and school districts consider alternatives to the grades six-to-eight structure.

According to Programs and Practices in K-8 Schools: Do They Meet the Educational Needs of Young Adolescents? (C. Kenneth McEwin, Thomas S. Dickinson, and Michael G. Jacobson, National Middle School Association, Westerville, Ohio, 2004), Cincinnati and Cleveland, Ohio; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Memphis, Tennessee; Baltimore, Maryland; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, all have plans to transition students from middle schools to K-8 schools. There is no data yet on whether students in K-8 schools perform better than those in middle schools.

DROPPING OUT

Trends in Dropout Rates

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in general, high school dropout rates have declined since 1960. The total status dropout rate for people sixteen through twenty-four years of age was 27.2% in 1960, 14.1% in 1980, 12.1% in 1990, and 10.7% in 2001. (Status dropouts are people who are not enrolled in school and who are not high school graduates or holders of General Educational Development [GED] diplomas.)

Historically, Hispanic students have had significantly higher dropout rates than either whites or African-Americans. In 1980 white students had a dropout rate of 11.4%; African-American students, 19.1%; and Hispanic students, 35.2%. By 2001 the estimated rate for whites was 7.3%, 10.9% for African-Americans, and 27% for Hispanics.

The Costs of Dropping Out

Young people who drop out before finishing high school usually pay a high price. Dropouts have a much harder time making the transition from school to work and economic independence. The employment rates of high school graduates and GED holders have consistently been higher than those of dropouts. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in 2002 the proportion of females ages sixteen to twenty-four who did not complete high school and were unemployed was 17.9%, compared to 12.3% of high school graduates and 5.1% of four-year college graduates. For male dropouts, 18.7% were unemployed, compared to 12.7% of high school graduates and 6.9% of those with bachelor's degrees. (See Table 6.1.)

Minority students who drop out are at even higher economic risk. In 2002 the proportion of African-American high school dropouts ages sixteen to twenty-four who were unemployed was 35%, while 16.7% of Hispanic dropouts ages sixteen to twenty-four were unemployed. In comparison, 15.6% of white dropouts in the same age range were unemployed in 2002. (See Table 6.1.)

People without high school diplomas tend to earn considerably less than those with more education. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in 2000 the median income (half earned more; half earned less) of males ages twenty-five and over who attended high school but did not graduate was $21,365, which is 70% of the annual median earnings of male high school graduates ($30,665). Females with less than a high school education earned $12,753, 69% of the earnings of females who finished high school ($18,393).

Many significant consequences of dropping out of school cannot be measured statistically. Some of those who drop out may experience lifelong poverty. Some who are poorly prepared to compete in society may turn to crime or substance abuse. Some become teenage parents without the ability to offer their children more than they had, possibly contributing to a cycle of dependence. Furthermore, the U.S. economy is deprived of the literate, technically trained, and dedicated workers it needs to compete internationally. Finally, those without a high school diploma generally do not have the opportunities available to the more highly educated.

Factors Related to Dropping Out

Prepared by the National Center for Education Statistics, the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88) studied students from the eighth grade through their high school years and beyond. Follow-up surveys were done in 1990, 1992, 1994, and 2000.

The earlier studies found that school-related reasons were usually given for dropping out, such as "did not like school," "failing in school," "could not get along with teachers," or "school expulsion and suspension." Other reasons the students gave were family or job-related, such as "pregnancy or became a parent," "got married," or "found a job." The U.S. Department of Education, in Dropout Rates in the United States: 1992, states that "dropping out is a process, not an event" and the reasons given by students "may not be the true causes but rationalizations or simplifications of more complex circumstances."

In a 2002 report based on the NELS, Coming of Age in the 1990s: The Eighth-Grade Class of 1988 Twelve Years Later, the National Center for Education Statistics found that the decision to drop out of high school was related to educational experiences before high school, in addition to personal and family background characteristics. Students who exhibited high mathematics achievement, attended a private school, or participated in extracurricular activities in eighth grade were more likely to complete high school than students who lacked those academic characteristics. Students from disadvantaged backgrounds (low income, parents who did not attend college, single-parent households, having an older sibling who dropped out of high school, spending three or more hours home alone after school per day, or being an LEP student) were more likely to drop out of school than students from more advantaged backgrounds.

