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One in Four Parents Concerned About Child's Safety at School

One in Four Parents Concerned About Child's Safety at School

Little change over last few years

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, N.J. - As the nation's youth start heading back to school, data from Gallup's annual Work and Education Poll finds one in four parents of school-aged children harboring concerns about the safety of their oldest child while attending school. Far fewer parents -- 11% -- indicate that any of their school-aged children have expressed similar fears about their own safety.

The rate of parental fear is about the same today as it has been at the start of the last three school years, back to August 2003. The percentage saying they were fearful was a bit higher -- at 31% and 32% -- in 2001 and 2002. It was significantly higher (47%) in August 1999, four months after the Columbine High School shooting in Littleton, Colorado which left a teacher and 12 students, including the two student gunmen, dead.

The current survey, conducted Aug. 7-10, finds parental fear for their oldest child's safety to be a bit higher among parents of K-6 students than for those whose oldest child is in grades 7-12: 29% vs. 22%.

There is no significant difference between men and women in reported fear for one's child's safety at school. Rather, fear seems strongly related to the educational level of the parent. Half of those with no college education, compared with only 11% of those with at least some college education, say they fear for their child's physical safety at school.

Because educational status and income level are highly related, it is thus not surprising to also see that upper income parents are much less likely than others to report school safety concerns. Only 8% of those living in households earning $75,000 or more say they fear for their oldest child's safety at school, compared with a third of those earning less than that amount.

In fact, school shootings are rare events. This may be better understood by parents with more advanced levels of education. According to the U.S. Department of Education, during the 2001-2002 school year, there were 17 homicides and 5 suicides involving school-age youth nationally. "Combined, this number translates into less than 1 homicide or suicide of a school-age youth at school per million students enrolled during the 2001-02 school year," they reported

Still, when tragedy strikes in the form of major school shootings, it has a ripple effect in society causing a substantial increase in the general public's concern about children's safety. This is seen in Gallup's measurement of parental fears about school safety in the aftermath of the Jonesboro, Arkansas shooting in March 1998, the Columbine shooting in April 1999 and the Santee, California shooting in March 2001. In each case, subsequent Gallup polls found a spike in parental concern to between 37% and 55% (although the post-Jonesboro measure could be suppressed by the fact that it was taken more than two months after the shooting).

The impact of the Columbine shooting was not only powerful, but lingered for several months. The percentage of parents saying they feared for their child's safety declined only a few percentage points between April 1999 and August 1999 (from 55% to 47%). However, by the following August it had returned to the more typical level, around 25%.

Survey Methods

These results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,007 adults, aged 18 and older, conducted Aug. 7-10, 2006. For results based on the sample of 255 parents with children in grades K-12, the maximum margin of sampling error is ±7 percentage points. For results based on the sample of 211 parents with children in public schools, the maximum margin of sampling error is ±7 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.

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

BASED ON -255-K-12 PARENTS

BASED ON -211-K-12 PARENTS WHOSE CHILD ATTENDS PUBLIC SCHOOL

Yes, fear

No, do not

No opinion

%

%

%

2006 Aug 7-10

All parents

25

75

*

Public school parents

27

73

--

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.

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?

BASED ON -255-K-12 PARENTS

BASED ON -211-K-12 PARENTS WHOSE CHILDREN ATTEND PUBLIC SCHOOL

Yes

No

No opinion

%

%

%

2006 Aug 7-10

All parents

11

87

2

Public school parents

12

87

1

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?


Gallup https://news.gallup.com/poll/24337/One-Four-Parents-Concerned-About-Childs-Safety-School.aspx
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