Schools are safer than they were in the 90s

[DeepSouth]

Just thought I’d share some interesting tidbits from a study done at northeastern university. Their are also some interesting charts, see link at bottom for more information.


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.
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Mass school shootings are incredibly rare events. In research publishing later this year, Fox and doctoral student Emma Fridel found that on average, mass murders occur between 20 and 30 times per year, and about one of those incidents on average takes place at a school.
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Four times the number of children were killed in schools in the early 1990s than today, Fox said.
“There is not an epidemic of school shootings,” he said, adding that more kids are killed each year from pool drownings or bicycle accidents. There are around 55 million school children in the United States, and on average over the past 25 years, about 10 students per year were killed by gunfire at school, according to Fox and Fridel’s research.

http://news.northeastern.edu/2018/0...e-safest-places-for-children-researcher-says/

 

[Double Naught Spy]

The study may be valid, maybe not. I haven't looked closely at the data yet, but it brings up an interesting point about reality and perception. You get a lot of people today who carry guns because they feel like crime is worse than it has ever been despite the fact that overall, crime is continuing its downhill slide.

I do like this statement. It is a nice way to redefine school shootings to not look so bad.

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.

There may have only been 16 since 1996 that were school mass shootings (4 or more injured or killed other than the shooter) with at least 2 dying, but by my calculation, there were 47 school mass shootings that fit the FBI definition of 4 or more injured or killed by the shooter other than the shooter. However, by the author's calculations, since 1996, there have been 29 school mass shootings where at least 2 people other than the shooter were killed.

Interestingly, I come up with 15 since 1996 that were school shootings that were mass murders (at least 4 or more killed other than the shooter).

I don't have the data source cited, "Data Source: James Alan Fox and Emma E. Fridel, “The Three R’s of School Shootings: Risk, Readiness, and Response,” in H. Shapiro, ed., The Wiley Handbook on Violence in Education: Forms, Factors, and Preventions, New York: Wiley/Blackwell Publishers, June 2018" as it won't even be published for months to come, but I can already see that they are lacking data.

The notion of associating deaths with danger or safety is also very dubious. Whether or not many people die will often depend on the speed and quality of medical care that is attained. More people may be saved today than 3 decades ago, but that isn't necessarily because things are safer, but because the medical care provided was better.

 

[WestKentucky]

My question is a bit off base but I think is a good point in the conversation. How many school shootings are eliminated if you simply consider the target rather than the location. My point here is that when a person makes the decision to commit a specific murder then they look for a place of opportunity. For teenagers, they see each other at school therefore Billy takes gun to school and uses it on Bobby because Bobby wronged Billy somehow (slept with his girl usually). Kick all of those out. Look solely at the situations where the target was the school rather than the target being at the school. I think this view is more important because it eliminates the “crimes of passion” rival gang hits, etc.

 

[Cayce Charles]

Just thought I’d share some interesting tidbits from a study done at northeastern university. Their are also some interesting charts, see link at bottom for more information.


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.
.
.
Mass school shootings are incredibly rare events. In research publishing later this year, Fox and doctoral student Emma Fridel found that on average, mass murders occur between 20 and 30 times per year, and about one of those incidents on average takes place at a school.
.
.
Four times the number of children were killed in schools in the early 1990s than today, Fox said.
“There is not an epidemic of school shootings,” he said, adding that more kids are killed each year from pool drownings or bicycle accidents. There are around 55 million school children in the United States, and on average over the past 25 years, about 10 students per year were killed by gunfire at school, according to Fox and Fridel’s research.

http://news.northeastern.edu/2018/0...e-safest-places-for-children-researcher-says/

Problem is in 1990 we didn't have the internet or 24/7 news like we do today. News then was USUALLY one day news. Now with the 24/7 channels it's all day every day they have to fill time with something. Heck today, 12-14 days after the Florida High School shooting Fox News was STILL talking about the shooting.

 

[yokel]

CNN drastically changed news when it launched in 1980. Before then, events were reported in two cycles, for morning and evening newspapers and newscasts. Now news knows no cycle. When a plane has crashed, or shots are fired in school, we expect to see it immediately on all-news channels.

 

[ironworkerwill]

Just think how much safer schools will be after Trump writes out bump stocks and the age to buy an AR is raised to 21.

My kids feel safer already.

If they wanted kids to be safer they wouldn't let them ride in cars, outlaw swimming pools, trampolines, and they would move them away from crime infested areas like Chicago.

 

[captain awesome]

whether the numbers are exactly accurate in the study or not, it doesnt change the fact that the general theme of the OP is correct. I have been saying this for a long time. these mass (particularly school) shootings when looking at the big picture are extraordinarily rare. Not even worth concerning yourself about. as mentioned, you or your kids dying a premature death from a myriad of other natural or unnatural causes are far more likely. If you want to worry about something, Worry about cancer and car wrecks. Both are somewhat preventable.

 

[hso]

Kick all of those out.

4 dead criteria pretty much does kick those out since mass murders at schools like Parkland are what people are trying to equate with the highest numbers they can conflate.

Look at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XV4mZi3gYDgwx5PrLwqqHTUlHkwkV-6uy_yeJh3X46o/edit#gid=0

Look through all the murders at "school" and we find only 5 are mass murder school shootings at a HS or lower grade. The span of the data is since 1982...1982! The data shows less than 6 in 36 years. That's fewer than one every 6 years on average. Look over the past 12 years and how many HS or below mass murders at school?