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Americans Say the Family Is the Starting Point for Preventing Another Columbine

Americans Say the Family Is the Starting Point for Preventing Another Columbine

Two years after the Littleton, Colorado tragedy, Americans focus on parents as the main way to prevent such incidents in the future

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- Today marks the second anniversary of the tragic shooting deaths of 15 students and teachers at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado -- an event that has been followed by a number of other school shootings in the two years since, and which has sharply focused the public's attention on such issues as school safety, teenage bullying, peer pressure, gun control, and societal trends in family values.

Gallup has asked thousands of adult Americans and teenagers about their views on these issues during the past 24 months. The results paint a portrait of a public resigned to the potential that such incidents could happen again in schools in their local community. It is also evident that Americans place a primary importance on the influence of teenagers' families and parents if such incidents are to be prevented in the future.

One of the most important questions we have asked is straightforward: "What is the single most important thing that could be done to prevent another incidence of school shootings by students?"

The answers can be grouped into three major categories:

  1. Factors relating to parenting and the family background of the children involved,
  2. Factors relating to the school environment itself, and
  3. Broader, societal-level factors relating to such things as the media and availability of guns.

It is hard to arrive at a firm determination of the relative importance that Americans place on each of these factors. The data from our surveys suggest that the impact of the family and parents is most important when respondents are asked to name causes of school violence in an open-ended, top-of-mind fashion, but that other factors -- particularly societal level ones -- can receive high importance scores when Americans are asked to rate the factors one by one.

We have asked Americans the top-of-mind question about ways to prevent school shootings and violence twice, in May 1999 immediately after the Columbine incident, and again recently at the end of March. The responses were coded into broad categories, with the following results:

 

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 two 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?



We can further classify the responses obtained in this survey into the three broad categories suggested above, with the following results:

Parents and Family Actions -- 40%

Parental involvement -- 31%

Better education/students/parents -- 6%

Raise morals/people's standards -- 3%

School-Related Actions -- 29%

More security at schools -- 14%

Lift laws on disciplining children -- 4%

Prayer back in school -- 3%

Monitor/watch students more closely -- 3%

Stop bullying -- 2%

More counselors -- 2%

Report threats, take more seriously -- 1%

Dress codes *

*Less than 0.5%

Societal-Level Actions -- 18%

Better gun control -- 11%

Control media violence, video games, Internet -- 5%

Stricter child punishment laws -- 2%

As can been seen, Americans' dominant reaction is to focus on the family background and parents of today's teenagers as the most effective way to prevent school shootings in the future, followed by issues relating to the schools, and then factors at the society level. There has been, as noted, little change in these responses from May 1999 to the present.

Teenagers, however, have a little different perspective. A special May 5-17, 1999 Gallup poll of teenagers aged 13-17 showed the following:

In your opinion, why did the shooting tragedy at Columbine High School in Littleton Colorado happen?

 

Peer issues

40%

Personal problems

16

Warning signs ignored

7

Parents, family

4



Here we see that teenagers, perhaps not surprisingly, are most likely to look first at their own social environment when assessing blame for the shootings, focusing on issues relating to peer pressure and social stratification within the schools. Note that only 4% of parents mention the impact of parents.

The results presented above are based on open-ended, top-of-mind responses. There is a slightly different pattern of results when respondents are asked to rate their perception of the importance of a series of items relating to school shootings. The results of this technique can be quite dependent on the items included in the list, but show the same general pattern as the open-ended questions reviewed above.

Here are the results from the most recent such question, included in a late March poll this year:

SUMMARY TABLE OF IMPORTANCE AS A "CAUSE OF THE SCHOOL SHOOTINGS THAT HAVE BEEN OCCURRING"

2001 Mar 26-28
(sorted by "extremely")


Extremely
%


Very
%


Somewhat
%

Important
%

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

57

35

4

96

The availability and ease of obtaining guns by students

46

31

10

87

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

38

30

17

85

The coverage given to school shootings by the news media

32

32

23

87

The way schools discipline their students

31

36

17

84

Bullying and teasing of students at school

29

33

23

85

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

20

29

26

78

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

17

26

28

71

Here we find that, similar to the open-end responses, parenting and home life are rated as the most important causes of school shootings. The availability of guns is rated second in terms of importance, followed by two issues relating to the media -- the portrayal of violence and the coverage of school shootings. Americans are less convinced that issues relating to the mobility of today's family or the size of today's high schools are major factors behind the shootings.

