School violence is on the rise nationwide, and campuses in Indian Country are not immune to this trend. In fact, they could be more of a breeding ground for violent activity than mainstream public schools.
A new evaluation report published by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Inspector General found that the nation’s Bureau of Indian Education schools have many indicators of potential violence, deficiencies in school policies to prevent violence and substantial deficiencies in preventative and emergency safety procedures.
Indian Country in general, as the report stresses, has a violent crime rate that is two to three times higher than the national average. This statistic alone should keep the red flag raised, but there is more.
The report states that 37 percent of BIE students have reported carrying a weapon on campus, compared to 6 percent of public school students. And 75 percent of gang members in Indian Country are school age.
Making BIE schools more prone to violence is the lack of security measures. Around 80 percent lack adequate fencing, and only just about half have a security guard. While most have video surveillance systems, the report says the equipment is often flawed.
Further, the report says, many BIE school staff members have not received even basic training in violence prevention, like anger management, bullying prevention and gang awareness.
In the 2007-2008 school year, the year the report is based on, there were 184 BIE schools in 23 states, with about 48,000 students enrolled.
To read the full report, click here.
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