Pressure test your perceptions about crime

Ask students to write down their own answers to the following questions, without consulting any outside resources:

1. Did violent crime rates increase or decrease last year in your community? What about the United States as a whole? 
2. Did property crime rates increase or decrease last year in your community? What about the United States as a whole? 
3. Are violent crime rates lower or higher today than they were in the 2010s? 2000s? 1990s? 1980s? 1970s? 1960s? What about property crime rates? 
4. When you think about violent crime rates, which crimes come to mind? What about property crime rates?

Then present data from the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer to show violent and property crime trends in the United States and in your community over the past decades. Lead a discussion about whether students' perceptions of crime reflect what they see in the data.