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When Your Oldest Child Is at School, Do You Fear for His or Her Physical Safety?

1936-2011 Trend: What do you think is the ideal number of children for a family to have?

Suppose you could only have one child. Would you prefer that it be a boy or a girl?

	Boy	Girl	Either/ Doesn't matter (vol.)	Not sure	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
2011 Jun 9-12	40	28	26	3	3
2007 Jun 11-14	37	28	26	5	4
2003 Jul 18-20	38	28	27	5	2
2000 Dec 2-4	42	27	25	4	2
1997 May 6-7	36	23	38	2	1
1997 Feb 24-26 ^	41	29	25	--	5
1996 Feb 23-25 ^	41	31	25	--	3
1990 Apr 19-22 †	38	34	24	--	4
1947 Sep 12-17 †	40	25	27	--	8
1941 Mar 21-26 ‡	38	24	23	--	15
(vol.) = Volunteered response
^ If you were to have a child right now, would you rather have a boy or a girl?
† If you had another child would you rather have a boy or a girl?
‡ If you could have only one (one more) child, which would you prefer to have -- a boy, or a girl?

What do you think is the ideal number of children for a family to have?

	0	1	2	3	4	5	6 +	No opinion	Mean	*Summary*
	0	1	2	3	4	5	6 +	No opinion	Mean	*0-2*	3+
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%		%	%
2011	1	4	53	23	8	1	1	9	2.5	58	33

2007	1	3	52	25	7	1	1	9	2.5	56	34
2004	1	3	49	26	9	1	2	9	2.6	53	38
2003	1	2	52	26	9	1	1	8	2.5	55	37
2001	1	2	49	27	9	1	1	11	2.6	52	38
1997	2	2	46	29	9	2	2	8	2.6	50	42
1996	2	3	57	21	7	4	0	6	2.4	62	32
1990	3	3	57	18	8	3	0	8	2.4	63	29
1987	1	3	56	22	9	2	1	6	2.6	60	34
1986	2	5	59	17	11	0	0	6	2.5	66	28
1985	2	4	56	21	8	1	2	6	2.5	62	32
1983	3	3	54	21	11	1	2	5	2.6	60	35
1980	3	2	55	20	9	1	2	8	2.5	60	32
1980	1	3	51	21	12	2	2	8	2.7	55	37
1978	2	2	49	23	13	2	1	8	2.6	53	39
1977	2	2	50	22	10	2	2	10	2.6	54	36
1974	1	2	46	22	14	2	3	10	2.8	49	41
1973	1	1	46	23	14	3	3	9	2.8	48	43
1971	0	1	38	28	19	3	2	10	2.9	39	52
1967	0	0	23	30	31	5	4	7	3.4	23	70
1966	0	1	18	27	27	4	3	20	3.3	19	61
1965	0	1	18	28	29	5	3	16	3.4	19	65
1962	0	1	16	24	33	6	7	13	3.3	17	70
1957	1	1	18	34	27	6	4	9	3.6	20	71
1953	0	1	28	30	29	7	5	0	3.3	29	71
1947	0	1	26	26	29	12	0	6	3.4	27	67
1945	0	1	22	28	31	9	9	0	3.3	23	77
1941	0	1	31	27	27	6	8	0	3.3	32	68
1936	0	2	32	32	22	7	3	0	3.6	34	64

NOTE: Means for 1936-1996 were estimated.

Thinking about your oldest child, when he or she is at school, do you fear for his or her physical safety?

ASKED OF K-12 PARENTS

	Yes, fear	No, do not	No opinion
	%	%	%
2009 Mar 27-29	26	74	*
2008 Aug 7-10	15	85	--
2007 Aug 13-16	24	76	*
2006 Oct 6-8	35	65	--
2006 Aug 7-10	25	75	*
2005 Aug 8-11	21	79	*
2004 Aug 9-11	28	71	1
2003 Aug 4-6	24	76	*
2002 Aug 5-8	31	68	1
2001 Aug 16-19	32	68	0
2001 Mar 9-11	45	54	1
2000 Aug 24-27	26	74	0
2000 Apr 7-9	43	57	0
1999 Aug 24-26	47	53	*
1999 May 21-23	52	47	1
1999 Apr 26-27	49	51	*
1999 Apr 21	55	45	0
1998 Jun 5-7	37	62	1
1977 ^	24	70	6
* Less than 0.5%
^ Gallup for Kettering Foundation

Do you think the government should be able to prevent the sales or rentals of violent video games to children under 18, or not?

