As U.S. schools grow safer, Baltimore schools remain dangerous

By Shannon Gallagher

Capital News Service

Schoolyard scuffles and fights amongst angsty teens are common in America's public schools. In recent years, national anti-violence campaigns have helped reduce school violence. But Baltimore City schools, which have also improved on some measures in recent years, are generally more dangerous for students than schools in the rest of the nation. Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2005 and 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Survey.

Baltimore students carry guns, weapons at twice the national rate

In a national survey of teens conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Baltimore high schoolers reported carrying guns and weapons on schools grounds at nearly twice the national rate.

School fighting more frequent in Maryland and Baltimore

In the U.S., school fights dropped dramatically between 2005 and 2013, but that wasn't the case in Maryland and Baltimore. The result: the percentage of students involved in fights in both Baltimore and Maryland was more than double the national rate in 2013.

Reports of bullying less common in Baltimore

Baltimore students have more fights and confrontations involving weapons. Baltimore students, however, said they were not bullied as frequently as students in the rest of the state and country.

When Baltimore students consider suicide, they're more likely to attempt it

While significantly fewer Baltimore students seriously consider suicide than their state and national counterparts, nearly all of those students in Baltimore actually attempt to kill themselves.