parents’ and adolescents’ perceptions of safety in school: a comparative analysis mch...
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PARENTS’ AND ADOLESCENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF SAFETY IN
SCHOOL: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
MCH Epidemiology ConferenceDecember 7, 2005
Catherine Vladutiu†, Talia Engelhart†, Mary D. Overpeck†,
Denise Haynie‡, William Modzeleski *
†U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration
Maternal and Child Health BureauOffice of Data and Program Development
‡National Institute of Child Health & Human DevelopmentDivision of Epidemiology, Statistics, and Prevention Research
* U.S. Department of EducationOffice of Safe & Drug Free Schools
OBJECTIVES
To describe the differences in the ways parents and students perceive safety in school
To measure differences in
perceptions by age, race & ethnicity, gender, parental education, and urbanicity
HYPOTHESES
Parents perceive their children’s schools are safer than students’ believe their schools to be
Age, gender, race & ethnicity, parental education, and urbanicity will be associated with the differences in perceptions of safety.
BACKGROUND School safety is a critical component of
education, social development, and general well-being
School safety (absence of): any threat to a student’s well being that could result from human action, which may be self-inflicted or imposed by others1
School safety is associated with bullying, fighting, and weapon carrying in school
SCHOOL VIOLENCE
2002: http://www.keystosaferschools.com/Map_School_Shootings.htm
BACKGROUND
Studies have shown students feel unsafe at school, fear being hurt, and skip school to avoid violence 1,2,3,4,5
Adolescents often perceive safety in school in terms of safety in community
Studies have shown parents believe their children are safe, but not much is known about how much they know about safety in school 6,7,8
LITERATURE REVIEW
Age Older students are less likely to feel safe1,2
Race & Ethnicity Race has not been shown to be a significant
factor in school safety8, 14 Hispanic and NH Black students are more likely to miss school from feeling unsafe and more likely to be threatened at school
Gender Boys feel less safe than girls6, 7,11
Urbanicity Few children feel safe in urban schools1,2,3,13
Parental Education Not widely measured in the current literature7,
8
BACKGROUND
Safety perceptions are important because… Students’ perceptions may help to deter
or promote negative behavior Parents’ perceptions may influence their
willingness to support prevention efforts Teachers’ perceptions may influence
when/how they are willing to intervene
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Are there differences between parents’ and student’s perceptions of safety?
Are there differences in perceptions of safety by age, gender, race & ethnicity, parental education, and urbanicity?
DATA SOURCES
Health Behaviors in School-Aged Children (HBSC) (2001/2002)
After exclusion of missing responses and children <11; n=13, 685
Measures: Students’ perception of
safety Age Gender Race & ethnicity Urbanicity Parental education
National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) (2003)
After exclusion of missing responses and children <11; n=35, 439
Measures: Parental perception of
safety Child’s age Child’s gender Child’s race & ethnicity Urbanicity Parental education
MEASURES- HBSC
Perceptions of school safety: Students reported their level of agreement
with the following statement: “I feel safe at school.” Responses were classified on a five-point scale as either:
“Strongly agree” “Agree” “Neither agree nor disagree” “Disagree” “Strongly disagree”
MEASURES- HBSC Age (self-reported) Gender (self-reported) Race & ethnicity
Responses were combined into 5 categories: Non-Hispanic White, Non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic, Multiple races (student endorsed more than one race), and other races.
Urbanicity Three categories of urbanicity were used: urban (city),
suburban (near a large city) and rural (not near a large city).
Parental Education Students reported parent education separately for
mothers and fathers, with the highest level of education selected: less than 12 years, 12 years, or more than 12 years of education.
MEASURES-NSCH
Perceptions of school safety: Parents or guardians reported perceptions
of their child’s safety by responding to the following question: “How often do you feel [he/she] (child) is safe at school?” Responses included:
“Never” “Sometimes” “Usually” or “Always” “Don’t know” “Refused”
MEASURES-NSCH
Age (parental report of child) Gender (parental report of child) Race & ethnicity
Responses were combined into 5 categories: Non-Hispanic White, Non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic, Multiple (parents who endorsed more than one race), and other races.
Urbanicity Parents reported their zip codes and were categorized
into urban, suburban and rural classifications. Parental education
Parents reported their education level by responding to a question asking for the highest level of education attained in the household: less than 12 years, 12 years, or more than 12 years of education.
