Twelve percent of 6 th through 12 th grade students reported they were victims of physical attack, robbery, or bullying in school. Teachers in 1996, for the first time, said that discipline is the main reason teachers leave the profession. The National Crime Victimization Survey data show that an estimated 2.7 million violent crimes take place annually either at school or near schools. Just over twenty-six percent of high school seniors used an illicit drug once a month or more often during the past school year. Among the graduating class of 1995, forty-eight percent of students had used an illicit drug by the time they reached their senior year of high school, continuing an upward trend from forty percent in 1992.
Students perceive that more violence is occurring in schools than teachers.
A study from the University of Michigan estimates that students carry 270,000 guns to school each day. While shootings in schools have elevated concerns about firearms on school campuses, knives and razors are the weapons most likely to be carried by students. Nine percent say they see violence very often in or around their school.