Parents of school-age children worry twice as much as teens do
about the physical safety of kids at school, by a margin of 31%* to
16%**. This difference should come as no surprise to anyone who has
raised children. However, it may surprise some to learn that black
teens (22%) and Hispanic teens (23%) worry almost twice as much
about their own safety at school as do white teens (13%).
Last month in Tuesday Briefing, we explored parents'
attitudes about their children's safety at school (see "Parents
Concerned About School Safety" in Related Items). To take a
comparative look at the concerns of teens themselves, we combined
Gallup Youth Survey responses from 2000 and 2001 to the question,
"When you are in school, do you ever fear for your physical
safety?"
Location, Location, Location
Whites are significantly less likely to worry about school
safety than are nonwhites in both the adult and teen populations.
Such differences can also be clearly viewed according to income
levels, which are related to school location. The lower average
income in black and Hispanic households than in white households
(the 2000 Census reports the average household income for whites is
$51,224 compared to $31,778 for blacks and $31,663 for Hispanics)
contributes to the higher likelihood that black and Hispanic teens
will attend schools in lower income neighborhoods. Such schools are
more likely to be perceived as unsafe, helping explain the racial
difference in views about school safety.
James, a black high school sophomore from suburban New Jersey,
was surprised to even be questioned about his safety concerns at
school. His remarks may be typical of kids schooled in middle-class
suburbs: "No, I don't worry about it. Why would I? There's nothing
to worry about." In the inner cities, however, kids do express more
anxiety. Unlike adults, who are equally likely to say they worry
about the physical safety of their children at school regardless of
whether they live in an urban area or a suburb (31% of parents in
each location say they do), city teens themselves are more
likely to worry than their suburban counterparts -- 21% compared to
12%.
"Yes, sometimes I do fear for my physical safety at school,"
admits Sasha, a Hispanic sophomore at a high school in Trenton,
N.J. "… Kids are crazy. They want to solve their problems by
violence. Our school has security, but they don't always show up on
time." A fellow student has a different attitude -- he's not less
concerned, but he has confidence in the staff to protect his
identity from the other students. "I feel if I ever had a problem,
I know that I could always tell the administration and I would
remain anonymous," volunteers Marqui, a black senior at the same
high school.
Key Points
Although they don't worry to the extent that their parents do
about school safety, 16% of all teens are sometimes anxious about
their physical well-being at school. Particularly concerned are
nonwhite high school teens whose parents' educational background
and income may place them in neighborhoods that are less safe than
others, and in larger classes in which supervision is more
difficult.
*Results are based on aggregated data from telephone interviews
with 840 parents with children in kindergarten through
12th grade in Gallup's 2000-2002 Work and Education
polls, all conducted in August. For results based on the total
sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of
sampling error is ±4%.
**Findings for teens are based on Gallup Youth Survey aggregated
data from telephone interviews with 1,503 teens, aged 13 to 17,
conducted in January 2000 and September 2001.