Immediately after Columbine, a slightly different approach to measuring the public's perception of responsibility for the shootings was included in a Gallup poll. Respondents in a special April 21, 1999, poll were read a list of factors, and asked to indicate how much "blame" each should be given for the shootings like the one that occurred in Littleton.

Here are the results, based on the percent of those saying a "great deal" of blame:

Availability of guns 60%

Parents 51

TV programs, movies and music 49

Social pressures on youth 43

Media coverage of similar incidents 34

Internet 34

Schools 11

The gun issue is rated as having a great deal of blame by more Americans than any other item on the list, somewhat above parental influence.

But, still another list used in May 1999, with somewhat differently worded alternatives, showed the family, drugs and alcohol, the easy availability of weapons, and the growth of youth gangs to be given roughly equal ratings. The only factors that receive 50% or lower "very important" ratings on this list are school curriculum, diversity and poverty.

As you probably know, there has been an increase in violence in the nation's
public schools over the last decade. How important do you consider each of the
following as a cause for this increased violence -- very important, quite important,
not very important, or not at all important?

 

A breakdown in the American family (such as an increase in one-parent and dysfunctional families)

76%

Increased use of drugs and alcohol among school-age youth

74

Easy availability of weapons (guns, knives)

72

Growth of youth gangs

71

Schools do not have the authority to discipline that they once had

69

Inability of school staff to resolve conflicts between students

64

Increased portrayal of violence in the media (especially in movies

and on TV)

62

Trying to deal with troubled or emotionally disturbed students in the

regular classroom instead of in special classes or schools

61

Shortages in school personnel

55

Cutbacks in many school support programs

54

A school curriculum that is out of touch with the needs of today's

students

50

Increased cultural, racial, and ethnic diversity among the public

school student population

41

Increased poverty among parents

39

   


Family and Parenting Almost Universally Seen as Important
We can reach several conclusions from a review of these different ways of assessing the public's reaction to Columbine and similar incidents. First, no matter how the question is asked, or what the list of factors presented to Americans, the impact of parents and the family is almost always perceived as one of the top causes of school shooting incidents. The adult population of the country, in short, appears to be fairly well convinced that the chances of such incidents occurring in the future will remain high unless some fundamental aspects of family life and parenting are improved in the years ahead.

Beyond the family, there is less consensus. Certainly in the days after Columbine, research showed that Americans felt the availability of guns was a powerfully important factor, and as recently as last month, guns remained the second most significant factors in a list of nine read to respondents. The influence of the media, either in terms of coverage of the tragedies, or in terms of its portrayal of violence, is generally considered to be an important causal factor. The factors that are seen as less important are those that are more tangential: the size of high schools, the mobility of today's families, poverty, and so forth.

Implications of Columbine on Other Aspects of Society
There is little evidence that the incidence of school shootings like Columbine has dramatically raised the perception of crime, shootings, or youth problems as major problems facing our society. Gallup routinely asks Americans "What is the most important problem facing the country today," and in early April, we found that only 3% of the public mention school shootings, 6% mention crime overall, and 6% raise issues relating to children.

What do you think is the most important problem facing this country today? [Open-ended]

 

   

Apr 6-8,
2001
%

Mar 5-7,
2001
%

Jan 10-14,
2001
%

Apr 3-9,
2000
%

           
 

ECONOMIC PROBLEMS (NET)

33

29

22

--

1

Economy in general

15

10

7

4

2

High cost of living/inflation

7

2

1

1

3

Unemployment/jobs

6

4

4

2

4

Taxes

4

7

5

3

5

Gap between rich and poor

2

1

1

1

6

Federal budget deficit/federal debt

1

2

1

1

7

Fuel/Oil prices

1

1

2

4

8

Trade relations/deficit

1

*

*

*

9

Wage issues

*

1

1

1

 

Recession

--

3

4

*

 

Other specific economic

--

1

*

1

           
 

NON-ECONOMIC PROBLEMS (NET)

69

76

77

--

1

Education

10

16

12

11

2

Ethics/moral/religious/family decline; dishonesty; lack of integrity

9

11

13

7

3

Situation/Conflict with China

7

     

4

Dissatisfaction with government/Congress/ politicians/candidates; Poor leadership; corruption

