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Cover, Title Page and Executive Summary (95Kb)

 

Section 1: Introduction (161Kb)

A general overview of the study including the descriptions of methodology, research instrument, data collection process and analysis of this report.

Section 2: Comprehensive Survey Results (144Kb)

Includes data and graphics from the entire survey sample of 1,802 students from 11 Los Angeles Unified District Schools.

Section 3: Comparsions by Gender (124Kb)

Includes data and graphics that reflect how young men and young women included in this survey perceive issues.

Section 4: Comparisons by Race (148Kb)

This section presents cross tabulations and graphics that permit comparisons by Latinos, African-Americans, Anglos and Asian-Pacific Islanders

Section 5: Comparisons by Grade (137Kb)

Survey data broken down by 9th through 12th grade levels.

Section 6: Comparisons by Schools (205Kb)

The schools included in this survey are: Hamilton, Belmont, Fremont, Hollywood, Jordan, Wilson, Manual Arts, Huntingtion Park and South Gate as well as 55 students under supervision of LA County Probation Department. This section breaks down survey data and graphics along these lines.

Sections 7 and 8: Conclusions and References (86Kb)

Conclusions drawn from this study are presented here along with a bibliography of referenced material.

Appendix: In Their Own Words (305Kb)

This lengthy appendix records the narrative responses of the 1,802 students to four open-ended questions concerning violence in their schools. The anonymous responses have been transcribed verbatim and have not been edited or corrected. These questions provided students with an opportunity to express in their own words their views about the causes of and solutions to school violence.

For at least the last 10 years, questions and concerns about the physical safety of public school students have preoccupied many Americans and American institutions. A plethora of published research studies has raised doubts about the traditional perceptions of public schools as safe havens for children.

Incidents of gang violence, racial conflict, intentional shooting and other fears about weapons taking over schools have created the widespread impression that high schools are combat zones. Yet a sizable body of research has suggested, in essence, the contrary: that despite clear indications of exponential increase in youth and community violence, students still see their schools as safe harbors.

This study grew out of a need to expand the public understanding of issues often lumped together under the catch-all, "school safety and violence."

This report contains results of one of the largest research studies of its type ever conducted. For this study, 1,802 students at 11 high schools and several continuation schools of the Los Angeles Unified School District were surveyed on a range of issues related to their experiences with violence, their own and their friends' weapons possession and their suggestions for ways to lessen violence, racial tension and conflict.

The study relied on a questionnaire administered by multiracial teams of research workers throughout the 1995-96 LAUSD school year. The instrument posed a mix of quantitative and qualitative questions that at once gathered objective data for statistical analysis and narrative responses in which students were encouraged to frame relevant issues in their own words.

This report presents both the numerical data and the subjective responses of these students. The racial composition of the sample included in the survey mirrors the race makeup of the high school population of the LAUSD. The sample is 68.1% Latino, 6.9% Asian-Pacific Islander, 14.6% African-American and 9.4% Anglo. It is divided among all four high school grades, with the largest numbers of respondents in 10th, 11th and 12th grades.

Its findings:

Comprehensive Survey Results

49.1% of students saw a weapon at school, with cutting instruments (57.2%) and firearms (30%) the most commonly seen weapons.

44.1% of students saw a weapon on their way to and from school, with cutting instruments seen by 47.8% of the students and firearms by 41.6%.

13.9% of respondents said they had themselves taken a weapon to school, with 9% of the entire sample saying they took cutting instruments, 2.5% guns, 1.3% "other" weapons and 1.1% weapons they did not identify.

1.4% of students said they "always" take weapons to school; 2.1% said they do so frequently and 9.9% said they had done so only once or occasionally.

64.5% of students saw a teen with a weapon in their neighborhood; 57% have friends who own guns.

48.2% of students said it would be "easy" for them to get a gun, with 43.5% saying it would take less than a week.

58.7% of students said they could purchase a gun for $50-200, with 25.1% saying that they could obtain a gun for less than $50.

58.7% of students said that cutting instruments were the most common weapon brought to school; 16.7% believed firearms were the most common.

39.4% of students said that gangs were the main reason for bringing weapons to school; 29.5% said that safety to/from school was the principle reason, with only 14% giving safety at school as the primary justification.

38.2% of students said they had seen a shooting going to/from school, while 13.5% said they witnessed a shooting at school.