According to High School Students at Risk: The Challenge of Dropouts and Pushouts, (Lucy Hood, Carnegie Corporation of New York, New York, 2004), several factors decrease the likelihood that students will drop out of high school, including being engaged in what they are learning; having the right teacher in the classroom; fewer students in classes; and smaller, more personal, academically rigorous school environments.

"DETACHED YOUTH"

Some young people drop out not only from school, but also from work. The Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics applies the term "detached youth" to people ages sixteen to nineteen "who are neither enrolled in school nor working." The proportion of youth fitting this description is one measure of the number of young people who are at risk. Since 1980 this has been a persistent problem; however, there has been a downward trend in the proportion of youth neither enrolled nor working. Most of the decline in this proportion has occurred among young females.

According to the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, in an average week during the 2004 school year about 8% of youths ages sixteen to nineteen were neither enrolled in school nor working. In 1991, 13% of young females were neither in school nor working; by 2004 this proportion had decreased to 8%. However, young females continued to be slightly more detached from these activities than young males.

African-American and Hispanic youth are more likely to be detached from school and work than white youth. In 2004, 12% of Hispanic youth and 10% of African-American youth were neither in school nor working, compared with 6% of white youth and 6% of youth of other races. (See Figure 6.1.)

Older youth, ages eighteen to nineteen, are more than three times as likely to be detached from these activities as youth ages sixteen to seventeen. In 2004, 13% of youth ages eighteen to nineteen were neither enrolled in school nor working compared with 3% of youth ages sixteen to seventeen.

NATIONAL STUDIES ON ADOLESCENT HEALTH

The behavioral choices teens make can put their health and success in life at risk. Both the Adolescent Health Program at the University of Minnesota (in Minneapolis) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) monitor teen risk behaviors. The Adolescent Health Program conducts the National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health (Add Health), and the CDC prepares the annual Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance study.

The Add Health study, as reported in "Protecting Adolescents from Harm" (Michael D. Resnick et al., Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 278, no. 10, September 10, 1997), found certain conditions in the home to be statistically associated with risk behaviors. For example, access to guns in the home was linked to suicidal tendencies and violence, and access to addictive substances at home was related to teens' use of cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana. Working twenty hours or more a week was linked to emotional distress and use of cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana.

On the other hand, adolescents who felt strongly connected to family and school were protected to some extent against health-risk behaviors. Parental disapproval of early sexual activity was associated with later onset of sexual activity, and parental expectations of school achievement were linked to lower levels of risk behavior. The presence of parents before school, after school, at dinner, and at bedtime was associated with lower levels of emotional distress, suicidal thoughts, and suicide attempts. Feeling "connected" at school also was associated with lower levels of these behaviors.

MONITORING THE FUTURE AND YOUTH RISK BEHAVIOR SURVEILLANCE STUDIES

Funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) in Washington, D.C., the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan conducts an annual survey of substance use among students called Monitoring the Future ("Overall Teen Drug Use Continues Gradual Decline; But Use of Inhalants Rises," Lloyd D. Johnston, Patrick M. O'Malley, Jerald G. Bachman, and John E. Schulenberg, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Bethesda, MD, December 2004).

The CDC also reported on risk behaviors among young people in Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance—United States, 2003 (Jo Anne Grunbaum, Laura Kann, Steven A. Kinchen, James Ross, Joseph Hawkins, Richard Lowry, William Harris, Tim McManus, David Chyen, and Janet Collins, CDC Surveillance Summaries, MMWR 2004, vol. 53, no. SS-2, May 21, 2004).

Attitudes toward Drugs

According to the Monitoring the Future survey (MTF), in 2004 fewer students considered substance use extremely dangerous than in 1991. The proportions of those who saw great risk in the use of marijuana decreased significantly in all grades between 1991 and 2004; only 22% of tenth graders in 2004 said that trying marijuana once or twice was very risky, down from 30% in 1991. In 2004 the proportion (68.4%) of tenth graders who saw great risk in smoking one or more packs of cigarettes a day had increased from 1991, when it was 60.3%. All students perceived daily drinking and binge drinking as less risky than they did in 1991. A slightly higher proportion of eighth-grade students considered using heroin dangerous in 2004 than in 1995, when heroin was first added to the survey.

