Jan 29 (Reuters) – As many as one in 10 hate crimes in the U.S. take place at schools – from kindergarten through college – according to an FBI report released on Monday, with Black students the most frequent targets, followed by Jewish and LGBTQ victims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Schools were the third most frequent location for hate crimes – after residences and roadways or alleys – from 2018 to 2022, even though most schools experienced months of closures during the 2020-2021 academic year due to the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The U.S. has seen a marked increase in hate crimes – defined by the FBI as an offense motivated by bias against race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, disability or gender – in recent years. The FBI’s compilation of crime data shows the number of reported bias crimes went from around 8,500 in 2018 to more than 13,300 in 2022, a record high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The number of reported hate incidents in schools rose even more rapidly, nearly doubling over the five-year period from 700 in 2018 to 1,336 in 2022. The latter figure represented 10% of all hate crimes reported in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nearly two-thirds of the offenses took place in kindergarten-through-12th grade schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most experts say hate crimes are typically undercounted, since they rely on subjective evaluations by law enforcement agencies as to whether there was a discriminatory intent. In addition, many victims choose not to report their experiences to police for fear of reprisal, experts say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The war in Gaza, which began in October after Hamas militants attacked Israel, has led to a spike in both antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents across the U.S., according to advocacy groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n