With the constant media attention surrounding mass-shootings at schools, it would be easy to assume that schools are more dangerous than ever. But new data show schools are safer than they've been in a long time.

While school shootings get most of the attention, bullying, fights and theft are much more prevalent.

Rates of theft, violent crimes and serious violent crimes at school are all lower today than they were two decades ago.

Roughly one in five students is bullied at school, the lowest number since bullying data became available in 2005. As recently as 2007, one in three students were bullied.

The share of students involved in a physical fight on school property is now below 10 percent.

Surprisingly, given the attention school shootings receive in the media, students are less anxious today over school attacks than they were in the past. In 1995, about 12 percent of students felt afraid of attack or harm during the school year. By 2013, that number fell to 4 percent.

Violent deaths at school are always unfortunate, but the number of such cases is miniscule. In the 2011-12 school year, 20 students died at school, five by suicide. That leaves odds of roughly one in 2.5 million of dying in school.

To be fair, the most recent data on deaths in school were collected one school year prior to the Sandy Hook shooting.

The new data come from a report published by the National Center for Education Statistics and the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

"For parents, school staff and policymakers to effectively address school crime, they need an accurate understanding of the extent, nature and context of the problem," the report's foreword said. "However, it is difficult to gauge the scope of crime and violence in schools given the large amount of attention devoted to isolated incidents of extreme school violence."