From 1992 to 2008, the rate of nonfatal incidents of crime against students ages 12–18 at school declined from 144 to 47 crimes per 1,000 students, and for students away from school the rate declined from 138 to 38 crimes per 1,000 students.
This indicator examines the rate of nonfatal incidents of crime against students ages 12–18, both at school and away from school. Nonfatal crime includes theft and all violent crime; violent crime includes serious violent crime (rape, sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated assault) and simple assault. The rate of nonfatal crime against students ages 12–18 declined between 1992 and 2008. This pattern held for the crime rate at school and away from school as well as in the following three subcategories: theft, violent crime, and serious violent crime. Specifically, from 1992 to 2008, the rate of nonfatal crime against students at school declined from 144 to 47 crimes per 1,000 students; the theft victimization rate, from 95 to 24 thefts per 1,000 students; the violent crime rate, from 48 to 24 crimes per 1,000 students; and the serious violent crime rate, from 10 to 4 crimes per 1,000 students (see table A-30-1). During the same time period, the total nonfatal crime rate against students away from school declined from 138 to 38 crimes per 1,000 students, the theft victimization rate declined from 68 to 19 thefts per 1,000 students, the rate of violent crime declined from 71 to 19 crimes per 1,000 students, and the serious violent crime rate declined from 32 to 8 crimes per 1,000 students.
In the more recent period from 2007 to 2008, the rate of total nonfatal crime against students at school decreased from 57 to 47 crimes per 1,000 students. During this period, the theft victimization rate at school declined from 31 to 24 thefts per 1,000 students, but the rate of violent crime did not measurably change (26 crimes per 1,000 students in 2007 and 24 in 2008). In addition, there was no measurable difference between 2007 and 2008 in the rate of total crime against students away from school; this was also true for rates of theft, violent crime, and serious violent crime away from school.
Nonfatal crime rates at school and away from school differed depending on the type of crime. From 1992 through 2008, the rate of serious violent crime against students was generally lower at school than away from school. For example, in 2008, the student victimization rate for serious violent crime was four crimes per 1,000 students at school, compared with eight per 1,000 students away from school. In contrast, the rate of theft against students at school was generally higher than the rate of theft away from school.
In 2008, the rate of nonfatal crime against students varied according to student characteristics. The rates of total nonfatal crime and violent crime were lower for female students than for male students both at school and away from school (see table A-30-2). For example, the violent victimization rate at school was 19 crimes per 1,000 female students, compared with 29 per 1,000 male students; away from school, the rate of violent crime was 12 crimes per 1,000 females, compared with 25 per 1,000 males. However, there was no difference between male and female students in the rates of theft against them; this was true for theft at school and away from school. At school, the rate of total nonfatal crime against Black students (68 crimes per 1,000 students) was higher than the rate for White students (44 per 1,000 students) and Hispanic students (47 per 1,000 students). In general, the violent victimization rate (at school and away from school) was higher for students from households with incomes of less than $15,000 than it was for students from households with higher income levels.
Technical Notes
Total nonfatal crime includes violent crime and theft. Violent crime includes serious violent crime and simple assault. Serious violent crime includes rape, sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated assault. Theft includes purse snatching, pickpocketing, all burglaries, attempted forcible entry, and all attempted and completed thefts except motor vehicle thefts. Theft does not include robbery in which threat or use of force is involved. "At school" includes inside the school building, on school property, or on the way to or from school. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding and missing data on student characteristics. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. For more information on race/ethnicity, see supplemental note 1. There were changes in the sample design and survey methodology in the 2006 National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) that affected survey estimates. Due to this redesign, 2006 data are not presented in this indicator. Data from 2007 onward are comparable to earlier years. For more information on NCVS, see supplemental note 3.
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