Use of Drugs during the Past Month

Good news from the Monitoring the Future survey (MTF) is that there was a 17% decrease from 2001 to 2004 in the proportion of students who reported any illicit drug use during the past month. With eighth, tenth, and twelfth graders combined, 16.1% reported that they had used illicit drugs in the past month, compared to 19.4% in 2001. (See Figure 6.2.)

Drug Use at School

According to the National Center for Education Statistics and the Bureau of Justice Statistics, about 29% of high school students reported that illegal drugs were made available to them on school property in 2003. Male high school students were more likely than females to report that drugs were made available to them on school property during the previous twelve months. Nearly one-third of males (32%) and one-quarter of female students (25%) reported that illegal drugs were offered, sold, or given to them at school. (See Figure 6.3.)

The National Center for Education Statistics and the Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that in 2003 grade level did not make a difference in the percentage of students who reported that drugs were made available to them at school. About 30% of ninth, eleventh, and twelfth graders and 29% of tenth graders reported that drugs were offered, sold, or given to them at school. There was a difference in proportion between students of various racial or ethnic backgrounds. Hispanic students (37%) were more likely to report that drugs were made available to them at school than were Asian-American (23%), African-American (23%), Native American (31%), or white students (28%).

Marijuana

According to the Monitoring the Future survey, in 2004 the proportion of eighth-grade students who reported having used marijuana at least once during their lifetimes was 16.3%, with 35.1% of tenth graders and 45.7% of twelfth graders reporting using marijuana at least once. These rates represented increases from 1991, when 10.2% of eighth graders, 23.4% of tenth graders, and 36.7% of twelfth graders said they had used marijuana at least once in their lives, but they had slightly decreased from 2003, when 17.5% of eighth graders, 36.4% of tenth graders, and 46.1% of twelfth graders said they had used marijuana at least once in their lives.

Inhalants

The Monitoring the Future survey reports that the proportion of eighth, tenth, and twelfth graders who used inhalants, such as glues, solvents, and aerosols, peaked in 1995 and then declined for nearly two decades. By 2004, however, MTF survey results showed that inhalant abuse—especially among eighth graders—had increased significantly. Inhalants are most often used in the earlier grade levels. In 2004, 17.3% of eighth graders reported using an inhalant during their lifetimes, compared to 12.4% of tenth graders and 10.9% of twelfth graders. Because most inhalants are common household products, they are readily available, and young people may not understand that they are potentially lethal.

Alcohol

According to the CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance study, from 1993 to 2003 the proportion of high school students who reported using alcohol at school declined slightly. Students were much less likely to use alcohol on school property than elsewhere. In 2003, 5.2% of high school students reported drinking alcohol on school property. (See Table 6.2.)

The Monitoring the Future survey reports that in 2004 the proportion of eighth graders who said they had tried alcohol in their lifetimes was 43.9%, with 64.2% of tenth graders and 76.8% of twelfth graders reporting this same behavior. When asked if they had been drunk in their lives, 19.9% of eighth graders, 42.3% of tenth graders, and 60.3% of twelfth graders reported that they had.

In 2004 female students were more likely to report drinking flavored alcohol during the past month than males. About 16% of female eighth graders, 26% of tenth graders, and 33% of twelfth graders reported drinking flavored alcohol, compared to 13%, 25%, and 29%, respectively, for males.

Tobacco Use among Middle and High School Students

According to the MTF survey, cigarette smoking among high school students declined slowly but steadily from 1975 to the early 1990s, but the rates grew during the mid-1990s. The rates began to drop significantly again from 1997 to 2004. The proportion of students who reported using cigarettes during their lifetimes was 27.9% for eighth graders, 40.7% for tenth graders, and 52.8% for twelfth graders in 2004.

In 2004 about two-thirds of students believed that smoking one or more packs of cigarettes a day represented a great risk, which represents an increase in every grade from 1991, when the proportions were closer to one-half. Though students in higher grades were more likely to say that there was "great risk" in smoking one or more packs a day, students in the younger grades were somewhat more likely than seniors to "disapprove" of daily cigarette smoking.

