THE REALITY OF SCHOOL-BASED YOUTH CRIME IS THAT IT IS DECREASING

• Nationwide statistics gathered by the Justice Policy Institute and the U.S. Department of Education show that general crime is on the decrease at public schools since 1990 - some studies say by as much as 30%. Meanwhile, less than 1% of all violent incidents involving adolescents occur on school property. According to these rates, a child is 3 times more likely to be struck by lightning than to be killed violently at school. (2001)

Information from: http://www.abanet.org/crimjust/juvjus/zerotolreport.html

• By virtually every measure, all types of school crimes are declining. Non-fatal school crimes in general have decrease: reported school crimes decreased 29%; serious violent crimes, 34%; violent crimes, 27%; and thefts, 29%.

  Information from: http://www.jlc.org/Resources/pdfs/douglas_d_amicus_brief.pdf

• There is one in two million chance of being killed in schools, yet polls suggest that almost three quarters of Americans think it is "likely" that a shooting will occur in their schools.

  Information from: http://www.jlc.org/Resources/pdfs/douglas_d_amicus_brief.pdf

• These national statistics from the National Center for Educational Statistics' 1998 study titled, Condition of Education, reflect the lack of change in misconduct before and after school districts introduced zero tolerance policies. There are very small differences when comparing the before and after data. (http://www.arc.org/erase/FTC2zero.html)

Other Resources:

• Zero Tolerance Policies : Introduction

• What Is Zero Tolerance & It's Impact

• Zero Tolerance Websites

• Weekly End Zero Tolerance Updates By JLC