Sample School Safety Survey Questions for Students

School safety is the top concern for many parents, and with good reason. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, more than 135,000 students were victims of crimes at school in 2012 alone. This number does not include crimes on school buses or in the surrounding community.

School safety survey questions can help you get to the bottom of your child’s concerns about school safety and what you can do as a parent to address them. The following questions will give you a starting point to gauge your child’s concerns and find out how safe they feel at school.

What would you change about your school to make it safer?

The first step to making a school safer is finding out what students want.

Ask students if they feel safe at their school, feel more comfortable with extra security measures like metal detectors and security guards, and how they would think about stricter policies in general (like earlier lockdowns). Make sure to offer anonymous surveys to get as much honest feedback as possible.

Have you ever worried about being safe at school?

This is an open-ended question that will allow you to learn more about what students believe makes them safe at school.

Ask your students whether they have ever worried about being safe at school, and if so, why?

Do they feel like their teachers make them feel safe in school?

If not, why do they think that is?

What are some ways to ensure a sense of safety within your classroom?

Do students see value in having security guards or police officers on campus during class hours or after school?

Do you feel like your school teaches you ways to stay safe?

Schools need to teach students how to stay safe in an increasingly dangerous world. To ensure your school’s safety, take a survey of your fellow students and ask them if they feel like their school teaches them ways to stay safe.

If not, why do you think that is? Do you believe certain types of students are left out? Do you have any suggestions on how we can improve our programs? I would love to hear what you all have to say!

Have there been times when you felt unsafe on the way to or from school?

Many students report feeling unsafe when walking to or from school and in their classrooms.

When you think about your school’s safety procedures, how effective do you think they are?

What can be done to make these security measures even more powerful?

Are there any additional measures to be taken to promote a safe learning environment? Ask them to provide two examples to support the points.

Has anyone threatened you while you were at school?

Sometimes a threat can be as simple as a mean note in your locker or classmate name-calling. While these events might seem minor, they are easy ways to make you feel unsafe in school.

Suppose anyone has threatened you while at school, tell someone you trust and report it to a teacher or another authority figure. Your teachers must know if there is a threatening situation going on.

Has anyone hurt you physically at school?

In a poll conducted by National School Boards Association and Scholastic in February 2018, more than three-quarters of middle schoolers said they had been physically hurt at school. More than half of high school students also said they had been hurt physically at school.

Have there been times when someone put something in your food without your permission?

If you’re a parent, it’s hard to believe that your child could be bullied in school without your knowledge. After all, you talk to them daily and drive them there every morning!

However, according to research from The Stomp Out Bullying program in 2010, only about 15 percent of parents report seeing bullying occur at their child’s school. This means that many parents are genuinely unaware of whether or not their child is experiencing bullying in school.

Has anyone tried to steal something from you at school?

This question is designed to gauge how secure students feel about their belongings. If many students answer yes to questions like these, you should have a good sense of what aspects of your school may be targeted for violence or theft.

If most students say they don’t feel very safe at your school, it might be time to consider hiring more security guards or adding more surveillance cameras.

Final thoughts

Questionnaires are a great way to get people’s feedback on various issues. Asking students their opinions on school safety is essential in helping educators keep kids safe.

It gives them insight into how students feel about things like drug and alcohol use, bullying, violence, and other aspects of student life that impact safety at school. The most effective questionnaires ask thought-provoking questions that give respondents plenty of room to provide meaningful responses.

At HeyForm, we’ve made a school safety questionnaire template for teachers. Feel free to use it if you plan to create a survey for teachers. And for students, you can create a questionnaire for free using our free online form builder.