NCJ Number
173780
Date Published
1998
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This research examines whether there is a trend of increasing violent school deaths in America, and documents the overall incidence of crime, particularly homicides, in America's schools as compared to outside of schools.
Abstract
The study uses data and research from the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports, the Centers for Disease Control, the National School Safety Center, the National Safe Kids Campaign, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence, and the Bureau of Justice Statistics. The study concludes that based upon a review of the available data, it is apparent that the recent school shootings were idiosyncratic events and not part of any discernible trend in violence, particularly homicides, in schools. Another finding is that 90 percent of all childhood deaths occur in and around the home and not in school. Unintentional shootings among children are most likely to occur at times when children are unsupervised. Peak hours for these shootings are not during school hours but rather after school between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m.; during the late afternoon; on weekends; over the summer months of June, July, and August; or during the holiday seasons of November and December. Given the actual data on when, where, and by what means violence against children occurs, this study recommends an expansion of after-hours programs in schools, the restriction of mass gun sales, and more responsible media reporting of contextual data on school crime when dramatic crimes occur in schools. 2 tables and 56 footnotes