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Digest of Education Statistics
2023 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 231.10.Percentage of students in grades 9-12 who reported having been in a physical fight at least one time during the previous 12 months, by location and selected student characteristics: Selected years, 1993 through 2021
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Location and student characteristic199319951997199920012003200520072009201120132015201720192021
12345678910111213141516
Anywhere (including on school property)1
   Total 41.8(0.99)38.7(1.14)36.6(1.01)35.7(1.17)33.2(0.71)33.0(0.99)35.9(0.77)35.5(0.77)31.5(0.70)32.8(0.65)24.7(0.74)22.6(0.87)23.6 (0.97)21.9 (0.81)18.3 (1.08)
Sex
  Male 51.2(1.05)46.1(1.09)45.5(1.07)44.0(1.27)43.1(0.84)40.5(1.32)43.4(1.01)44.4(0.89)39.3(1.20)40.7(0.74)30.2(1.10)28.4(1.04)30.0 (1.14)28.3 (1.23)23.2 (1.51)
  Female 31.7(1.19)30.6(1.49)26.0(1.26)27.3(1.70)23.9(0.95)25.1(0.85)28.1(0.94)26.5(0.99)22.9(0.74)24.4(0.92)19.2(0.72)16.5(1.04)17.2 (1.01)15.3 (1.01)13.1 (0.77)

Race/ethnicity
  American Indian/Alaska Native 49.8(4.79)47.2(6.44)54.7(5.75)48.7(6.78)49.2(6.58)46.6(6.53)44.2(3.40)36.0(1.49)42.4(5.23)42.4(2.12)32.1(7.39)29.9(5.07)34.7 (6.36)40.2 (6.85)30.9 (5.90)
  Asian2 ---(†)---(†)---(†)22.7(2.71)22.3(2.73)25.9(2.99)21.6(2.43)24.3(3.50)18.9(1.72)18.4(1.87)16.1(1.87)14.7(1.12)11.0 (1.61)12.0 (1.87)9.3 (2.04)
  Black 49.5(1.82)41.6(1.99)43.0(1.92)41.4(3.12)36.5(1.60)39.7(1.23)43.1(1.74)44.7(1.33)41.1(1.71)39.1(1.52)34.7(1.67)32.4(2.11)33.2 (2.49)30.2 (1.77)25.8 (1.01)
  Hispanic 43.2(1.58)47.9(2.69)40.7(1.68)39.9(1.65)35.8(0.91)36.1(0.98)41.0(1.64)40.4(1.25)36.2(0.95)36.8(1.44)28.4(1.15)23.0(1.10)25.7 (1.85)22.6 (1.12)17.4 (1.00)
  Pacific Islander2 ---(†)---(†)---(†)50.7(3.42)51.7(6.25)30.0(5.21)34.4(5.58)42.6(7.74)32.6(3.50)43.0(5.14)22.0(4.95)29.2(7.98)22.6 (2.47)18.2 (4.85)18.6 (5.35)
  White 40.3(1.13)36.0(1.06)33.7(1.29)33.1(1.45)32.2(0.95)30.5(1.11)33.1(0.88)31.7(0.96)27.8(0.88)29.4(0.74)20.9(0.70)20.1(1.13)20.8 (0.82)19.8 (0.97)17.3 (1.65)
  Two or more races2 ---(†)---(†)---(†)40.2(2.76)39.6(2.85)38.2(3.64)46.9(4.16)47.8(3.30)34.2(3.51)45.0(2.60)28.5(2.31)27.6(2.58)25.5 (2.30)28.7 (2.43)21.0 (1.98)

Sexual identity3
  Heterosexual ---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)21.7 (0.78)23.2 (0.95)21.4 (0.87)17.5 (0.77)
  Gay or Lesbian---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)28.4 (3.76)22.8 (3.44)21.2 (3.39)13.4 (2.14)
  Bisexual  ---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)28.5 (3.01)29.3 (2.19)24.7 (1.90)20.5 (1.84)
  Not sure  --- (†) ---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)34.5 (4.43)19.8 (2.83)21.1 (2.59)---(†)
  Other/questioning --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)14.7 (1.69)

