In God we trust. All others show us your data.
^^^ Love it.
So you got me intrigued QC: the topic isn't mass shootings in schools, it's violence in schools. The reason I point that out, is that data can be kinda' flaky sometimes. For instance, if we limit ourselves to mass shootings or fatal shootings we get one stack of data. If we open up to "violence" in general, we get another stack all together. If you consider the focus on bullying in the last several years, the data gets even a little more cloudy (when I was a kid a school yard clobberin' wasn't considered "violence" as such - these days, it is). Data can be "massaged" an awful lot to get you the result you want to show people.
** Cards on the table disclaimer: I'm a homeschool advocate. Not personally all that crazy about the state of public school in any of the areas that I've lived in. Violence wasn't a major motivator for me to go to homeschooling, but it was a factor. So far we haven't made the news
Anyway, I am a little bias.
SCHOOL KILLINGS
The best summary of mass shootings/deaths in schools was Wikipedia. I didn't do any disassembly of the stats to see what the increase was or wasn't but there appears to be concentrations: for example 1910 seems to have a concentration of incidents. According to
THIS site, there have been 387 incidents of school shootings since since 1992. A link I'll provide in a few moments only shows 137 since 1980. I can't find any collection of data like this from the DOJ or CDC.
But the data is interesting too: I would consider the 1927 Bath, MI incident an attack on a school (much like Sandy Hook), not school violence. In other words, someone picked a school as a target. As opposed to an incident we had here at TSU in Nashville in January where a kid (non-fatal) was shot over a gambling debt by another student.
That second data point that says since 1980 there have been 137 killings/shootings in US Schools: if true that means nearly 35% of all of the killings since 1850 are concentrated in recent memory (which would fit why we seem to think they're more increased). 297 deaths since 1980, and 45% of those deaths occur in High Schools (
HERE is the best collection of that data). The chart - even if off a little - shows an increase in the last 20 years. If the 387 number is correct then it's nearly a no brainer.
SCHOOL VIOLENCE
This one is a little more muddy lookin' - bullying has become a hot topic in the last several years, and I (personally) would discount schoolyard "scraps." I don't condone 'em, but a collection of teenagers is typically gonna' breed some rooster fightin'. So, I find some of the data a little skewed.
Most recent
DOJ STATS I could find for non-fatal violence came outta' 2012. These were mostly year over year stats, but 2010 to 2012 showed a 35% increase in violence in US Schools. In 2010 85% of US schools report a crime on campus - not just an incident - which I found interesting too.
THIS site concurs on that data, but suggests that while victimization is on a whole down, serious violent victimization is more flat (or consistent).
All that said: there are several articles that I ran across suggesting that the data IS skewed in favor of the schools.
THIS is New York specific (I think) but a clear example of where the data is colliding.
So at the end of all that is violence in the schools increased? I'm not 100% sure. Is violence in the schools present? Absolutely, maybe even ubiquitous. Even if it's just an increase in the reporting by the news, apparently there's quite a bit to report.
... I'm not used to free time early on a Sunday morning: which I had today
