GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ - With school districts across America struggling to deal with copycat threats in the aftermath of the April 20th Columbine High School massacre, a new Gallup Youth survey finds that 37% of teens nationwide know of similar threats at their own school since Columbine and 20% have experienced a copycat-related evacuation. Nearly as many, 18%, report being frightened enough in the wake of the Littleton, Colorado tragedy to stay home from school, although just 5% say their school actually closed for a day or more as a result.
These rates of student concern may not be surprising given the high proportion of teen survey respondents who report the presence of violent or violence-prone groups in their schools. According to the new survey, conducted May 5-17 with a national sample of students aged 13-17, close to half of the United States' junior and senior high-school-aged students, 46%, say their school has groups of students who are violent or capable of violence. Even more disturbingly, 30% of all students interviewed by Gallup say there are groups at their schools that remind them of the infamous "Trenchcoat Mafia" at Columbine High School, two of whose members were responsible for the shooting.
While the copycat measures indicate that the Littleton shooting has sent a shock wave through schools, Gallup trends concerning student fear of physical safety provide no clear evidence of a significant increase in students' fundamental feelings of safety at school. Currently 20% say they are fearful, including 15% of boys and 25% of girls. This is substantially higher than the 13% figure recorded in a pre-Littleton Gallup Youth Survey last year, but is very similar to the levels of fear recorded from 1977 through 1994. The high point of student fear for their physical safety -- with 28% indicating fear -- was recorded in 1996.
Many Teens See Violence-Prone Groups as Satanic,
Anti-Minority
Several follow-up questions of teens who are cognizant of
potentially violent groups in their schools indicate that the
perceived threat of violence by these students is significant.
Roughly half of students aware of such groups -- ranging from 47%
to 58% of all students -- believe the violence-prone groups in
their schools represent a threat to minority students and gay
students, specifically, as well as to every student in their
school, more generally. A somewhat lower percentage, 29%, perceive
a threat to themselves personally. There is apparently solid cause
for their fears. Among the subset of students who are aware of
violence-prone groups in their schools, seven in ten say, based on
what they have heard at school, that these groups have beaten up
students, teachers, or school staff, while one in five (18%)
reports that adherents of these violence-prone groups have
physically or sexually abused female students. About a third say
members of these groups have threatened to kill students or school
staff.
What are the distinguishing marks or characteristics of these groups? More than half of high school students who say that such groups exist within their schools claim that these groups talk about Satanism or worship of the devil, and almost the same proportion of students say these group members profess hatred of racial and ethnic minorities and gays. Also, more than a quarter, 28%, say a key characteristic of members of these groups is admiration for Hitler and the Nazis. About four in ten teens who know of such groups say that they believe that the group members also have guns or knives, or other weapons at school.
Eight in ten students in this special survey who say that violent groups exist in their high schools say they have no trouble spotting members of these groups -- by what they wear, by their appearance, or by their manner. Names of such groups reportedly include "The Crypts KKK," "The Goths," "The Trenchcoat Gang," and "The Southside Sedenos."
Negative Interaction With Troubled Groups
Among teens who are aware of violent or violence-prone groups in
their schools, more than half of these (55%) have fallen victim to
such groups, saying that they or their friends have been made fun
of or harassed by members of these groups. Others report threats of
physical assault (32%) and actual assaults (14%). Most disturbing
of all, 11% of the teens with violent groups present in their
schools say there have been threats against their own lives or the
lives of their friends.
At the same time that America's youth describe various threats posed by violent groups in their schools, the vast majority report that jokes or insults have been directed against these groups by other students. More than eight in ten survey respondents who are familiar with violent groups in their schools say students have made fun of or insulted gang members in a way that has caused them to become violent or could provoke violence in the future. One quarter, 26%, say students have physically assaulted gang members, while 18% say that there have been threats against the lives of members of these groups.
Groups Regarded as 'Cool' by Some
Despite the widespread fear of these groups, with many reporting
frightening experiences, almost a third of teens (29%) venture the
opinion that "most" or "quite a few" of the students in their
schools admire these groups or think they are "cool." The survey
respondent himself or herself, however, is far less likely to
regard these groups in favorable terms. Only 3% say they admire
these groups "a great deal" or "quite a lot." Presumably, a high
proportion of those who admire these violence-prone groups are
among the 5% who admit that they themselves are members of one of
these groups.