	Yes, should be able to prevent	No, should not	No opinion
2010 Oct 29-30	68%	31	2

How much responsibility should each of the following have for determining whether or not children under 18 are able to buy or rent violent video games -- a great deal, a fair amount, not much or none at all? How about -- [RANDOM ORDER]?

Parents

	Great deal	Fair amount	Not much	None	No opinion
2010 Oct 29-30	86%	8	2	4	1

Video game manufacturers

	Great deal	Fair amount	Not much	None	No opinion
2010 Oct 29-30	43%	22	12	19	3

The government

	Great deal	Fair amount	Not much	None	No opinion
2010 Oct 29-30	28%	28	16	26	2

Retail or online stores that sell or rent games

	Great deal	Fair amount	Not much	None	No opinion
2010 Oct 29-30	43%	30	11	14	3

Have any of your school-aged children expressed any worry or concern about feeling unsafe at their school when they go back to school this fall?

[ASKED OF K-12 PARENTS]

	Yes	No	No opinion
	%	%	%
2009 Mar 27-29	10	90	--
2008 Aug 7-10 ^	8	91	1
2007 Aug 13-16	12	87	1
2006 Oct 6-8	12	88	--
2006 Aug 7-10	11	87	2
2004 Aug 9-11	10	89	1
2003 Aug 4-6	8	91	1
2001 Mar 9-11 ^	22	77	1
2000 Aug 24-27	8	92	*
1999 Aug 24-26	18	82	*
* Less than 0.5%
^ WORDING: Have any of your school-aged children expressed any worry or concern about feeling unsafe at their school when they go to school?

Suppose an unmarried couple lives together with children in the household. Do you think that has a -- [ROTATED: positive effect on the children, does it not make a difference, (or does it have a) negative effect on the children]?

	Positive effect	No difference	Negative effect	No opinion
2008 Jul 25-27	12%	47	38	3

Thinking about the number of overweight children there are in the United States today, would you say this is an extremely serious problem, a very serious problem, a moderately serious problem, or not a serious problem?

	Extremely serious	Very serious	Moderately serious	Not serious	No opinion
2006 Feb 9-12	26%	41	29	3	1

How many children, if any, have you had?

	None	One	Two	Three	Four	Five or more	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
2003 Jul 18-20	28	15	25	15	10	6	1
1990 Apr 19-22	26	14	26	16	8	10	--

How many children, if any, have you had?

(Asked of those age 40 and under with no children) Do you want to have children someday, or not?

(Asked of those over age 40 with no children) If you had to do it over again, how many children would you have, or would you not have any at all?

COMBINED RESPONSES

	2003 Jul 18-20	1990 Apr 19-22
	%	%
Have children	72	73
Do not have but want to have children	16	17
Do not have children but would like to have done so	6	3
Do not want children	4	4

No opinion	2	3

Suppose scientific discoveries make it possible for parents to select genetic traits such as intelligence, height, or artistic talent when planning to have a child. Which comes closer to your view -- [ROTATED: parents should be allowed to select the traits they wish their child to have (or) parents should not be allowed to select the traits for their child and the child should be born with whatever traits it would naturally have]?

	Should be allowed to select traits	Should not be allowed to select traits	No opinion
2003 Jan 23-25 ^	8%	88	4
^ Asked of a half sample

Scientific discoveries may someday make it possible for parents to select genetic traits such as intelligence, height, or artistic talent when planning to have a child. If you were having a child, and this were possible, would you -- [ROTATED: select the traits you wanted your child to have, (or) let the child be born with whatever traits he or she would naturally have]?

	Select traits	Be born with whatever traits naturally have	No opinion
2003 Jan 23-25 ^	7%	91	2
^ Asked of a half sample

Thinking about the amount of homework your oldest child receives, overall, would you say that child receives -- [ROTATED: too much homework, the right amount, or not enough homework]?

BASED ON K-12 PARENTS

	Too much	Right amount	Not enough	No opinion
2001 Aug 16-19	16%	57	23	4

Now thinking for a moment about social pressures at the school your oldest child attends. How serious a problem are social pressures among students to -- [RANDOM ORDER] -- very serious, somewhat serious, not too serious, or not serious at all?