44.6% of students said their school does not use metal detectors; 38.5% said that they don't feel safer with metal detectors, with 20.6% unsure if metal detectors increase school safety; 63.6% of students said that metal detectors do not serve as a deterrent to keep weapons off campus.

58.6% of students said wearing certain types of clothing puts them at risk; 57.1 of students said they disapprove of a dress code, while 33% said they favor having a uniform.

35% of students saw a teen shot in their neighborhood; 40.6% have seen a drive-by shooting.

36.2% of students said drug deals occur frequently in their neighborhoods, while 22.2% believed drugs deals happen occasionally.

45.5% of students have experienced racial tensions at their schools, while 30.2% felt no racial tensions. 48.5% have friends who were involved in violent racial conflicts.

39.5% of students said conflict-resolution instruction would be an effective way of reducing school violence; 45.8% said classes in race/cultural sensitivity would also help decrease school violence.

Comparisons by Gender

59.2% of males and 39.8% of females saw a weapon at school, with cutting instruments seen by 67.4% of females and 50.4% of males and firearms by 33.9% of males and 24% of females.

50% of males and 37.9% of females saw a weapon on their way to and from school, with cutting instruments seen by 51.4% of females and 45.6% of males and firearms by 41.8% of females and 41.3% of males.

19.7% of males and 8% of females have taken a weapon to school; of those who brought weapons to school 75% of females and 68.8% of males took cutting instruments and 23.1% of males and 11.8% of females brought firearms.

73.4% of males and 55.2% of females saw a teen with a weapon in their neighborhood; 63.1% of males and 51% of females have a friend who owns a gun.

57.3% of males and 38.6% of females said obtaining a gun would be easy, with 42.2% of males and 35.9% of females saying it would take a day or less to locate a gun.

34.4% of males and 44.6% of females said gangs were the main reason for bringing weapons to school; 32.5% of males and 26.8% of females cited safety to/from school as the most important reason for taking guns to schools.

47.3% of males and 41.8% of females were unaware if their school uses metal detectors; only 22.2% of males and 21.5% of females believe that detectors keep weapons off campus.

35% of males and 40.6% of females feel safer with metal detectors.

40.7% of males and 29.2% of females saw a teen shot in their neighborhood; 47.5% of males and 33.4% of females witnessed a drive-by shooting. 54.9% of males and 57.9% of females knew a victim of a drive-by.

37.2% of males and 35% of females believed drugs deals occur frequently in their neighborhood, while 21.9% of males and 22.5% of females said drug deals happen occasionally.

50.1% of females and 40.8% of males said there were racial tensions at their school; 54.2% of males and 42.4% of females said they had friends who were involved in a violent interracial conflict.

37.1% of males and 41.9% of females said conflict-resolution classes would held reduce school violence; 50.2% of females and 41.4% of males believed race/culture sensitivity classes would help accomplish the same objective.

Comparisons by Race

57.3% of Anglos, 52.9% of Asian-Pacific Islanders., 50.6% of Latinos, and 49.4% of Africa Americans saw a weapon at school, with 68.3% of Anglos, 60% of Asian-Pac. Isl., 55.2% of Latinos, and 54.4% of Afr.-Am. seeing cutting instruments and 32.8% of Latinos, 30.1% of Afr.-Am., 20% of Anglos, and 18% of Asian-Pac. Isl. viewing firearms.

53.9% of Latinos, 50.2% of Afr.-Am., 34.7% of Asian-Pac. Isl., and 30.9% of Anglos saw a weapon on their to and from school, with 57.4% of Anglos, 52.6% of Asian-Pac. Isl., 46.7% of Latinos, and 45.3% of Afr.-Am. seeing cutting instruments and 44.4% of Latinos, 40.6% of Afr-Am., 39.5% of Asian-Am. Pac. Isl., and 21.3% of Anglos seeing firearms.

22.4% of Afr-Am., 13.1% of Latinos, 12.5% of Asian-Pac. Isl., and 9.1% of Anglos have taken a weapon to school, with 84.6% of Asian-Pac. Isl., 71.4% of Anglos, 69.4% of Latinos, and 68% of Afr-Am. bringing cutting instruments and 22.4% of Latinos, 16% of Afr-Am., 15.4% of Latinos, and 14.3% of Anglos taking firearms.