Grade
  9th  50.4 (1.54) 47.3 (2.22)44.8(1.98)41.1(1.96)39.5(1.27)38.6(1.38)43.5(1.15)40.9(1.16)37.0(1.21)37.7(1.11)28.3(1.17)27.9(1.51)28.3 (1.53)25.8 (1.51)22.3 (1.60)
  10th 42.2(1.45)40.4(1.49)40.2(1.91)37.7(2.11)34.7(1.37)33.5(1.20)36.6(1.09)36.2(1.34)33.5(1.19)35.3(1.35)26.4(1.42)23.4(1.46)26.2 (1.14)23.3 (1.07)18.5 (1.20)
  11th 40.5(1.52)36.9(1.48)34.2(1.72)31.3(1.55)29.1(1.10)30.9(1.38)31.6(1.44)34.8(1.36)28.6(0.93)29.7(1.14)24.0(1.04)20.5(1.23)20.4 (0.91)20.0 (1.01)16.5 (1.30)
  12th 34.8(1.56)31.0(1.71)28.8(1.36)30.4(1.91)26.5(1.01)26.5(1.08)29.1(1.26)28.0(1.42)24.9(0.99)26.9(0.95)18.8(1.19)17.4(1.23)17.8 (1.52)17.6 (1.08)15.3 (0.90)

On school property4
   Total 16.2(0.59)15.5(0.79)14.8(0.64)14.2(0.62)12.5(0.49)12.8(0.76)13.6(0.56)12.4(0.48)11.1(0.54)12.0(0.39)8.1(0.35)7.8(0.54)8.5 (0.53)8.0 (0.50)5.8 (0.76)
Sex
  Male 23.5(0.71)21.0(0.90)20.0(1.04)18.5(0.66)18.0(0.74)17.1(0.92)18.2(0.93)16.3(0.60)15.1(1.05)16.0(0.58)10.7(0.55)10.3(0.79)11.6 (0.62)11.4 (0.72)8.1 (1.37)
  Female 8.6(0.73)9.5(1.03)8.6(0.78)9.8(0.95)7.2(0.47)8.0(0.70)8.8(0.52)8.5(0.62)6.7(0.42)7.8(0.43)5.6(0.38)5.0(0.45)5.6 (0.54)4.4 (0.45)3.2 (0.28)

Race/ethnicity
  American Indian/Alaska Native 18.6(2.74)31.4(5.58)18.9(5.55)16.2!(5.23)18.2(4.41)24.2(5.03)22.0(3.16)15.0(1.12)20.7(3.73)12.0(1.77)10.7(3.13)13.2(3.54)8.6!(3.74)18.9!(5.70)3.1!(1.54)
  Asian2 ---(†)---(†)---(†)10.4(0.95)10.8(1.92)13.1(2.26)5.9(1.53)8.5(1.99)7.7(1.09)6.2(1.06)5.5(1.39)6.3(1.63)3.7 (1.00)4.9 (1.47)1.7!(0.74)
  Black 22.0(1.39)20.3(1.25)20.7(1.20)18.7(1.51)16.8(1.26)17.1(1.30)16.9(1.39)17.6(1.10)17.4(0.99)16.4(0.89)12.8(0.84)12.6(1.96)15.3 (1.45)15.5 (1.06)8.5 (0.99)
  Hispanic 17.9(1.75)21.1(1.68)19.0(1.50)15.7(0.91)14.1(0.89)16.7(1.14)18.3(1.62)15.5(0.81)13.5(0.82)14.4(0.79)9.4(0.44)8.9(0.87)9.4 (0.90)7.8 (0.68)5.4 (0.48)
  Pacific Islander2 ---(†)---(†)---(†)25.3(4.60)29.1(7.63)22.2(4.82)24.5(5.60)9.6!(3.47)14.8(2.37)20.9(4.41)7.1!(2.58)20.9!(7.11)14.2 (3.58)9.1!(3.38) (†)
  White 15.0(0.68)12.9(0.62)13.3(0.84)12.3(0.86)11.2(0.60)10.0(0.73)11.6(0.66)10.2(0.56)8.6(0.58)9.9(0.51)6.4(0.45)5.6(0.35)6.5 (0.64)6.4 (0.51)5.4 (1.29)
  Two or more races2 ---(†)---(†)---(†)16.9(2.40)14.7(1.97)20.2(3.83)15.8(2.61)19.6(2.39)12.4(2.19)16.6(1.41)10.0(1.04)9.3(1.49)9.2 (1.36)11.0 (1.76)7.6 (1.29)

