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Education Dive
Teacher survey: Lawmakers 'not doing enough' to prevent school shootings
Naaz Modan
Nov. 15, 2019
Dive Brief:
Findings from a Fishbowl survey of 1,067 teachers show an overwhelming
majority (87%) believe lawmakers are not doing enough to prevent school
shootings.
Only 3.84% of those surveyed said they believe lawmakers are doing enough, while 7.5% were unsure.
Of states with at least 50 teacher responses, Michigan had the highest
percentage of teachers (98.4%) saying lawmakers weren't doing enough,
while Texas had the lowest portion at 80.39%.
Dive Insight:
These findings come shortly after a report from The Secret Service
National Threat Assessment Center, released last week, suggesting many
incidents of school violence could be prevented. The report stated
while "prevention is key" and schools should establish prevention
programs to identify students of concern, there is no one typical
profile of a student attacker, and attackers usually have access to
firearms at home.
In response to the uptick in shootings, the most recent occurring in a
California high school Thursday, schools are putting in place increased
security measures including cameras, bulletproof glass and random
searches.
While these measures often harden buildings in case of an active
shooter, schools are also taking preventative approaches that include
monitoring student climate and stressing mental health through
increased awareness and access to services.
However, the survey suggests schools can only do so much in lieu of
legislative action. Also supporting these findings, a 2018 Gallup poll
suggested most U.S. teachers favor gun control measures over putting in
place security measures that harden school buildings. In that same
poll, one-third of teachers named gun control or stricter laws, the
most popular response, as something that could be done to prevent
school shootings. The second-most popular response was a ban on guns.
Educator organizations including the American Federation of Teachers
and the National Education Association have also advocated for
legislative change.
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