The profile of a student's sense of (un)safety at school: social, emotional, and academic dimensions

Jolita Dudaitė^1*Jolanta Urbanovič²Romas Prakapas¹

• ¹Institute of Educational Sciences and Social Work, Mykolas Romeris University, Vilnius, Lithuania
• ²Institute of Public Administration, Mykolas Romeris University, Vilnius, Lithuania

This study explores the profiles of students who feel safe versus unsafe at school, examining how social, emotional, and academic factors shape theirare associated with students’ perceptions of safety. Drawing on data from the OECD PISA 2022 international assessment of 613,744 fifteen-year-old students across 80 countries, the analysis employs K-means clustering to identify groups of students based on their responses to four safety-related items. Students were classified into “safe” and “unsafe” clusters and compared across multiple domains, including academic behaviors, emotional well-being, social relationships, perceptions of the school environment, and socio-economic background. Findings reveal that students who feel safe at school are more likely to engage academically, report higher life satisfaction, experience stronger teacher-student and peer relationships, and come from more advantaged socio-economic backgrounds. In contrast, unsafe students tend to show academic disengagement, emotional distress, weaker social connections, and are more likely to experience bullying and attend schools perceived as less supportive or secure. These results underscore the relevance of school safety as a multidimensional phenomenon associated with relational, emotional, and equity-related aspects of students’ school experiencesThese results highlight the importance of addressing school safety not only through physical measures but also through relational, emotional, and equity-oriented interventions. The study contributes to a more holistic understanding of school safety as a multidimensional construct central closely linked to students’ educational experience and well-being.