Putting Students' Views of School Safety Into Context: A Comparison of Adolescent Personal Safety Across Locations in Israel

Abstract

While previous research suggests that students feel safe at school, little attention has been given to studying adolescent feelings of safety in various locations. Such direct comparisons would provide a context for evaluating and better understanding students' perceptions of safety at school. The present study examines this issue by comparing Israeli students' feelings of safety in school with seven locations outside school frequented by adolescents. While all students perceived school to be the safest place and walking in the street at night the least safe, boys and Jewish students reported feeling safer than girls and Arab students. Of all groups, Arab girls consistently reported feeling the least safe in every location. In addition, the neighborhood where a school is located was more influential on students' feelings of safety at school than the school's own characteristics. These findings support the need to take an ecological perspective to assessing school safety and provide a foundation for future research.