GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ -- Students at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado -- the site of the worst school shooting spree in U.S. history last April -- are slowly returning to normal. The school reopened August 16 for the first time since 13 people were killed in a rampage by two students who later took their own lives.
The shootings generated fear among parents nationwide and, as many schools reopen their doors for a new school year this week, a new Gallup poll on education issues finds nearly half of all parents (47%) fearing for their children's safety at school. The percentages have fallen slightly since the end of the school year last May, when a Gallup poll found 52% of parents feared for their children's safety at school. Rural parents are more likely to be afraid (54%) than are parents in urban or suburban school districts (46% and 44%, respectively), and parents in the South are more likely to be afraid (56%) than are those in any other region.
Students Generally Do Not Share Same Fears
While nearly half of all parents fear for their children at school,
the Gallup poll found students generally do not share the same
fear. Just 18% of parents reported their children have expressed
concerns about safety at their schools. Again, the percentages are
higher among rural families, where 22% of parents say their
children have expressed fears. Families living in the East also
have higher levels of concern -- 24% of parents in the East say
their children have expressed worries about feeling unsafe at
school.
Violence Not Seen as Most Serious Problem at U.S.
Schools
While violence is the "hot-button" issue driving most conversations
about problems in the schools, it is not the most significant
problem in parents' eyes. When parents were given a list of
potential problems facing schools and were asked to rank them, just
28% cited violence as a serious problem. This compares with 43% who
cited drugs, 40% who cited sex, and 39% who cited discipline in the
classroom as serious problems.
However, the most serious problem by far has little to do with violence, vices, or discipline. Nearly two out of three parents (64%) cited the social pressure to be popular as a serious problem. Social pressure has been cited as one of the factors that may have sparked the Columbine tragedy, and is a problem on which security guards and metal detectors will have little impact.
Survey Methods
The results below are based on telephone interviews with a randomly
selected national sample of 338 adults, 18 years and older,
conducted August 24-26, 1999. For results based on this sample, 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. 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.
Thinking about your oldest child, when he or she is at
school, do you fear for his or her physical safety?
BASED ON -- 338 -- K-12 PARENTS; ± 6 PCT PTS
| Yes, fear | No, do not | No opinion | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 -- 338 -- K-12 PARENTS; ± 6 PCT PTS
| Yes | 18% |
| No | 82 |
| No opinion | * |
| 100% |
How serious a problem are each of the following at the school
your oldest child attends -- very serious, somewhat serious, not
too serious, or not serious at all? First, ... . How about ... ?
[RANDOM ORDER]
BASED ON -- 338 -- K-12 PARENTS; ± 6 PCT PTS
| Very serious | Somewhat serious | Not too serious | Not serious at all | No opinion | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. Violence | 13% | 15% | 38% | 33% | 1% |
| B. Gangs | 11 | 16 | 26 | 45 | 2 |
| C. Drugs | 17 | 26 | 28 | 27 | 2 |
| D. Sex | 14 | 26 | 30 | 28 | 2 |
| E. Discipline in the classroom | 17 | 22 | 34 | 26 | 1 |
| F. Social pressure among students to be popular | 25 | 39 | 21 | 14 | 1 |
* less than 0.5%
