<p>During my entire time at USNA, I never saw one midshipman utter a harsh word to another. Sure, arguments occurred over policies and world events and whatnot, but I never, EVER, saw a harsh word, let alone anything resemble a fight, occur.</p>
<p>Maybe I was lucky, maybe times have changed, or maybe with the advent of the internet small incidents become large ones or previously unreported incidents now get attention. I still hold to the belief that there are few places safer to go to school at than the Service Academies, and while incidents do happen, they are monumentally less frequent than at the average civilian university.</p>
<p>I would advise all parents of prospective or current female midshipmen or cadets to not spend too much time worrying about this stuff.</p>