ols in the United States reported experiencing at least one serious violent crime. Most of these, undoubtedly, were aggravated assaults. There were also 4,000 rapes or other types of sexual battery and 11,000 physical attacks or fights which involved the use of weapons reported in the 1996-1997 school year. The five-year period from 1992-1996 saw teachers or faculty members be the victims of 1,581,000 nonfatal crimes, 619,000 of which were violent. One possible explanation for so many crimes in schools, is the rise in gang activity and membership. A study was conducted from 1989 through 1995 on how visible gangs were in schools. In 1989, 15.3% of students reported gang presence and 28.4% recognized it in 1995. That is nearly a 13% increase in only seven years.
             The second part of my project that dealt with the school setting looked at the amount of violence that occurs on school days as opposed to non-school days. Even though children are in school for only half the days of the year, 57% of violent crimes committed by juveniles occur on days there are school. Of those crimes, 1 out of every 5 occurs within the four-hour period directly following school (2-6pm). The obvious reason for this is, many children go home to a parentless house since most people are still working. Or, if they go to an after-school program where there are more young people, there is also a higher c
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