Experiences of Safety and Crime among adolescents in Bradford, England: evidence from the Born in Bradford Age of Wonder study

<ns3:p>Background Perceptions of safety experienced by adolescents at school and in their neighbourhoods’ impact on wellbeing and physical activity. Methods We described relevant quantitative and qualitative data collected in the 2023/24 and 2024/25 rounds of ‘Born in Bradford: Age of Wonder’, an ongoing longitudinal study of secondary school pupils in Bradford. Results 13,143 pupils at 25 secondary schools participated. The median age was 13.9 (IQR 13.2–14.7); 36.9% were Pakistani; 33.4% were White British; 29.7% were of other ethnicities; and 53.6% lived in the most deprived quintile of neighbourhoods nationally. Perceived safety varied by context, with 84.2% of adolescents feeling safe during the day compared with 53.7% at night; and 62.6% feeling safe at school all or most of the time. Poorer perceived safety at night was more commonly reported by girls, older year groups, and adolescents from White British or Other ethnic backgrounds, while girls were also more likely to report rarely or never feeling safe at school. Overall, 8.1% reported being a victim of violence in the past year, and 14.2% reported ever being stopped by the police, with higher prevalence among boys, older adolescents, and White British participants. Weapon carrying in the past year was reported by 3.8% of participants and was more common among boys and adolescents from Pakistani or Other ethnic backgrounds. Conclusions Despite relatively low levels of reported violence and weapon carrying, adolescents in Bradford reported concerns about safety, particularly at night and in school, settings with marked differences by gender, age, and ethnicity.</ns3:p>