Majority of Parents Think a School Shooting Could Occur in Their Community

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- A shooting at Santana High School in Santee, California (northeast of San Diego) has tragically thrust the issue of school violence back into the news. The fact that a high school student is apparently a suspect in the shooting makes the event similar to the shooting that occurred at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. In August of 2000, roughly a quarter of parents of children in grades K-12 said they feared for their child's physical safety at school, and 8% of parents reported that their children expressed worry or concern about safety when returning to school this past fall.

In April 2000, on the one-year anniversary of the Columbine shooting, Gallup asked Americans their opinions on the subject of school violence. The results showed an increased level of concern among parents, and a belief that schools had indeed taken appropriate action to prevent such shootings. In the April 7-9 survey, 63% of Americans with children in grades K-12 said that it was either very likely or somewhat likely that a shooting similar to that at Columbine could happen in their community. Seventy percent of K-12 parents said they were either much more or somewhat more concerned about school violence specifically as a result of the Columbine shootings. In the same survey, 72% of parents said that schools in their areas have taken actions to prevent acts of violence. Additionally, 68% of parents said that the action taken by their local schools was the right amount. Only 28% said they thought the action taken was not enough, and 4% said the actions of their local schools had gone too far.

At the same time, almost half of the public (49%) believed such shootings will occur regardless of any actions government or society takes to prevent them. The majority of the public (69%) also favors holding parents legally responsible for crimes committed by with the parent's guns.

Survey Methods

The results below are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,007 and 1,019 adults, 18 years and older, conducted April 7-9, and August 24-27, 2000 respectively. For results based on these samples, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls. For results based on the sub-sample of 291 parents with children in grades K-12, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 6 percentage points.

Thinking about your oldest child, when he or she is at school, do you fear for his or her physical safety?

BASED ON -- 282 -- K-12 PARENTS; ± 6 PCT PTS

 

	Yes, fear	No, do not	No opinion
	%	%	%
2000 Aug 24-27	26	74	0
2000 Apr 7-9	43	57	0
1999 Aug 24-26	47	53	*
1999 May 21-23	52	47	1
1999 Apr 26-27	49	51	*
1999 Apr 21	55	45	0
1998 Jun 5-7	37	62	1
1977^	24	70	6
^ Gallup for Kettering Foundation

Have any of your school-aged children expressed any worry or concern about feeling unsafe at their school when they go back to school this fall?

BASED ON -- 282 -- K-12 PARENTS; ± 6 PCT PTS

 

	Yes	No	No opinion
2000 Aug 24-27	8%	92	*
1999 Aug 24-26	18%	82	*

As you may know, it has been nearly one year since the shooting at Columbine High School, the Littleton, Colorado school where two students killed 12 of their classmates and one teacher. In your opinion, how likely is it that these kinds of shootings could happen in your community, is it -- very likely, somewhat likely, somewhat unlikely, or very unlikely?

 

	Very likely	Somewhat likely	Somewhat unlikely	Very unlikely	No opinion
2000 Apr 7-9
National adults	30%	36	18	13	3
K-12 parents	30%	33	24	12	1
1999 Apr 21	30%	38	14	15	3
1998 Apr 18-20**	37%	34	15	12	2
** NBC/Wall Street Journalquestion wording: "As you may know, two young boys recently shot and killed several people at a school in Jonesboro, Arkansas. In your opinion, how likely is it that these kinds of shootings could happen in your community -- is it very likely, somewhat likely, somewhat unlikely, or very unlikely?"

Which of the following statements comes closer to your overall view -- [ROTATED: government and society can take action that will be effective in preventing shootings like the one in Colorado from happening again (or) shootings like the one in Colorado will happen again regardless of what action is taken by government and society]?

 

	Government and society can prevent	Shootings will happen regardless of actions taken	No opinion
2000 Apr 7-9
National adults	47%	49	4
K-12 parents	48%	49	3
1999 Apr 21	53%	43	4

Specifically as a result of the shooting at Columbine, would you say you feel [ROTATED: much more concerned about your child's safety today than you did before (or) somewhat more concerned (or) about the same (or) somewhat less concerned (or) much less concerned about your child's safety today than you did before]?

BASED ON -- 291-- PARENTS OF CHILDREN IN GRADES K-12; +/- 6 PCT PTS

 

	Much more concerned	Somewhat more concerned	About the same	Somewhat less concerned	Much less concerned	No opinion
2000 Apr 7-9	40%	30	28	1	1	*

Here are some things which some parents may have done and others have not as a result of the Columbine High School shooting. Specifically as a result of the Columbine shooting [RANDOM ORDER] … ? Next, …?

BASED ON -- 291 -- PARENTS OF CHILDREN IN GRADES K-12; +/- 6 PCT PTS

 

	Yes	No	No opinion
A. Have you become more involved in your children's school or schools in the past year than you were before?
2000 Apr 7-9	38%	61	1
B. Have you supervised your own children's activities more closely than you had before?
2000 Apr 7-9	44%	56	*
C. Have you taken steps to find out about the security measures in place at your children's school or schools?
2000 Apr 7-9	57%	42	1
D. Have you spoken to your children about not making fun of unpopular students or groups?
2000 Apr 7-9	80%	19	1

Thinking about the school or schools your children attend, would you say your schools have gone too far, have not gone far enough or are doing the right amount to prevent acts of school violence from occurring?

BASED ON -- 291 -- PARENTS OF CHILDREN IN GRADES K-12; +/- 6 PCT PTS

 

	Gone too far	Not gone far enough	Right amount	No opinion
2000 Apr 7-9	4%	28	68	*

As far as you know, have your local schools taken steps in the past year to prevent acts of violence similar to Columbine?

BASED ON -- 291 -- PARENTS OF CHILDREN IN GRADES K-12; +/- 6 PCT PTS

 

	Yes	No	No opinion
2000 Apr 7-9	72%	17	11

Would you generally favor or oppose a law that would hold parents legally responsible if their children commit crimes with the parents' guns?

 

Favor	69%
Oppose	24%
No opinion	7%

In general, do you feel that the laws covering the sale of firearms should be made more strict, less strict, or kept as they are now?

 

	More strict	Less strict	Kept as now	No opinion
	%	%	%	%
2000 Apr 7-9	61	7	30	2
1999 Dec 9-12	60	10	29	1
1999 Aug 3-4	66	6	27	1
1999 Jun 25-27	62	6	31	1
1999 May 23-24	65	5	28	2
1999 Apr 26-27	66	7	25	2
1999 Feb 8-9	60	9	29	2
1995 Apr 23-24^	62	12	24	2
1993 Dec 17-19	67	7	25	1
1993 Mar	70	4	24	2
1991	68	5	25	2
1990	78	2	17	3

^Asked of half sample
* Less than 0.5%