NCJ Number
182894
Date Published
April 2000
Length
40 pages
Annotation
This analysis of recent data on school crime and recent judicial decisions on school violence concludes that the actual risks that students experience in schools differ substantially from the image echoed in opinion polls and reported by the media.
Abstract
The analysis also concludes that no discernable trend exists in either Federal or State courts to impose legal liability on school districts where children are injured or killed by third parties. Instead, administrators may well risk liability if they act too impulsively to exclude youth from school without proper due-process protections, particularly for students experiencing educational disabilities. The analysis uses data on school crime from the National Center for Educational Statistics, the National School Safety Center, and the Bureau of Justice Statistics and juvenile arrest statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. The analysis also considers the efficacy and impact of excluding large numbers of mainly minority and disabled children from schools. Recommendations highlight the best practices recommended by researchers to reduce school violence. Reference notes