15. Students' reports of gangs at school

This indicator repeats information from the 2002 Indicators of School Crime and Safety report.

In 2001, students ages 12?18 in urban schools were the most likely to report the presence of street gangs at their school, followed by suburban students and rural students.

Street gangs are organized groups that are often involved in drugs, weapons trafficking, and violence. The presence of street gangs in school can be very disruptive to the school environment because they may not only create fear among students but also increase the level of violence in school (Laub and Lauritsen 1998). In the School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey, students ages 12?18 were asked if street gangs are present in their schools. In 2001, 20 percent of students reported that there were gangs at their schools (table 15.1). Students in urban schools were the most likely to report the presence of street gangs at their school (29 percent), followed by suburban students and rural students, who were the least likely to do so (18 and 13 percent, respectively).

Hispanic and Black students were more likely than White students to report the existence of street gangs in their schools in 2001 (32 and 29 percent, respectively, vs.16 percent). This pattern also held among students in urban schools and suburban schools. Students in public schools were more likely to report the presence of street gangs than students in private schools (figure 15.1 and table 15.1). In 2001, 22 percent of students in public schools reported that there were street gangs in their schools, compared with 5 percent in private schools.

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