March 05, 2024
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Key takeaways:
- There were 1,453 school shootings in the U.S. between 1997 and 2022.
- The shootings have become more deadly on average.
Mass shootings on school campuses in the United States have become more deadly over the last 25 years, according to a study published in Pediatrics.
Firearm violence is the leading cause of death among youths in the U.S., and over 85% of school shooting perpetrators used handguns in their attacks, many of them stolen from a parent or relative, research has shown.
One of the authors of the new study noted that this year marks 25 years since the shooting at Columbine High School.
“That occurrence seemed somewhat of a turning point in discourse about school-related gun violence, and we now have a whole generation of children whose schooling experiences have been characterized by school shootings and preparation for school shootings and active intruders,” said Luke J. Rapa, PhD, associate professor in the school of education at Clemson University. “Examining this issue, with data spanning these past 25 years, seemed important to provide a new look at how the issue of school shootings and school mass shootings has been occurring over time.”
One particular challenge, Rapa said, was a lack of a single database to capture all the information that “researchers, policymakers or the public might want when studying this, so that makes this a tricky thing to examine.” Rapa and colleagues studied data from the Center for Homeland Defense and Security’s School Shooting Safety Compendium for shootings at schools — defined as “each and every instance a gun is brandished, is fired, or a bullet hits school property for any reason, regardless of the number of victims, time of day, or day of week” — between 1998 and 2022.
In all, there were 1,453 school shootings. During the most recent 5 school years, there was a substantially higher number of school shootings than the prior 15 years combined, at a total of 794 shootings between 2017 and 2022.
Researchers then retrieved separate data on school mass shootings from a database developed by Mother Jones, and found that across the 1997-1998 to 2021-2022 school years, a total of 122 people were killed and 126 were injured in the 11 school mass shootings that occurred, for a total of 248 victims.
According to Rapa and colleagues, there were an average of 7.6 fatalities in five school mass shooting from 1997–1998 to 2011–2012 compared with 14 in six school mass shootings from 2012–2013 to 2021–2022.
“Given the rise in the number of school shootings happening per year since the 1997-1998 school year, I was somewhat surprised by the fact that the number of school mass shootings per year has not increased during that same time period,” Rapa said. “Given media attention, and how media itself has changed during the last quarter century, one might think that the number of school mass shootings has been on the rise, but that does not appear to be the case. However, school mass shootings, when they have occurred, have become more deadly.”
The authors concluded that school-based interventions can be used to address this public health crisis and recommend effective approaches and services in support of students’ mental health and academic and behavioral needs.
“Further studies on this topic could explore where and when school shootings and school mass shootings are most likely to occur, as well as the effectiveness of strategies and campaigns that are designed to educate parents, caregivers, educators and communities about school-related gun violence, gun safety and strategies to mitigate gun violence in schools or among children,” Rapa said.
Rapa was “encouraged” by plans to support and fund studies on these topics from the National Institute of Justice. “It’s urgent that we understand better how to mitigate school-related gun violence and coordinate efforts to that end.”
In an editorial, Rebecca Bell, MD, MPH, a critical care physician at the University of Vermont Children’s Hospital, noted that “school-related gun incidents are growing, and the fatality rate of school mass shootings has increased.”
“The data are clear that these tragedies cannot be prevented by focusing on school security alone,” Bell said. “Schools are extensions of our homes and communities and cannot be expected to be secure fortresses amid the easy availability of firearms. Pediatricians’ efforts to make homes and communities safer also make schools safer. Intensifying our counseling and community collaboration efforts and advocating for research funding and policy change are critical measures to stem the tide of increasing gun violence in schools.”
References:
Bell R. Pediatrics. 2024;doi:10.1542/peds.2023-065281.
Rapa LJ, et al. Pediatrics. 2024;doi:10.1542/peds.2023-064311.
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