In 2004 white eighth graders (10%), tenth graders (18.7%), and twelfth graders (28.2%) and Hispanic eighth graders (10.1%), tenth graders (13.9%), and seniors (18.5%) were more likely than African-American eighth graders (6.9%), tenth graders (9.2%), and twelfth graders (10.1%) to have smoked cigarettes at least once in the thirty days preceding the MTF survey.

Not surprisingly, in 2004 seniors were more likely to be daily (15.6%) smokers than were eighth graders (4.4%). Females in grade eight were more likely to have smoked in the past month (9.9%) than males (8.3%), but in tenth and twelfth grades females were slightly less likely than males to have smoked in the past thirty days. Among tenth graders, 15.7% of females had smoked in the past month, compared to 16.2% of males. Just over 24% of females who were seniors had smoked in the prior thirty days, while 25.3% of males had smoked during that time.

Sexual Activity

Great Transitions: Preparing Adolescents for a New Century (Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development, New York, 1995) pointed out that the age of first intercourse declined during the years between 1965 and 1995. Since that time the proportion of students who reported having initiated sexual intercourse before thirteen years of age has declined from 9% in 1995 to 6.6% in 2001. In its 2003 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance, the CDC reported that 4.2% of females and 10.4% of males had first experienced sexual intercourse before age thirteen. About one-third (34.3%) of both high school females and males claimed they were currently sexually active. The proportion of females who reported that they had had four or more sexual partners was 11.2%; the proportion of males, was 17.5%. Older students tended to be more sexually active than younger students, with 48.9% of high school seniors stating that they were currently sexually active. African-American students (49.8%) were more likely than white (30.8%) or Hispanic (37.1%) students to be sexually active.

TEENAGE PREGNANCY

From 1960 through 1986, the number of live births per 1,000 females ages fifteen to seventeen generally declined. The rate increased during the late 1980s and early 1990s before starting to decline again after 1995. Child Trends reported that in 2003 there were 22.4 live births per 1,000 females ages fifteen to seventeen. (See Table 6.3.)

In 2003 mothers under age twenty accounted for a total of 421,626 live births. Teenagers had a birth rate of 41.7 births per 1,000 females ages fifteen to nineteen. The birthrate was higher among teenagers ages eighteen and nineteen (70.8 per 1,000) than for those ages fifteen to seventeen. (See Table 6.3.) In 2003 the teen birth rate for white teens was 27.5, for African-American teens it was 64.8, and for Hispanic teens it was 82.2.

Most teenage mothers are unmarried and lack the resources to give their children adequate care. The National Center for Health Statistics reported that in 2003 about 82% of all teen births occurred outside of marriage.

AIDS AND OTHER SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES

The CDC identifies certain diseases as "notifiable," meaning that state and local medical authorities must report each occurrence to the CDC. Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are included in the notifiable disease list. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV, the virus that causes AIDS [acquired immunodeficiency syndrome]) is probably the best-known STD, but it is not the most common. Syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea are the three most common STDs reported to the CDC.

Adolescents and young adults are at a higher risk for acquiring STDs than older adults. Chlamydia and gonorrhea are the most common STDs among teenagers. The CDC reported in Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance, 2003 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, September 2004) that there were 325,416 cases of chlamydia, 95,269 cases of gonorrhea, and 333 cases of syphilis among those ten to nineteen years of age in 2003. Although antibiotics can cure many STDs, these diseases can still have serious health consequences, including an increase in a victim's risk of contracting HIV if exposed, and females may contract pelvic inflammatory disease, which can lead to infertility.

HIV/AIDS remains the most dangerous STD. Young people who are sexually active and/or inject drugs are at great risk of contracting the virus. The CDC reported that a total of 9,079 people under age twenty-five were living with AIDS in 2003. (See Table 6.4.) Countless more are infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Because of the long incubation period from the time of infection and the onset of symptoms, many people who develop AIDS in their early twenties were probably infected with HIV as teenagers.

