Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Symbol of the Government of Canada
Skip to content | Skip to institutional links

Common menu bar links

Home > The Gazette > Vol. 70 No. 1 > Gazette - Just the Facts 

Gazette - Just the Facts

Archived Content

Information identified as archived on the Web is for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It has not been altered or updated after the date of archiving. Web pages that are archived on the Web are not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards. As per the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada, you can request alternate formats on the "Contact Us" page.

 

Photo of school yard fenceThe high school years are supposed to be the best years of a young person’s life, but violent incidents on school grounds threaten to compromise those years — or even cut them short.

Assaults, rapes, hazings and other violent incidents are an unfortunate reality for many high school students. Here’s a look at the facts.

  • In the United States (U.S.), 22 of every 1,000 students aged 12 to 18 were victims of violent crimes during the 2004 school year — including 4 victims of serious violent crimes such as rape, sexual assault, robbery and aggravated assault.
  • Seventy-four per cent of all assaults that injured Canadian students on school grounds in 2004 involved physical force, nine per cent involved weapons like whips or vehicles, and two per cent involved clubs or blunt instruments.
  • Secondary schools in France reported 14,780 incidents to police in 2001-2002: 34 per cent involved physical violence without weapons, 3 per cent involved knives and less than one per cent involved firearms.
  • In 2005, six per cent of U.S. students in Grades 8 through 12 reported that they had carried a weapon on school property during the previous 30 days.
  • In 71 secondary school shooting incidents recorded by wikipedia.org since 1995, 137 people were killed and 232 were injured. The average shooter was a 16-year-old male.
  • Two per cent of U.S. public schools required either students or visitors to pass through metal detectors during the 2003-2004 school year.
  • An Australian Government study found that violent incidents are most likely to occur in schools where more than 25 per cent of the teachers have less than five years experience.
  • Seventy-two per cent of respondents to a Phi Delta Kappa survey on public attitudes towards schools identified the growth of youth gangs as a very important cause of violence in schools, second only to the use of alcohol and drugs.
  • In 2003, eight per cent of Canadian sexual assault victims between the ages of 14 and 17 were assaulted at school.
  • According to one American study, over 50 per cent of high school boys and 42 per cent of high school girls believe that there are times when it is "acceptable for a male to hold a female down and physically force her to engage in intercourse."
  • Twenty-two per cent of high school students surveyed by Alfred University in 2000 were subjected to dangerous hazing activities — including being physically abused, beaten, branded, tied up, forced to harm others or forced to harm themselves.
  • Nearly three-quarters of hazing victims will suffer at least one negative consequence such as getting into a fight, hurting someone else, committing a crime or considering suicide.

SOURCES:

Date Modified: 2008-02-11

Top of Page
Important Notices