Schools are safer than they were in the 90s, and school shootings are not more common than they used to be, researchers say
The deadly school shooting this month in Parkland, Florida, has ignited national outrage and calls for action on gun reform. But while certain policies may help decrease gun violence in general, itβs unlikely that any of them will prevent mass school shootings, according to James Alan Fox, the Lipman Family Professor of Criminology, Law, and Public Policy at Northeastern.
Since 1996, there have been 16 multiple victim shootings in schools, or incidents involving 4 or more victims and at least 2 deaths by firearms, excluding the assailant.
Of these, 8 are mass shootings, or incidents involving 4 or more deaths, excluding the assailant.
Two Decades of Multiple-Victim School Shootings
Data Source: James Alan Fox and Emma E. Fridel, βThe Three Rβs of School Shootings: Risk, Readiness, and Response,β in H. Shapiro, ed., The Wiley Handbook on Violence in Education: Forms, Factors, and Preventions, New York: Wiley/Blackwell Publishers, June 2018.
βThis is not an epidemicβ
Mass school shootings are incredibly rare events. In research publishing later this year, Fox and doctoral student Emma Fridel found that on average, mass murdersoccur between 20 and 30 times per year, and about one of those incidents on average takes place at a school.
Mass Murders, 2006 through 2016
Four or more people killed within 24 hours, excluding the assailant
mass school shootings
4 or more killed, excluding the assailant, by firearms at a school
mass public shootings
4 or more killed, excluding the assailant, by firearms in a public space
mass shootings
4 or more killed, excluding the assailant, by firearms
non-shooting mass murders
4 or more killed, excluding the assailant, without the sole use of firearms
Data Source: Fridel, E. E. (2016). Mass murder in the United States: 2006-2016. Northeastern University (Original dataset: Adapted from Overberg, P., Hoyer, M., Hannan, M., Upton, J., Hansen, B., & Durkin, E. (2016). βExplore the data on U.S. mass killings since 2006. USA Today.β). Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/ story/news/nation/2013/09/16/mass-killings-data-map/2820423/
Fridel and Fox used data collected by USA Today, the FBIβs Supplementary Homicide Report, Congressional Research Service, Gun Violence Archive, Stanford Geospatial Center and Stanford Libraries, Mother Jones, Everytown for Gun Safety, and a NYPD report on active shooters.
Their research also finds that shooting incidents involving students have been declining since the 1990s.
School Shootings and Mass Shootings, 1992/93 through 2014/15
mass school shootings
4 or more killed, excluding the assailant, by firearms at a school
multiple-victim school shootings
4 or more victims and at least 2 killed, excluding the assailant, by firearms at a school
fatal school shootings
At least 1 individual killed by firearms at a school
Data Source: James Alan Fox and Emma E. Fridel, βThe Three Rβs of School Shootings: Risk, Readiness, and Response,β in H. Shapiro, ed., The Wiley Handbook on Violence in Education: Forms, Factors, and Preventions, New York: Wiley/Blackwell Publishers, June 2018.
Four times the number of children were killed in schools in the early 1990s than today, Fox said.
Students Killed Per Million in Fatal School Shootings, 1992/93 through 2014/15
Data Source: James Alan Fox and Emma E. Fridel, βThe Three Rβs of School Shootings: Risk, Readiness, and Response,β in H. Shapiro, ed., The Wiley Handbook on Violence in Education: Forms, Factors, and Preventions, New York: Wiley/Blackwell Publishers, June 2018.
Fox said, however, some policy changes aimed at decreasing school shootings and gun violence in general certainly have merit. Banning bump stocks and raising the age of purchase for assault rifles from 18 to 21 are good ideas, and may lead to a decrease in overall gun violence, he said. But he doesnβt believe these measures will prevent school shootings. βThe thing to remember is that these are extremely rare events, and no matter what you can come up with to prevent it, the shooter will have a workaround,β Fox said, adding that over the past 35 years, there have been only five cases in which someone ages 18 to 20 used an assault rifle in a mass shooting.
Fridel said increasing mental health resources for students is another strategy that might improve school safety, calling this a critical need that has been historically overlooked. She also said that the U.S. is facing a desperate shortage of guidance counselors. In 2014-15, the student-to-school counselor ratio was 482-to-1, according to the American School Counselor Association, nearly twice the organizationβs recommended ratio.
βYou might have students in a very large school who are troubled but who are basically flying under the radar, because you have one guidance counselor for 400 students,β Fridel said.
Should schools become fortresses?
After the Columbine High School shooting in 1999, schools across the country began holding active shooter drills in which they huddled together in a corner or hid under their desks. Such exercisesβwhich may include someone walking around pretending to shoot studentsβcan be very traumatic, Fridel said, and there is no evidence that they help protect students. βThese measures just serve to alarm students and make them think itβs something thatβs common,β she said.
Other safety precautions, such as installing metal detectors and requiring ID cards for entry, have also proven ineffective in past school shootings.
Fridel pointed to a few examples.
In 1989, a shooter killed five and injured 32 elementary school children in Stockton, California, by targeting them on the playground.
In a 1998 shooting in Jonesboro, Arkansas, two students pulled a fire alarm and began sniping people as they filed out to the parking lot, killing five and wounding 10 others.
In addition to being ineffective, Fox said increased security measures of these kinds can do more harm than good. He called the suggestion to arm teachers βabsurdβ and βover the top.ββIβm not a big fan of making schools look like fortresses, because they send a message to kids that the bad guy is coming for youβif weβre surrounding you with security, you must have a bullβs-eye on your back,β Fox said. βThat can actually instill fear, not relieve it.β