Dive Brief:
- Eight in 10 parents said the ongoing threat of school violence has affected the childhood experience in America today, according to polling released Monday by Sandy Hook Promise, a nonprofit that works to prevent gun violence.
- Among children ages 5-11, some 25% have expressed fear about school safety, and the share rises to 29% for 12- to 17-year-olds, parents reported.
- In releasing the survey data, the group said tips to the National Crisis Center of the Say Something Anonymous Reporting System had helped prevent two school shootings in Florida and Indiana earlier this year.
Dive Insight:
Almost half of parents polled said they think about the possibility of a shooting or safety threat at their child's school on a monthly basis. Nearly 40% of parents said they have those fears even more frequently — on a weekly or daily basis.
The polling also found that 4 in 10 parents said they feel "uncertain, frustrated or hopeless" about preventing violence in schools — highlighting widespread concerns about current safety measures in K-12, according to Sandy Hook Promise. About 1,000 parents of children 17 years and younger participated in the online survey Feb. 4-9.
"Parents in the U.S. are reporting increased levels of anxiety and fear about the potential for violence happening in their children's school," said Mark Barden, co-founder and co-CEO of Sandy Hook Promise, in a March 10 statement. "Solutions exist, we just need more people to know how to proactively prevent a devastating tragedy."
Barden's son Daniel was killed at age 7 in the 2012 school shooting tragedy at Connecticut's Sandy Hook Elementary School.
To date, the Say Anything reporting system has helped to thwart 18 confirmed prevented attacks at schools, in addition to other acts of violence, suicide, and self-harm, Sandy Hook Promise reported.
The system allows students to report anonymously through an app, hotline or website when they see or hear of a classmate who is at risk of harming themselves or others. The Say Anything campaign teaches youth and adults the warning signs of violence and how to seek help.
According to the K-12 School Shooting Database, 2023 and 2024 had the first and second highest numbers, respectively, of school shootings since 1966.
The Sandy Hook Promise polling was released in conjunction with a new public service announcement, "A Teddy Bear's Dream," featuring the teddy bears left as memorials at sites of school shootings.