64.1% of Asian-Isl. Pac., 59.9% of Afr-Am., 58.9% of Latinos, and 52.1% of Anglos said buying a gun would cost $50-200, while 28.6% of Afr.-Am., 25.6% of Latinos, 23.2% of Anglos, and 15.4% of Asian-Pac. Isl. said they could purchase a gun for $50 or less.

43.9% of Latinos, 37.9% of Anglos, 37.8% of Asian-Pac. Isl., and 21.7% of Afr.-Am. said gang rivalry was the main reason students brought weapons to school; 43.4% of Afr-Am., 30.6% of Asian-Pac. Isl., 28.2% of Latinos, and 18.5% of Anglos cited safety to/from school as the primary reason for bringing weapons to school.

14% of Latinos, 13.4% of Anglos, 13.1 of Afr.-Am., and 12.4% of Asian-Pac. Isl. saw a shooting at school, while 41% of Latinos, 40.1% of Afr-Am., 30.8% of Asian-Pac. Isl., and 25.6% of Anglos witnessed a shooting on their way to and from school.

55.6% of Asian-Pac. Isl., 54.9% of Afr.-Am., 44.8% of Anglos, and 40.9% of Latinos said their school does not use metal detectors; 49.6% of Anglos, 47.7% of Afr-Am., 34.5% of Latinos, and 22.2% of Asian-Pac. Isl. do not feel safer with detectors.

72.1% of Afr.-Am., 65% of Asian-Pac. Isl., 62.7% of Anglos, and 61.3% of Latinos thought that metal detectors do not keep weapons off campus.

58.8% of Latinos, 58.3% of Asian-Pac. Isl., 53.7% of Anglos, and 48.6% of Afr.-Am. said that wearing certain types of clothes put them at risk.

Despite that the majority of students feel that certain clothes put them at risk, 66.3% of Afr.-Am., 63.2% of Anglos, 54.3% of Latinos, and 50.8% of Asian-Pac. Isl. were against the idea of a school dress code or uniform.

39.8% of Latinos, 34.4% of Afr.-Am., 22.3% of Asian-Pac. Isl., and 15.9% of Anglos witnessed a shooting of someone 17 or under in their neighborhood; 45.5% of Latinos, 41.7% of Afr.-Am., 28.9% of Asian-Pac. Isl., and 16.7% of Anglos said they had witnessed a drive-by shooting.

64.6% of Afr.-Am., 58.4% of Latinos, 44.2% of Asian-Pac. Isl., and 41.5% of Anglos knew a teen drive-by victim.

66.9% of Anglos, 61.2% of Asian-Pac. Isl., 54.1% of Afr.-Am., and 38.6% of Latinos, who make up the largest racial group, believed that racial tensions exist at their school.

54.8% of Afr.-Am., 53.4% of Anglos, 46.4% of Latinos, and 45.5% of Asian-Pac. Isl. have friends who were involved in violent racial conflict.

40.1% of Latinos, 38.1% of Afr.-Am., 37.9% of Anglos, and 37.2% of Asian-Pac. Isl. thought that conflict resolution classes would help reduce school violence.

49.6% of Asian-Pac. Isl., 47.2% of Anglos, 46.1% of Latinos, and 42.7% of Afr.-Am. thought that race/culture sensitivity classes would help reduce school violence.

Comparisons by Grade

53.1% of 12th graders, 50.3% of 11th graders, 47.7% of 9th graders, and 41.1% of 10th graders saw a weapon at school, with 68% of 9th graders, 56.8% of 12th graders, 56.4% of 11th graders, and 48.3% of 10th graders seeing cutting instruments and 40% of 10th graders, 30.8% of 11th graders, 26.5% of 12th graders, and 26.4% of 9th graders seeing firearms.

Rates at which students see weapons to or from school increase by grade level, with 47.3% of 12th graders, 44.1% of 11th graders, 41.8% of 10th graders, and 39.6% of 9th graders seeing weapons to/from school.

For students who saw weapons, 54% of 9th graders, 51.7% of 11th graders, 46.3% of 10th graders, and 43.1% of 12th graders saw cutting instruments, while 43.1% of 10th graders, 41.6% of 12th graders, 41.1% of 11th graders, and 40% of 9th graders saw firearms.