BASED ON K-12 PARENTS

Drink alcohol

	Very serious	Somewhat serious	Not too serious	Not serious at all	No opinion
2001 Aug 16-19	22%	24	22	30	2

Wear a specific type or brand of clothes

	Very serious	Somewhat serious	Not too serious	Not serious at all	No opinion
2001 Aug 16-19	24%	27	23	22	4

Use drugs

	Very serious	Somewhat serious	Not too serious	Not serious at all	No opinion
2001 Aug 16-19	22%	26	23	27	2

Achieve a specific body image

	Very serious	Somewhat serious	Not too serious	Not serious at all	No opinion
2001 Aug 16-19	25%	29	25	20	1

Be popular

	Very serious	Somewhat serious	Not too serious	Not serious at all	No opinion
2001 Aug 16-19	26%	39	22	11	2

Have sexual relations

	Very serious	Somewhat serious	Not too serious	Not serious at all	No opinion
2001 Aug 16-19	19%	28	20	28	5

Smoke cigarettes

	Very serious	Somewhat serious	Not too serious	Not serious at all	No opinion
2001 Aug 16-19	16%	25	25	33	1

In your oldest child's school, would you say students pressure each other more -- [ROTATED: to perform well academically (or) not to perform well academically]?

BASED ON K-12 PARENTS

	To perform well	Not to perform well	No opinion
2001 Aug 16-19	69%	21	10

About how many hours per week would you say you, personally, spend driving your children to organized activities? [OPEN-ENDED]

BASED ON ADULTS WITH CHILDREN UNDER 18

	2001 Aug 3-5
	%
None	29
One hour	10
Two hours	13
Three hours	9
Four hours	9
Five hours	6
Six hours	3
Seven to 10 hours	12
Eleven to 15 hours	5
More than 15 hours	3

No opinion	1

Mean	4.3
Median	2

Considering the needs of both parents and children, which of the following do you see as the ideal situation for a family in today's society -- [ROTATED: both parents work full-time outside the home, one parent works full-time outside the home, the other works part-time, one parent works full-time outside the home, the other works at home, (or) one parent stays at home solely to raise the children]?

	Both parents work full-time	One parent full-time, one parent part-time	One parent full-time, one parent works at home	One parents stays at home to raise children	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
2001 Apr 20-22	13	24	17	41	5
1991 Jul 25-28	14	27	15	39	5
1989 Oct 1-4	7	42	15	33	3

Which parent do you think should work full-time outside the home -- the husband, the wife, or doesn't it make any difference?

BASED ON ADULTS WHO THINK ONE PARENT SHOULD WORK PART-TIME OR AT HOME

	Husband	Wife	Doesn't make any difference	No opinion
2001 Apr 20-22	30%	1	69	0
1991 Jul 25-28	44%	1	55	--

Which parent do you think should stay home solely to raise the children -- the husband, the wife, or doesn't it make any difference?

BASED ON ADULTS WHO THINK ONE PARENT SHOULD STAY AT HOME

	Husband	Wife	Doesn't make any difference	No opinion
2001 Apr 20-22	1%	43	55	1
1991 Jul 25-28	3%	63	34	*
* Less than 0.5%

In your opinion, what is the single most important thing that could be done to prevent another incidence of school shootings by students, like the recent ones in California?

	2001 Mar 26-28	1999 May 7-9 ^

Parent involvement/responsibility	31	32
More security at schools	14	16
Better gun control/laws/issues	11	12
Better education/students/parents	6	3
Control media violence/video games/Internet	5	4
Lift laws on disciplining children	4	6
Put prayer back in school/home	3	3
Raise morals/people's standards	3	3
Better communication between students/parents/teachers	3	4
Monitor/Watch students more closely	3	--
Stop bullies/bullying	2	--
More counselors/counseling/teachers	2	6
Stricter punishment on children/laws	2	2
Report threats/Take threats more seriously	1	--
Dress codes/uniforms	*	1

None	1	1
Other	2	4
No opinion	7	3
* Less than 0.5%
^ WORDING: Next we have some questions about the shooting at the Littleton, Colorado high school where 2 students killed 12 of their classmates and one teacher. In your opinion, what is the single most important thing that could be done to prevent another incidence of school shootings by students, like the one in Littleton?

