Violence in California schools has fallen sharply in the last two decades, according to a study by the University of California–Los Angeles (UCLA), released March 30.
For the study, researchers examined nearly two decades of survey results from the California Healthy Kids Survey, which is an annual questionnaire by the state’s education department given to fifth, seventh, ninth, and 11th graders about school climate, safety, and wellness.
Researchers found that between 2001 and 2019, there was a 56 percent reduction in physical fights, and reports of students carrying a gun on school grounds fell from four to one percent.
During the same time frame, the study found a 59 percent reduction in students being threatened by weapons on school grounds as well as large declines of black and Latino students feeling victimized….