According to government reports, the overall crime is down, but gun violence is rising in schools.
A new report from the Education Department reveals that compared to the previous decade, gun violence has increased in K-12 schools. Bullying and violence against students and teachers on school premises have decreased concurrently.
According to the authors of the report published on July 25, it can “help inform policymakers and practitioners of the nature, extent, and scope of the problem being addressed as they develop programs aimed at violence and school crime prevention,” emphasizing the changing environment of K-12 schools.
US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy released a 39-page guideline on steps to minimize firearm deaths earlier this summer, declaring gun violence to be a public health crisis. According to the advisory, the rate of firearm-related deaths “reached a near three-decade high in 2021.”
According to KFF, a non-profit journalism organization that carries out surveys and health policy, gun-related violence became the main cause of fatalities in children and teens in 2020 and remains unchanged in 2021 and 2022.
The number of crimes committed on public school premises in the previous decade has dropped. The percentage of high schoolers with weapons on school premises has also dropped in the previous decade. In the same way, students and staff threatened with weapons have also declined in the previous decade.
Bullying has also been one of the main issues on many campuses, especially high schools and middle schools, where pre-teens and teens are undergoing emotional and physical changes. According to federal reports, cyberbullying has become more common than traditional bullying. A survey from Pew Research Center reveals that nearly half of the US teens reported experiencing at least one form of cyberbullying.
