2. Victimization of Students at School and Away from School*

The amount of crime committed in the nation's schools continues to be a concern. While crime has decreased in recent years, theft and violence at school and to and from school can lead to disruptive and threatening environments reducing student performance.

• Students ages 12 through 18 experienced fewer nonfatal serious violent crimes (that is, rape, sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated assault) when they were at school than away from school. In 1998, students in this age group were victims of about 253,000 such crimes at school, and about 550,000 away from school (tables 2.1 and 2.3). The victimization rate for serious violent crime was about the same at school from 1992 to 1998 and declined from 1992 to 1998 away from school (figure 2.1 and tables 2.2 and 2.4).
• Students ages 12 through 18 were victims of about 1.2 million nonfatal violent crimes (that is, serious violent crime plus simple assault) at school, and about 1.3 million away from school in 1998 (tables 2.1 and 2.3). There was a decline in the victimization rate between 1992 and 1998 at school as well as away from school (from 48 to 43 and from 71 to 48 per 1,000 students ages 12 through 18, respectively) (figure 2.1 and tables 2.2 and 2.4). During most of this period, the victimization rates for nonfatal violent crime were generally lower at school than away from school².
• Students ages 12 through 18 were more likely to be victims of theft at school than away from school each year between 1992 and 1998, except for 1997. In that year, about the same number of thefts occurred at and away from school. In 1998, about 1.6 million thefts occurred at school (58 percent of all crimes at school), and about 1.2 million away from school (49 percent of all crimes away from school) (tables 2.1 and 2.3). The victimization rate declined for thefts at school between 1992 and 1998 as it did for thefts away from school during this period (figure 2.1 and tables 2.2 and 2.4).
• Considering total nonfatal crime (theft plus violent crime), 12- through 18-year-old students were victims of about 2.7 million crimes while they were at school in 1998, and about 2.5 million away from school (tables 2.1 and 2.3). These represent victimization rates of 101 crimes per 1,000 students at school, and 95 crimes per 1,000 students away from school (figure 2.1 and tables 2.2 and 2.4).
• In 1998, the rates for serious violent crimes and theft were about the same for males and females at school, but higher for males than females away from school (figures 2.2 and 2.3 and tables 2.2 and 2.4).
• In 1998, 12- through 18-year-old students living outside urban areas were just as vulnerable to serious violent crime and theft at school as were urban students (figures 2.2 and table 2.2). Away from school, urban and suburban students were more vulnerable to serious violent crime and theft than were rural students (figure 2.3 and table 2.4).
• Younger students (ages 12 through 14) were more likely than older students (ages 15 through 18) to be victims of crime at school. However, older students were more likely than younger students to be victimized away from school (figures 2.2 and 2.3 and tables 2.2 and 2.4).

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