Most US teachers worry about school shootings, survey finds
– A Pew Research Center survey of about 2,500 teachers showed that more than half of them were at least somewhat concerned and another 18% were extremely or very worried about the possibility of a shooting at their school.
– Gun control and school safety have become major political and social issues in the U.S. where the number of school shootings has jumped in recent years.
– There were 912 school shootings between 2021 and 2023, more than three times as many as any other three year-period in four decades of data collection.
– The survey indicated that 31% of teachers in urban schools had a gun-related lockdown during the 2022-23 school year, 10 percentage points higher than teachers in both suburban and rural schools.
– Only three out of 10 teachers indicated that their school had done an excellent or very good job preparing them for an active shooter.
– More than three-fifths of teachers surveyed said improved mental health screening and treatment for children and adults would be extremely or very effective at preventing shootings.