school safety facts

School Safety Facts & Statistics

Statistically speaking, your child's school or day care facility is probably among the safest
places on the planet for them to be. Facilities that cater to children generally take a lot more initiative to safety-proof the environment than do even the most conscientious of parents. They are generally staffed by people who go through CPR and first aid training every year or two. Yet anywhere that children gather, it's inevitable, you are going to have injuries. With that in mind, here are some interesting things to know about school safety:

1. Around 17,000 children suffer injuries requiring hospital treatment each year while riding the school bus. This is out of 23 million kids overall who ride the bus.

2. There are around xxx injuries at school each year, xxx which require medical treatment, and a handful of deaths that occur on school grounds. The most common sources of serious injury are playground accidents and allergic reactions or medical emergencies.

3. Around 250,000 kids are spanked or subjected to corporal punishment every year at school. Boys are 3-times as likely to be struck, and minorities also receive a disproportionate share of the physical discipline doled out. Contrary to popular belief, physical discipline by teachers is still legal in many states.

4. Around 4% of teachers admit to using illegal drugs within the past month. Scarier yet, such surveys, even when anonymous, tend to under-report actual prevalence by 2-3 times. I guess teachers are human too.

5. A 2008 USA Today investigative report found that 435 schools have levels of toxins in the outside air higher than what the EPA considers a serious health risk.

6. There were 60,000 physical-education-related emergency room visits among children ages 5 to 18 in schools in 2007. Most involved children running into equipment, structures, or each other, as well as heat stroke, fainting, and other medical complications.

7. 160,000 kids stay home from school every day because they're afraid of bullying.

The one area where school security is lacking the most is abduction prevention, at least according to our personal experience. (It's leaps and bounds better at most child care centers as opposed to schools.) When school lets out, hundreds of children are dispersed rather chaotically, and teachers rarely do more than search the premises afterwards to scoop up any wandering or stranded children. GCF staff members report that (from their experience in child care), they've had teachers try to give them kids they weren't supposed to take, and that they've picked up first-timers (kids just starting the center) without any questions asked, despite having never met the teacher and sometimes having only a picture of the child to go by. This willingness to hand over students to anyone who claims them, even complete strangers, is far from an isolated occurrence. It's not hard to see why a good deal of abductions occur on or around school grounds. The bottom line is that in this area, it's up to you to take steps to prevent their abduction.

More than just statistics . . .

* Child suspended for huffing non-toxic marker
Curse those elementary school druggies. Such an eyesore on society. ... Or at least that seems to be the sentiment of school staff in Westminster, Colorado, ...

Reference:

1) Time, Nov. 20, 2006, p27
2) Add ref
3) Report by ACLU; Greg Toppo, "Groups: end physical discipline in school," USA Today, 8-20-08, p. 10B
4) Substance Abuse & Mental Health Administration, 2007
5) Blake Morrison & Brad Heath, "Toxic air & America's schools," USA Today, 12-8-08, pp. 1A, 6A, 7A, 10A, 11A 6) GCF
6. Add Reference
7. ABC News, 3-15-09

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