Crime and Students

The Third International Mathematics and Science Study also concluded that American students endure more threats and theft at school than their foreign counterparts.

In addition to the findings on work habits, the survey reported that nearly a quarter of American high school seniors--24%--said they had been a victim of theft in the month before the examination. Only 13% of foreign students reported having had an item stolen. Eleven percent of American seniors said they felt threatened by another student in the prior month, compared to 7% of foreign students.

“There’s a difference between America and the other countries just because there’s a difference in crime in general,” said Denise Gottfredson, a professor of criminology at the University of Maryland. “The U.S. is consistently higher on most measures of crime.

“It’s definitely the case that kids who go to school in schools with higher crime rates don’t do as well academically. It’s almost impossible to say which comes first.”