Following high-profile school shootings, policymakers and educators seek ways to prevent such shootings, but there has been little research on school-level responses in the immediate aftermath of such events. This study examines how school-level security measures and practices changed after the 1999 Columbine shooting using a nationally…

The tables in this report provide national-level estimates of the extent to which students ages 12-18 enrolled in grades 6-12 experience bullying during school. The tables show how bullying victimization varies by student and school characteristics such as sex, race/ethnicity, grade, household income, region, school locale, school enrollment size,…

Gun control is a highly debated and divisive social issue. In recent years, this issue has been thrust into the academic arena with the advent of campus carry legislation and policies. Researchers have taken up the task of attempting to better understand the attitudes of those most affected by campus carry legislation -- the campus community. The…

Recently, states have enacted teacher-carry laws. While controversial, little scholarship has tapped public attitudes toward such reforms. Because public opinion shapes policy, the public is an important stakeholder in this debate. Thus, we investigated three questions. First, how supportive is the public of arming teachers? Second, what…

I examined which students view campus gun carrying as socially beneficial, how these views vary based on social standing among peers, and to what extent students believe their own gun carrying behavior influences others. Data were drawn from a nationwide web survey of 520 US college students. Results indicate that males and those attending school…

The tables in this report include data from the 2019 School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). These tables show the extent to which students, ages 12 through 18, with different characteristics report being bullied, including estimates by student sex, race/ethnicity, grade, and household income. The U.S.…

Despite mounting evidence that zero-tolerance policies do not deter misbehavior, teachers and administrators continue to respond to a range of student infractions through punitive measures, such as ticketing, expelling, and suspending students. Black boys, black girls, and Latinx students are most adversely affected by discipline in the era of…

The tables in this report include data from the 2017 School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). These tables show the extent to which students with different characteristics report being bullied, including estimates by student sex, race/ethnicity, grade, and household income. The U.S. Census Bureau (Census)…

In recent decades, the number of school resource officers has exploded. In 2013, about 30 percent of schools had one, as compared to 1 percent in 1975, The New York Times reported in 2018. These officers have increasingly received attention in the wake of high-profile school shootings. Yet relatively little is known about them. Who are they? How…

Identifying whether suicides in a region are due to characteristics of the residents living there or to some enduring feature of the region is difficult when using cross-sectional studies. To distinguish these factors, we compared the suicides of a region's residents with people who were temporarily visiting the region. Using U.S. death records…

Results indicate that some commonly accepted beliefs about sex and race and the suicide methods chosen are incorrect. Geographical region appears to be an influential factor. Data from death certificates in five cities support the conclusions. (JMF)

The Code of Virginia requires school divisions statewide to submit data annually to the Department of Education (DOE) on incidents of discipline, crime, and violence. These incidents shall include: (1) those that occurred on school property, on a school bus, or at a school-sponsored activity; and (2) offenses, wherever committed, by students…

Presents new evidence to show that nuclear radiation is associated with impaired cognitive functions. Links changing levels of radiation from U.S. nuclear bomb testing to the long decline--and now the beginnings of a rise--in Scholastic Aptitude Test scores. (Author/RW)