SUICIDE

According to the CDC, 16.9% of high school students in the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance had seriously considered attempting suicide in the year preceding the survey (2003). More females (21.3%) than males (12.8%) considered attempting suicide. The prevalence was higher among white (16.5%) and Hispanic students (18.1%) than among African-American students (12.5%). Nationwide, 8.5% of students had actually attempted suicide, and 2.9% required medical attention as a result of the suicide attempt.

VIOLENCE IN SCHOOL

At the end of the twentieth century, the issue of violence in schools received attention because of several incidents that garnered tremendous attention, including the Columbine massacre in 1999, when two students murdered a dozen of their classmates and a teacher at their Littleton, Colorado, high school.

Violence in school—threats, physical fights, weapons at school, and the feeling of being unsafe—has increased since 1980. Nonetheless, most students and teachers still report that they feel relatively safe at school. In its 2003 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance, the CDC found that 5.4% of the students surveyed had missed at least one school day during the thirty days before the survey because they felt too unsafe to go to school. About 3.1% of white students felt too unsafe to go to school, compared to 8.4% of African-American and 9.4% of Hispanic students. Students in ninth grade (6.9%) were more likely than twelfth graders (3.8%) to fear going to school.

Juvenile Offenders

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, serious violent crimes committed by juvenile offenders declined at the end of the twentieth century. However, based on their proportion of the population, juveniles were disproportionately involved in arrests for arson, vandalism, motor vehicle theft, burglary, larceny-theft, robbery, and weapons law violations.

Young people who commit violent crimes are likely to be sent to juvenile detention facilities or even to adult prisons and jails. In any of these facilities, they are much less likely to complete their high school education.

FIGHTS IN SCHOOL

The CDC asked high school students whether they had been in a fight on school property. In 2003 about 12.8% of the students surveyed were in at least one physical fight on school property during the twelve months preceding the survey. Male students (17.1%) were more than twice as likely as females (8%) to have been in a fight. African-American (17.1%) and Hispanic (16.7%) students were more likely than white students (10%) to have been in a fight.

CARRYING A WEAPON

Weapons commonly brought to school include guns, knives, clubs, brass knuckles, razor blades, spiked jewelry, and other objects capable of inflicting harm. The 2003 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance found that 6.1% of students reported carrying a weapon of some type on school property during the thirty days before the survey. Males (8.9%) were more likely than females (3.1%) to carry weapons at school.

The U.S. Departments of Education and Justice report that during the late 1990s there was a steady decline in the proportion of high school students who reported carrying a weapon to school on one or more days during the previous month. Theft, vandalism, and physical fighting that did not involve a weapon were more common in schools than were more serious incidents.

Juvenile Victims

According to the National Center for Education Statistics and the Bureau of Justice Statistics in Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2004 (National Center for Education Statistics, http://www.nces.ed.gov/pubs2005/2005002.pdf, November 2004), in 2003, 5% of students ages twelve to eighteen reported nonfatal criminal victimization at school during the prior six months. More students reported theft (4%) than violent crimes (1%). Students in grades seven and nine reported more incidents of criminal victimization than students in other grades.

According to the CDC Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance, in 2003 nearly 9.2% of the students surveyed reported that they had been threatened or injured with a weapon at school one or more times in the past twelve months. Males (11.6%) were more likely than females (6.5%) to report this behavior. More ninth graders (12.1%) than tenth graders (9.2%), eleventh graders (7.3%), or twelfth graders (6.3%) reported threats and injuries with weapons.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the percentage of students ages twelve to eighteen who report criminal victimization at school or on the way to or from school declined from 1992 to 2002. The crime rates against students at school declined by 58% for theft, 50% for all violent crime, and 70% for serious violent crime. (See Figure 6.4.)

According to the National Center for Education Statistics and the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the percentage of students ages twelve to eighteen who reported being bullied at school during the previous six months increased from 1999 to 2003. About 5% reported being bullied at school in 1999 and 7% in 2003. More males (8%) than females (7%) reported being bullied at school in 2003. (See Figure 6.5.) Sixth graders were most likely to report being bullied in 2003. The proportion of students in grade six who reported being bullied at school was 14% in 2003, up from 11% in 1999. In 2003 more public school students (7%) than private school students (5%) reported being bullied.