Study Backs Perception of Campus Violence : Report: One-fifth of male third- through 12th-graders in survey say they have brought a weapon to school.

One of every five male students has brought a gun or knife to school, and 23% of all public school students say they have been the victims of some sort of violence on campus, according to a national survey released Thursday.

That survey, along with other studies issued recently, seems to corroborate the widespread perception that the nation’s public schools are becoming more dangerous--a point underscored again Wednesday when a Chatsworth High School student was shot near campus.

The survey said the most commonly reported incidents of violence involved pushing, shoving, grabbing, slapping, verbal insults and stealing. But it confirmed that more students are bringing weapons, including guns, to school--many because they want them for self-defense, or to impress their friends, experts say. And more students, and their teachers, are being victimized by the escalation in violence and the use of weapons.

The bottom line, according to studies and experts contacted Thursday, is that the problem of violence in schools is serious and getting worse.

The latest survey, “The Metropolitan Life Survey of the American Teacher, 1993: Violence in America’s Public Schools,” polled 1,000 third grade through high school teachers, 1,180 students in the same grades and 100 police department officials last fall.

The survey said that about 23% of students--estimated at 6.8 million--and 11% of teachers--or 273,000--have been victims of violence in and around schools. Boys were twice as likely as girls to have been victims of violence (30% to 16%). About 22% of boys said they had carried guns or knives to school, but only 4% of girls said they had done so.

The study did not specify the percentage of violent incidents involving weapons, but 6% of the boys and 1% of the girls said they had threatened someone with a knife or gun in or near school.

Although a substantial portion of students said they had witnessed violent incidents in and around schools, the survey quoted a majority of them and their teachers as saying they generally felt safe in school. But the MetLife survey said, “Law enforcement officials express the highest levels of concern about violence in their local public schools.”

The survey, conducted by Louis Harris and Associates, was the latest in a series sponsored by Metropolitan Life exploring teachers’ attitudes. A random selection of adults were interviewed by telephone, while students filled out questionnaires.

Results for the teachers and students had a margin of error of 3 percentage points; the margin for law enforcement officers was 10 percentage points.

On Thursday, experts from around the nation gathered in Washington to discuss school violence--and the survey.

U.S. Atty. Gen. Janet Reno gave the keynote address at the conference, which was attended by hundreds of experts on school violence. MetLife Chairman Harry P. Kamen opened the session by saying violence is so roiling the waters of public education that students cannot learn and teachers cannot teach.

“Just about every day we are greeted by the news of another tragedy,” Kamen said. “Whether it is the shooting death of an associate principal in a Wisconsin high school, or the stabbing death of a Manhattan student over a pair of sunglasses, there seems to be no refuge from the culture of violence.”

Wesley Mitchell, commander of the Los Angeles Unified School District police, said he has no specific data to prove that this year is any worse than last. But he said the escalation in violence on school campuses and prevalence of weapons have been significant and steady over the last 10 years.

“We are appalled when we find out schools aren’t the island of safety that we as a society would suggest they should be,” Mitchell said. “There has been an escalation of crime and increased fear among young people.

“Students have a greater reason to fear for their safety no matter where they are in Los Angeles,” Mitchell said. “Schools are feeling the outgrowth and the experiences of the larger community.”

But the U.S. Justice Department and other experts have detected potentially more troubling findings.

Justice Department officials reported last weekend that one in five high school boys living in urban neighborhoods owns a gun. They also said 45% of students surveyed said they had been threatened with a gun or had been shot at on the way to or from school during the previous few years. Almost half said they had friends who routinely carry guns.

In Los Angeles, Mitchell said, such dangers are evident in and around city schools, but he noted that the schools were no more dangerous than is the city.

One student was shot recently just outside a Long Beach school. Two others were shot on the way to Dorsey High School in Los Angeles, one by a 26-year-old adult and the other by a 36-year-old, Mitchell said.

Overall, Mitchell said, Los Angeles school police recovered 158 guns last year--the same number as the year before. Despite indications that fewer guns will be recovered this school year, it may just be a momentary lapse after years of increases, Mitchell said.