Sexual identity3
  Heterosexual ---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)7.1 (0.51)8.3 (0.56)7.8 (0.51)5.1 (0.34)
  Gay or Lesbian --- (†) --- (†)--- (†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)11.8 (2.60)9.9 (2.06)8.4 (2.17)3.6!(1.43)
  Bisexual ---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)11.0 (1.59)9.5 (1.35)8.2 (1.06)5.4 (0.57)
  Not sure ---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)14.6 (2.36)11.8 (2.25)9.6 (1.99)---(†)
  Other/questioning---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)---(†)4.5 (0.91)

Grade
  9th 23.1(1.55)21.6(1.79)21.3(1.29)18.6(1.02)17.3(0.77)18.0(1.24)18.9(0.93)17.0(0.67)14.9(0.98)16.2(0.77)10.9(0.78)11.6(0.82)12.3 (1.05)11.0 (0.87)8.5 (1.35)
  10th 17.2(1.07)16.5(1.57)17.0(1.67)17.2(1.23)13.5(0.88)12.8(0.89)14.4(1.08)11.7(0.86)12.1(0.83)12.8(0.86)8.3(0.61)7.3(0.76)9.6 (0.74)8.3 (0.60)5.3 (1.01)
  11th 13.8(1.27)13.6(1.00)12.5(0.87)10.8(1.01)9.4(0.71)10.4(0.89)10.4(0.75)11.0(0.73)9.5(0.63)9.2(0.55)7.5(0.53)6.5(0.83)6.0 (0.66)6.4 (0.73)4.6 (0.69)
  12th 11.4(0.66)10.6(0.73)9.5(0.73)8.1(1.00)7.5(0.56)7.3(0.70)8.5(0.70)8.6(0.62)6.6(0.59)8.8(0.69)4.9(0.63)4.5(0.51)5.0 (0.61)5.8 (0.70)4.1 (0.51)
---Not available.
†Not applicable.
!Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is between 30 and 50 percent.
‡Reporting standards not met. Either there are too few cases for a reliable estimate or the coefficient of variation (CV) is 50 percent or greater.
1The term "anywhere" is not used in the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) questionnaire; students were simply asked how many times in the past 12 months they had been in a physical fight.
2Before 1999, Asian students and Pacific Islander students were not categorized separately, and students could not be classified as Two or more races. Because the response categories changed in 1999, caution should be used in comparing data on race from 1993, 1995, and 1997 with data from later years.
3From 2015 to 2019, students were asked which of the following best described them: "heterosexual (straight)," "gay or lesbian," "bisexual," or "not sure." In 2021, the response options were updated to include "heterosexual (straight)," "gay or lesbian," "bisexual," "I am not sure about my sexual identity (questioning)," "I describe my sexual identity in some other way," or "I do not know what this question is asking." Students who selected "I do not know what this question is asking" are considered to be missing the sexual identity variable and thus excluded from the analyses. Because the response categories changed in 2021, caution should be used in comparing data on sexual identity from 2021 with data from earlier years.
4In the question asking students about physical fights at school, "on school property" was not defined for respondents.
NOTE: Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity.
SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Adolescent and School Health, Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS), 1993 through 2021. (This table was prepared July 2023.)

2023 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest