Cross-ethnic Friendships and Sense of Social-Emotional Safety in a Multiethnic Middle School: An Exploratory Study

This exploratory study examined whether cross-ethnic friendships are related to students’ sense of social-emotional safety in a multiethnic middle school. The analysis sample (n = 227) consisted of Latino (57%) and White (43%) sixth- and seventh-grade students. Although a strong preference for same-ethnic friendships was found for both ethnic groups, Latino students felt safer than their White schoolmates. Even though the two groups did not differ in the number of cross-ethnic friendships, a greater number of cross-ethnic friendships were associated with a stronger sense of safety only among Latino students both concurrently and over time. The implications of current findings are discussed in terms of improving sense of school safety for ethnic minority students.