Youth-Led Research
During 2010, the Rogers Park Young Women’s Action Team (YWAT) collected responses from students across Chicago. YWAT members created the survey which can be downloaded here. In the coming weeks, you will find a comprehensive report of the results to the survey. In the meantime, here is preview of some of our key findings.
The Rogers Park Young Women’s Action Team (YWAT) collected surveys from 266 Chicago students. The vast majority (94%) of the students attended Chicago public schools; only 6% attended private schools.
| Racial Breakdown of Survey Respondents |
| African American |
44.5% |
| White |
12.8% |
| Hispanic/Latino |
26% |
| Asian |
6% |
| American Indian |
0.8% |
| Mixed |
7.2% |
| Other |
2.6% |
| Gender Breakdown of Survey Respondents |
| Male |
34.2% |
| Female |
65.8% |
| Other |
0% |
| Grade of Survey Respondents |
| Under 6th grade |
4.4% |
| 6th grade |
0% |
| 7th grade |
0% |
| 8th grade |
4% |
| 9th grade |
30.8% |
| 10th grade |
29.6% |
| 11th grade |
12.4% |
| 12th grade |
16.4% |
| College |
0.4% |
| Other |
2.0% |
| Do You Feel Safe At School? |
| Yes |
82.4% |
| No |
17.6% |
| Does Your School Have Security Guards? |
| Yes |
98.5% |
| No |
1.5% |
| Does Your School Have Police Officers? |
| Yes |
79.3% |
| No |
20.7% |
| Have You Ever Been Arrested At School? |
| Yes |
3.8% |
| No |
96.2% |
| If so, what was the reason for the arrest? |
| Fighting |
60% |
| Weapons |
10% |
| Disobedience |
0% |
| Other |
30% |
| Have You Ever Been Appeared in Juvenile Court for Behavior That Occurred in School? |
| Yes |
3.9% |
| No |
96.1% |
| Have You Ever Been Suspended From School? |
| Yes |
32% |
| No |
68% |
| If you have been suspended from school, did you do school related work during that time? |
| Yes |
49.4% |
| No |
50.6% |
| Have You Ever Been Expelled from School? |
| Yes |
2.7% |
| No |
97.3% |
| Do you think your school needs to improve how it handles school discipline issues? |
| Yes |
62.2% |
| No |
37.8% |
| In your opinion, which of the following strategies would be the most effective way of handling school discipline? |
| Peer mediation/peer jury |
52.8% |
| Counseling |
22.6% |
| Skill-building |
8.5% |
| School/community service |
10.6% |
| Other |
5.5% |
| Does your school have a metal detector? |
| Yes |
65.1% |
| No |
34.9% |