METHODS
Prevalence Risk Ratios
DEMOGRAPHICS
12%
19%
21%21%
19%
8%11 years
12 years
13 years
14 years
15 years
16 years
Age (HBSC) Age (NSCH)
16%
18%
17%17%
16%
16%11 years
12 years
13 years
14 years
15 years
16 years
DEMOGRAPHICS
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
HBSC NSCH
MaleFemale
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
HBSC NSCH
NH WhiteNH BlackHispanicMultipleOther
Gender Race & Ethnicity
DEMOGRAPHICS
05
101520253035404550
HBSC NSCH
<12 years12 years> 12 years
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
HBSC NSCH
UrbanSuburbanRural
Parental Education
Urbanicity
SAFETY PERCEPTIONS
HBSC
8% 8%
21%
34%
29%
Strongly disagree that Ifeel safe
Disagree that I feel safe
Neither agree noredisagree
Agree that I feel safe
Strongly agree that I feelsafe
NSCH
2% 12%
36%50%
Never feel safe
Sometimes feel safe
Usually feel safe
Always feel safe
HBSC NSCH
RESULTS -Age
Parental Perceptions by Student Age
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
11 12 13 14 15 16
Student Age
Always
Usually
Sometimes
Never/Not Sure
RESULTS -Age
Student Perceptions of Safety by Age
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
11 12 13 14 15 16
Student Age
Strongly Agree
Agree
Neither Agree NorDisagreeDisagree
Strongly disagree
RESULTS -Age Students:
16 year olds were significantly more likely to feel unsafe than 11-14 year olds; 3 times as likely as 11 year olds [RR= 0.98 (0.84-1.14)]
Younger students felt safer at school (43.9%) Parents:
Age was not a factor for parental perceptions of safety among those who felt their child was never safe at school (no increased risk in feeling safe or unsafe)
Parents of younger children felt their children were more safe at school (61.6%) than older children (45.4%)
RESULTS -Gender
Students: Boys were twice as likely to feel
unsafe at school than girls Parents:
No significant differences in response by child’s gender
RESULTS –Race & Ethnicity
Students: Non-Hispanic black students reported
feeling the least safe (12.2%); they were significantly more likely and at a higher risk of feeling less safe than other groups (RR=1.13)
Non-Hispanic White students reported feeling the safest at school (32.1%)
Parents: Parents of Hispanic children felt their
child was the least safe (6.2%)
RESULTS -Urbanicity
Students: Students living in urban areas were
less likely to feel safe (25.1%) Parents:
No significant differences in safety perceptions by urbanicity; suburban and rural parents felt their children were slightly more safe than urban parents
RESULTS -Parental Education
Students: Students with parents who completed
more than 12 years of education were more likely to feel safe
Students with parents with <12 years of education were at a higher risk of feeling unsafe (RR=1.05)
Parents: As years of parental education increased,
parents were less likely to feel their child was unsafe at school, but not more likely to feel their child was always safe
LIMITATIONS
Data from two different sources Year of data collection Sample size Validity of self report Framing of safety perception
questions (categorization)
SUMMARY
Parents do not have the same fear regarding their children’s safety that students have
As children aged, they felt less safe at school
Gender illustrated a greater gap between boys and girls’ perceptions of safety (boys felt less safe)
SUMMARY Students’ perceptions were more influenced
by race than those of the parents (NH Black students felt less safe)
Urbanicity status was associated with safety perceptions among students more so than among parents; urban students felt less safe
Parental education uniformly affected both students’ and parents’ perceptions; higher parental education= feeling safer in school
PUBLIC HEALTH IMPLICATIONS
Feeling unsafe at school is prevalent among students (40%) and may contribute to greater school absence, social conflicts, and low self-esteem
Parental awareness of how safe their children are at school is critical to the promotion of policies and programs aimed at improving school safety; the lack of awareness may prevent the implementation of effective change in schools
Unsafe schools perpetuate fear and anger instead of learning which may lead to negative physical, psychological, and social well-being
NEXT STEPS Further research and policy changes based on
studies like this can minimize the gap between parental and student perceptions to ensure a safer environment
Future analyses should investigate the perceptions of parents and their actual children within one study as well as examine safety perceptions among school officials and educators
School safety questions should be included in future surveys and should include specific items that may provide students’ reasons for their perception of safety
CONTACT INFORMATION
Catherine Vladutiu, MPHHRSA/Maternal and Child Health BureauOffice of Data & Program Development5600 Fishers Lane, Room 18-46Rockville, MD 20857T: (301) [email protected]
For more information: www.hrsa.govHRSA Bullying Campaign:
www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov
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2 Martin, SL, Sadowski, LS, Cotton, NU, et al. Response of African-American Adolescents in North Carolina to Gun Carrying by School Mates. Journal of School Health. 1996; 66(1):23-26.
3 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Surveillance Summaries, May 21, 2004. MMWR 2004:53(No. SS-2).
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5 Snyder HN., Sickmund M. Juvenile offenders and victims: 1999 national report. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
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