7

5

9

11

5

Crime/violence

6

8

9

12

6

Drugs

6

6

7

5

7

Children's behavior/way they are raised

6

6

3

3

8

Poor healthcare/ hospitals; high cost of healthcare

5

7

7

6

9

Poverty/hunger/homelessness

4

5

4

6

10

Environment/pollution

3

2

2

2

11

School shootings/school violence

3

5

0

*

12

International issues/problems

3

4

4

2

13

Lack of energy sources

2

2

4

*

14

Race relations/racism

2

2

4

3

15

Judicial system/courts/laws

2

1

1

1

16

Welfare

1

1

2

1

17

Fear of war

1

2

*

1

18

Guns/gun control

1

4

1

5

19

Medicare/Social Security issues

2

4

3

3

20

Immigration/illegal aliens

1

*

2

1

21

Abortion

1

1

1

1

22

Cancer/Diseases

1

--

--

--

23

Foreign aid/focus overseas

1

1

*

*

24

Lack of military defense

1

2

2

1

25

Care for the elderly

1

1

2

2

26

The media

1

1

1

--

27

Election/election reform

1

*

2

--

28

Lack of respect for each other

1

1

--

--

29

Overpopulation

1

1

1

*

30

Unifying the country

*

1

1

--

31

Child abuse

*

--

1

1

32

National security

*

1

--

--

 

Advancement of computers/technology

--

*

0

--

 

AIDS

--

--

*

*

 

Other non-economic

4

1

3

11

           
 

No opinion

7

7

8

5

 

Total

138%

141%

135%

125%

           

Total adds to more than 100% due to multiple responses

       

*Less than 0.5%

       


The highly publicized school shootings have also apparently had little significant impact on Americans' feelings about gun control. Reproduced below is the trend line on Gallup's most basic gun control question, asking whether the country's gun laws should be made more strict, less strict or kept as they are. As can be seen, the percent of Americans saying that gun laws should be made more strict went up slightly after Columbine but has actually dropped back down to pre-Columbine levels in late 1999 and 2000:

Have parents become more worried about their child's safety as a result of Columbine as other recent school shootings? The answer is yes and no. Worry on the part of parents is up compared to 25 years ago, but instead of staying high, has fluctuated depending on news coverage of school shootings.

A baseline number of 24% of parents who feared for their child's safety while he or she was at school was obtained in 1977. That number was up to 37% in June 1998 -- before Columbine. Then, immediately after the Columbine shootings, the number shot up to 55% and stayed high throughout the rest of the spring and the summer of 1999. It dropped by April 2000, and again by the time the children were set to go back to school in the fall of 2000. Then, immediately after more shootings occurred in schools near San Diego, it was back up to 45%.

Thinking about your oldest child, when he or she is at school, do you fear for his or her
physical safety? [BASED ON -- 299 -- K-12 PARENTS; ±6 PCT. PTS.]

 

 

Yes, fear
%

No, do not
%

No opinion
%

       

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

       

^ Gallup for Kettering Foundation

*Less than 0.5%



Finally, there has been little change over the past two years in the perception on the part of Americans that school shootings can occur in their local communities. About two-thirds of Americans thought that such shootings were at least somewhat likely to occur in their community in April 1999, and that number is virtually the same today:

Thinking about the recent shootings at schools,

In your opinion, how likely is that these kinds of shootings could happen in your
community, is it -- very likely, somewhat likely, somewhat unlikely, or very
unlikely?

 

Very
likely
%

Somewhat likely
%

Somewhat unlikely
%

Very
unlikely
%

No
opinion
%

           

2001 Mar 9-11

31

34

20

13

2

           

2000 Apr 7-9 ^

30

36

18

13

3

1999 May 21-23 ^

37

37

14

11

1

1999 Apr 21 †

30

38

14

15

3

           

^

WORDING: Next, we have one question about the shooting at the Littleton, Colorado high school where 2 students killed 12 of their classmates and one teacher (April 20, 1999). In your opinion, how likely is it that these kinds of shootings could happen in your community, is it very likely, somewhat likely, somewhat unlikely, or very unlikely?

WORDING: Next we have some questions about the shooting at the Littleton, Colorado high school (April 20, 1999) where 15 students were killed by two of their classmates.... In your opinion, how likely is it that these kinds of shootings could happen in your community, is it very likely, somewhat likely, somewhat unlikely, or very unlikely?
Based on one night poll



Survey Methods

These results are based on telephone interviews with randomly selected national samples of 1,000 adults, 18 years and older, conducted in 1999, 2000, and 2001. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls. For results based on the sub sample of 299 parents with children in grades K-12, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 6 percentage points.


Gallup https://news.gallup.com/poll/1783/Americans-Say-Family-Starting-Point-Preventing-Another-Columbine.aspx
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