Incidence of Victimization at School and Away From School

• NCJ Number: 304624
• Author(s): Alexandra Thompson, BJS Statistician
• Date Published: May 2022
• Publication Series: Indicators of School Crime and Safety
• Publication Type: Publication

Description

Incidence of Victimization at School and Away From School includes data from BJS’s National Crime Victimization Survey. It is now included in the National Center for Education Statistics' (NCES) Condition of Education, which contains key indicators on the condition of education in the United States from prekindergarten through postsecondary, as well as labor force outcomes and international comparisons published through an online report. Following the May 2022 release, the BJS and NCES regular joint publication entitled Report on Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2021 will be published in June 2022.

Highlights

• In 2020, students ages 12 to 18 experienced 285,400 victimizations at school and 380,900 victimizations away from school.
• From 2019 to 2020, the total victimization rate at school decreased from 30 victimizations per 1,000 students to 11 victimizations per 1,000 students—a decrease of more than 60 percent.
• The total victimization rate away from school in 2020 (15 victimizations per 1,000 students) was not statistically different from the rate in 2019.
• Based on the 2020 survey, the total victimization rate at school for students ages 12 to 18 was more than two times higher for male students (15 victimizations per 1,000 students) than for female students (7 per 1,000).
• There were no statistically significant differences in the rates of total victimization away from school between male (14 victimizations per 1,000 students) and female students (16 per 1,000).