For results based on the sample of American youth aged 13-17 (N=403) surveyed May 5-17, 1999, the margin of sampling error is ±5 percentage points.
Are there any groups at your school who you think are violent or capable of violence based on what they do, what they say, or what they claim they will do?
| Yes | 46% |
| No | 54 |
| Don't know | * |
| 100% |
Are there any groups at your own school, which remind you in any way of the so-called "Trenchcoat Mafia" at Columbine High School?
| Yes | 30% |
| No | 69 |
| Don't know | 1 |
| 100% |
When you are in school, do you ever fear for your physical safety, or not?
| Yes | 20% |
| No | 80 |
| 100% |
| Yes | No | |
|---|---|---|
| Did you stay home from school on any day, or consider staying home? | 18% | 82% |
Have you heard of any students at your school making "copycat" threats -- that is, students threatening to do similar things to what happened at Columbine High School, or not?
| Yes | 37% |
| No | 63 |
| 100% |
Was the school evacuated because of a bomb threat?
| Yes | 20% |
| No | 80 |
| 100% |
Are there any individual students at your school who you think are potentially violent enough to cause a situation such as the one that occurred at Columbine High School?
| Yes | 36% |
| No | 64 |
| 100% |
For results based on the sample of students familiar with groups at school who are violent or capable of violence (n=182), the margin of error is ±7 percentage points.
Do you think any members of these (violent) groups in your school could be dangerous or potentially dangerous to the following, or not?
| Yes | No | Don't know | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Every student in your school | 47% | 53% | - |
| Your friends | 53 | 53 | - |
| You, personally | 29 | 71 | - |
| Blacks, Hispanics, or other minority students | 51 | 49 | * |
| Gay students | 58 | 40 | 2 |
| Yes | No | Don't know | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beaten up other students, teachers or school staff | 68% | 32% | -% |
| Physically or sexually abused girls | 18 | 81 | 1 |
| Yes | No | Don't know | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kill other students or members of the school staff | 35% | 64% | 1% |
| Yes | No | Don't know | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Satanism or devil worship | 55% | 44% | 1% |
| Hatred of gays | 50 | 50 | - |
| Hatred of blacks, Hispanics or other minorities | 42 | 58 | - |
| Admiration for Hitler and the Nazis | 28 | 71 | 1 |
Based on what you hear at school, do members of these groups have guns or knives, or other weapons at school?
| Yes | 38% |
| No | 61 |
| Don't know | 1 |
| 100% |
Are you able to tell who these groups are by what they wear, their appearance, or by their manner?
| Yes | 81% |
| No | 19 |
| Don't know | - |
| 100% |
| Yes | No | Don't know | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Made fun of or insulted you or your friends | 55% | 45% | -% |
| Threatened to physically assault you or your friends | 32 | 68 | - |
| Physically assaulted you or your friends | 14 | 86 | - |
| Threatened to kill you or your friends | 11 | 89 | * |
Just your impression: How many students in your school generally admire these groups, or think they are "cool" - most, quite a few, hardly any, or none?
| Most | 8% |
| Quite a few | 27 |
| Hardly any | 57 |
| None | 13 |
| Don't know | 1 |
| 100% |
How about yourself, do you generally admire these groups a great deal, quite a lot, not much or not at all?
| A great deal | 1% |
| Quite a lot | 2 |
| Not much | 13 |
| Not at all | 84 |
| Don't know | * |
| 100% |
Do you happen to have any friends who are members of these groups, or not?
| Yes | 31% |
| No | 69 |
| 100% |
How about yourself - do you, yourself, happen to be a member of any of these groups?
| Yes | 5% |
| No | 95 |
| 100% |
| Yes | No | Don't know | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Made fun of or insulted them | 83% | 17% | *% |
| Abused or physically assaulted them | 26 | 73 | 1 |
| Threatened to kill them | 18 | 81 | 1 |
*Less than 0.5%
