title: Low-level violence in schools: is there an association between school safety measures and peer victimization?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Low-level violent behavior, particularly school bullying, remains a critical public health issue that has been associated with negative mental and physical health outcomes. School-based prevention programs, while a valuable line of defense to stave off bullying, have shown inconsistent results in terms of decreasing bullying. This study explored whether school safety measures (eg, security guards, cameras, ID badges) were associated with student reports of different forms of peer victimization related to bullying.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data came from the 2007 School Crime Supplement of the National Crime Victimization Survey. Chi-square tests of independence were used to examine differences among categorical variables. Logistic regression models were constructed for the peer victimization outcomes. A count variable was constructed among the bullying outcomes (0-7) with which a Poisson regression model was constructed to analyze school safety measures' impacts on degree of victimization.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the various school safety measures, only having adults in hallways resulted in a significant reduction in odds of being physically bullied, having property vandalized, or having rumors spread. In terms of degree of victimization, having adults and/or staff supervising hallways was associated with an approximate 26% decrease in students experiencing an additional form of peer victimization.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results indicated that school safety measures overall were not associated with decreased reports of low-level violent behaviors related to bullying. More research is needed to further explore what best promotes comprehensive safety in schools.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, West Virginia University, P.O. Box 9190, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA. jblosnich@hsc.wvu.edu
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Blosnich
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bossarte
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D058445:Bullying / Q000523:psychology; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D015233:Models, Statistical; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010379:Peer Group; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012449:Safety; D012572:School Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012574:Schools / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014754:Violence / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data