According to the Post-Gazette, the Pennsylvania Department of Education has released their annual safety report claiming that less than 3% of students were involved in violence in the schools.
The School Safety Report for 2004-05 shows a decline in school violence for the second year in a row and significant decreases in fights, assaults on students, burglaries, racial and ethnic intimidation and incidents involving firearms.
The report also suggests violent incidents have decreased across the board:
It shows incidents involving firearms dropped by 38 percent; burglaries are down by 43 percent; incidents of intimidation fell by 25 percent and other types of harassment declined by 23 percent.
A leading safety organization disputes these findings. National School Safety and Security Services out of Cleveland questions the decrease when school violence is on the rise across the state.
And what about the gay kids? According to the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network's National School Climate Survey released in April, four out of five LGBTQ students report incidents of violence.
The Scope of the Problem:
75. 4% of students heard derogatory remarks such as "faggot" or "dyke" frequently or often at school, and nearly nine out of ten (89.2%) reported hearing "that's so gay" or "you're so gay" - meaning stupid or worthless- frequently or often. Over a third (37.8%) of students experienced physical harassment at school on the basis of sexual orientation and more than a quarter (26.1%) on the basis of their gender expression. Nearly one-fifth (17.6%) of students had been physically assaulted because of their sexual orientation and over a tenth (11.8%) because of their gender expression.
Now I find it incredibly hard to believe that incidents of violence are decreasing that significantly without a serious statewide intervention plan which I am sure does not exist. Back in the day when I was in school, life was nasty, brutish and short if you were on the wrong end of the pummeling. There were plenty of bullies and even more people egging them on as they spit on, beat up, mauled, assaulted, pushed, shoved, grabbed, pinched, twisted, kicked, restrained and generally violated other kids. School was a survival course in violence avoidance with few instructions and little effective intervention from the faculty.
And let's not forget rising rates of cyber harassment which the school districts have decried but denied reponsibility for if the behavior originates from a non-campus computer.
I think the PA Department of Education is being disengenuous at best.
