GAO Report Finds a Rise in Violent Crimes and Hate Speech in Schools Pre-COVID

Violent crimes and hate speech motivated by race, national origin and sexual orientation had been on the rise in nearly every school prior to the pandemic, according to a report recently published by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO). The study surveyed 4,800 school administrators and found that annually in school years 2014-15, 2016-17 and 2018-19, one in five students between the ages of 12-18 encountered bullying related to their race, national origin, religion, disability, gender or sexual orientation.

In response to the surge of violent crimes, nearly every school district has adopted or increased social emotional learning (SEL) programs, according to GAO. An additional 18,000 schools adopted SEL programs between 2015-16 and 2017-18, and the use of school resource officers had increased by 2,000 schools. Staff training played a critical role in improving school climate and safety.

At the same time, rising awareness of racism and sexism in schools and society in general might be leading more people to report some incidents stemming from them, said James A. Densley, a professor of criminal justice at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, Minn. He wrote to EdWeek, “We could take any reported increase in hate crimes at face value and as a bellwether for the state of our society right now, or we could say that hate crimes have always been under-reported and these data represent a course correction that includes changes in public perception.”

This study does not address the school years affected by COVID but provides an accurate baseline for pre-pandemic school climate. Looking at long-term data, a joint report from USED and DOJ in 2019 shows that school climate and safety has significantly improved over past decades, including decreases in theft, assaults and other violent offenses.

You can find the full report from GAO here.