How important do you think each of the following is as a cause of the school shootings that have been occurring -- extremely important, very important, somewhat important, not too important, or not at all important? How about -- [RANDOM ORDER]?

A. The home life students have today, including their relationship with their parents

	Extremely important	Very important	Somewhat important	Not too important	Not at all important	No opinion
2001 Mar 26-28	57%	35	4	2	1	1

B. Bullying and teasing of students at school

	Extremely important	Very important	Somewhat important	Not too important	Not at all important	No opinion
2001 Mar 26-28	29%	33	23	8	5	2

C. The portrayal of violence and use of guns in today's entertainment and music

	Extremely important	Very important	Somewhat important	Not too important	Not at all important	No opinion
2001 Mar 26-28	38%	30	17	7	6	2

D. The coverage given to school shootings by the news media

	Extremely important	Very important	Somewhat important	Not too important	Not at all important	No opinion
2001 Mar 26-28	32%	32	23	7	3	3

E. The availability and ease of obtaining guns by students

	Extremely important	Very important	Somewhat important	Not too important	Not at all important	No opinion
2001 Mar 26-28	46%	31	10	6	5	2

F. The way schools discipline their students

	Extremely important	Very important	Somewhat important	Not too important	Not at all important	No opinion
2001 Mar 26-28	31%	36	17	8	3	5

G. The size of high schools today in terms of the number of students who attend

	Extremely important	Very important	Somewhat important	Not too important	Not at all important	No opinion
2001 Mar 26-28	20%	29	26	15	6	4

H. The fact that families move around and the students don't have roots in one specific town

	Extremely important	Very important	Somewhat important	Not too important	Not at all important	No opinion
2001 Mar 26-28	17%	26	28	18	9	2

Overall, do you feel the news media have acted responsibly or irresponsibly in covering the recent school shootings?

	Responsibly	Irresponsibly	No opinion
2001 Mar 26-28	57%	37	6
1999 Apr 26-27 ^	67%	29	4
^ WORDING: Overall, do you feel the news media have acted responsibly or irresponsibly in this situation? (Columbine/Littleton shooting)

Using a scale of 1-10, where 1 is very easy, and 10 is very difficult, how easy or difficult would you say it is to raise children to be good people these days?

	1998 Jul 7-8
	%
01 Very easy	2
02	2
03	3
04	2
05	11
06	7
07	14
08	23
09	7
10 Very difficult	28

No opinion	1

Mean	7.5

Compared to twenty years ago, do you think it is harder or not harder to raise kids to be good people today?

	Harder	Not harder	No opinion
1998 Jul 7-8	89%	10	1

Compared to parents twenty years ago, do you think parents today are doing a better job of raising their children, a worse job or are they doing about the same?

	Better	Worse	Same	No opinion
1998 Jul 7-8	4%	67	28	1

Which of the following statements comes closer to the way you feel about raising children today -- [ROTATED: even though there are a lot of bad influences these days, parents who do a good job can usually be assured that their children will turn out well (or) there are so many bad influences out there that even for parents who do a good job, there is a good chance their children will get into serious trouble]?

	Children will turn out well	Good chance children get into trouble	Neither/Other (vol.)/ No opinion
1998 Jul 7-8	44	51	5
(vol.) = Volunteered response

Thinking about children's exposure to popular culture, including things like television, movies, the internet, and popular music -- do you think it is possible or nearly impossible for a parent to shield their child from exposure to popular culture?

	Possible	Nearly impossible	No opinion
1998 Jul 7-8	26%	73	1

If money were no object, how many children per family would you consider to be the ideal number?

	0	1	2	3	4	5+	No opinion	Mean	*Summary*
									*0-2*	3+
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%		%	%
1997 ^	1	1	43	23	19	8	6	3.0	45	50
^ Asked of a half sample

Which do you, yourself, think is easier to raise -- a boy or a girl?

	Boy	Girl	No difference (vol.)	No opinion
1997 Feb 24-26	49%	30	14	7

Do you approve or disapprove of spanking children?

	Approve	Disapprove	No opinion
	%	%	%
*National adults*
1997 Feb 24-26	65	32	3
1990	65	25	10

*Parents of children under 18*
1997 Feb 24-26	66	31	3
1946	74	24	2

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