16.2% of 9th graders, 15.7%of 12th graders, 13.9% of 10th graders, and 10.4% of 11th graders reported taking a weapon to school, with 74% of 12th graders, 73.8% of 9th graders, 71.4% of 10th graders, and 59.2% of 11th graders taking cutting instruments and 28.6% of 11th graders, 21.4% of 9th graders, 16.7% of 10th graders, and 15.6% of 12th graders taking firearms.

Of those students who do take weapons to school, the highest proportions of students who say that they always take them are 11th graders with 13.7% and 12th graders with 11.7%. 8.9% of 9th graders and 8.3% of 10th graders also say that they always take weapons; 20% of 9th graders, 19.6% of 11th graders, 13.3% of 12th graders, and 12.5% of 10th graders of those who take weapons say they take them frequently.

65% of 11th graders, 64.6% of 12th graders, 64.1% of 9th graders, and 63.5% of 10th graders reported seeing a teen with a weapon in their neighborhood.

63% of 12th graders, 54.2% of 9th graders, 54.1% of 11th graders, and 52.8 % of 10th graders have friends who own a gun.

56.6% of 12th graders, 47.2% of 11th graders, 40.5% of 10th graders, and 39.8% of 9th graders said it would be easy for them to obtain a gun.

Among all four grades, the most common opinion was that it would take a few days to get a gun, with 29% of 12th graders, 24.9% of 9th graders, 23.8% of 10th graders, and 21.5% of 11th graders saying this; 9.7% of 11th graders, 8.3% of 9th graders, 6.8% of 12th graders, and 5.2% of 10th graders say they could get a gun in less than an hour.

Most students thought that guns would cost in the $50-$200 range, with 60.9% of 12th graders, 58% of 10th graders, 57.4% of 11th graders, and 56.6% of 9th graders saying this; 32.7% of 9th graders, 24.7% of 11th graders, 22.7% of 12th graders, and 22% of 10th graders said that they thought they could obtain a gun for less than $50.

43.9% of 9th graders, 41.1% of 10th graders, 38.1% of 11th graders, and 37.8% of 12th graders thought that weapons are brought because of concerns about gangs, 30.9% of 10th graders, 30.7% of 11th graders, 30.2% of 12th graders, and 24% of 9th graders thought they are brought to ensure safety to or from school.

15.5% of 12th graders, 13.2% of 11th graders, 12.2% of 9th graders, and 10.8% of 10th graders have witnessed a shooting at school; 41.9% of 12th graders, 37.7% of 11th graders, 34.9% of 10th graders, and 34.1% of 9th graders have witnessed a shooting on the way to or from school.

43.8% of 9th graders, 37.9% of 12th graders, 36.1% of 11th graders, and 35.2% of 10th graders feel that metal detectors make them safer at school.

65.9% of 12th graders, 64.8% of 11th graders, 60.8% of 9th graders, and 59.5% of 10th graders believe that metal detectors do not keep weapons off campus.

60% of 12th graders, 56.6% of 11th graders, 54.3% of 9th graders, and 53% of 10th graders believe that wearing certain items of clothing put them at risk.

Although most students felt that wearing certain clothes put them at risk, 64.6% of 9th graders, 60.5% of 10th graders, 55.4% of 11th graders, and 53.3% of 12th graders were against the idea of a dress code or uniform.

39.2% of 10th graders, 36.2% of 9th graders, 35.7% of 12th graders, and 30.8% of 11th graders saw a teen shot in their neighborhood.

43% of 10th graders, 42.5% of 11th graders, 40.1% of 12th graders, and 35.5% of 9th graders have seen a drive-by shooting; 59.2% of 12th graders, 56.3% of 9th graders, 55.2% of 10th graders, and 53.6% of 11th graders knew a teenage victim of a drive-by shooting.

49.6% of 10th graders, 49% of 12th graders, 42.7% of 11th graders, and 37% of 9th graders report that there is racial tension at their school.

52.6% of 10th graders, 50.8% of 12th graders, 45% of 11th graders, and 43.7% of 9th graders have friends who have been involved in violent racial conflict.

Except in 9th grade, more students than not felt that conflict resolution classes would help reduce violence, with 43.1% of 12th graders, 39.8% of 11th graders, 39.1% of 10th graders, and 31.7% of 9th graders saying those classes would be beneficial.

