U.S. public schools - discipline problems by school level 2018

This graph shows the percentage of public schools in the United States with common discipline problems in the school year 2017-2018, by school level. In that year, 4.5 percent of high schools in the United States reported racial or ethnic tensions among their students.

Percentage of U.S. public schools with selected discipline problems in 2017-2018 school year, by school level

Characteristic	Primary school	Middle school	High school
Student racial/ethnic tensions	1.9%	4.9%	4.5%
Student bullying	8.7%	27.9%	15.8%
Sexual harassment of other students	-	3.3%	2.8%
Student harassment of other students based on sexual orientation or gender identity	-	2.6%	2.3%
Student verbal abuse of teachers	4.6%	10.3%	7.1%
Student acts of disrespect for teachers other than verbal abuse	10.1%	17.3%	13.1%
Widespread disorder in classroom	2.6%	5.5%	2.6%
Gang activities	4.9%	19%	27.9%

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Release date

July 2020

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Region

United States

Survey time period

2017-2018

Supplementary notes

Primary schools are defined as schools in which the lowest grade is not higher than grade 3 and the highest grade is not higher than grade 8.
Middle schools are defined as schools in which the lowest grade is not lower than grade 4 and the highest grade is not higher than grade 9.
High schools are defined as schools in which the lowest grade is not lower than grade 9.
Responses were provided by the principal or the person most knowledgeable about crime and safety issues at the school.
“At school” was defined for respondents to include activities that happen in school buildings, on school grounds, on school buses, and at places that hold school-sponsored events or activities. Respondents were instructed to respond only for those times that were during normal school hours or when school activities or events were in session, unless the survey specified otherwise.

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