More students than not agreed that classes in race/culture sensitivity would help reduce violence, with the%age rising as students got older, from 37.3% in 9th grade to 40.7% in 10th grade and to 48.1% in 11th grade and 50.3% in 12th grade.

Comparisons By Grade

Four of the 11 schools had a majority of respondents who have seen a weapon at school, percentages of students who have seen a weapon at school range from a low of 41.5% at Reseda to a high of 63.2% at South Gate.

Cutting instruments were the most common weapons seen in 10 of the 11 schools, with only Fremont and the Probation sample seeing more firearms than cutting instruments; percentages for cutting instruments in schools ranged from 31.3% to 75%, firearms ranged from 16.9% to 40%.

Three of the 11 schools have a majority of students who said that they saw a weapon on the way to or from school, percentages range from 32.7% in Hollywood to 56.7% in South Gate.

Students from nine of the 11 schools said that cutting instruments were the most common weapon seen to or from school, percentages of cutting instruments seen ranged from 35% at Fremont to 61.8% at Fairfax; firearms were more common to or from Belmont, Hollywood, and the Probation sample, percentages for firearms ranged from 23.5% at Fairfax to 53.7% at Belmont, with Probation students seeing firearms 69.6% of the time.

The range of students who reported taking weapons to school was from 9.3% in Reseda to 19.1% at South Gate; however, 44.4% of the Probation sample reported taking a weapon to school.

Cutting instruments were the most common weapon taken to all the schools by our respondents who took weapons, percentages range from 39.3% in Hollywood to 72% at Wilson, the Probation sample who took weapons brought 50% firearms to 35.7% cutting instruments.

The majority of students at 10 of the 11 schools saw a teen with a weapon in their neighborhood, percentages ranged from a low of 49.1% in Hollywood to 76.5% in South Gate.

The majority of respondents from all of the schools have friends who own a gun, percentages ranged from 66.2% at Wilson to 41.7% at Hollywood, five of the schools and Probation have over 60% of the students knowing a friend with a gun.

More students than not at all 11 schools felt it would be easy for them to obtain a gun, percentages of those who thought it would be easy range from 41.8% at Fremont to 59.5% at Wilson.

The majority of students at all 11 schools felt that it would cost $50 to $200 to obtain a gun, percentages ranged from 53.7% at South Gate to 68.2% at Manual Arts, percentages for students who thought that they could find a gun for under $50 ranged from 32.8% to 18.2% at the above schools.

More than 70% of the Probation sample said it would take them a day or less to obtain a gun, other percentages for a day or less ranged from 31% at Wilson to 46.7% at Huntington Park.

From 50.6% of the students at Hamilton to 70.4% at Wilson thought that cutting instruments were the most common weapon taken to school, 45.3% of the Probation sample thought that firearms were most common.

Conclusions

For too long, there has been a preoccupation with terms like "school safety," which imply that schools themselves are violent environments, in isolation from their communities. This focus has been too narrow. Policy directed at school safety and violence must be far more holistic. Teens in Los Angeles must contend with an extraordinary backdrop of violence in their communities, from which they still see their schools as safe havens.

This is true despite the fact that this study finds unacceptably large percentages of students who have taken weapons or seen weapons at school.

There are broad, deep variations in perceptions of violence-related issues among the 11 schools and subset of Probation students surveyed for this report. These differences underscore the reality that solutions must be tailored to particular school communities and neighborhoods. There can be no successful standardized, district wide, inflexible program on safety and violence.

It is critically important that young people be involved in any solution.

Guns are far too prevalent and accessible among high school aged young people. Guns in the price range of $50 or lesscommonly called Saturday Night Specialsare entirely too affordable for teenagers. Teens experience gun ownership and possession in their communities at levels so high it is almost as if owning and carrying a gun has become the behavioral norm.

The existing metal detector search policies of the LAUSD have largely failed in their objective of detecting weapons and in deterring young people from bringing them to school. Metal detectors, essentially, get a vote of no confidence from students as a means of assuring campus safety.

Miscommunication underlies many of the problems commonly associated with "school safety" and "school violence." Teens thirst for courses and other means to lessen racial tension and to provide them with better conflict resolution skills. In terms of community safety, there is a clear need for better programs to assure the safety of routes of travel to and from school.