CARTOON #5

GUNS AND VIOLENCE IN SCHOOL

BY: AMBER ARSENAULT
CUMPULSORY
EDUCATION
LAWS….
“require children to attend a public or state-
accredited private school for a certain period
of time. There are certain exceptions, most
notably homeschooling, but virtually all states
have mandates for when children must begin
school and how old they must be before
dropping out. Typically, children must start
school by the age of six and remain enrolled
until they are at least 16. These laws were put
in place not only to improve literacy rates but
also to discourage the widespread child labor
practices of the 19th and early 20th
centuries.”
March 14, 2018 Walkout

• The walkout was meant to

commemorate the one-month
anniversary of the shooting at
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High
School in Parkland, Florida.
• Many marches lasted 17 minutes,
to represent each of the victims of
the shooting
 Tinker v. Des Moines
• Some schools prohibited
students from participating in
the walkout
• Applies only to public schools
• as long as you don’t disrupt
the functioning of the school
or violate the school’s
content-neutral policies
• you can be punished for
participating — not over
what you are protesting, but
for being absent from class
During the 2015-16 school year, just
3 percent of students ages 12-18
reported being the nonfatal victim
of a crime at school in the last six
months. That’s a sizable decrease
from 10 percent of students in 1995.

Meanwhile, fewer high school

students were reportedly in physical
fights, both on and off campus. In
1993, 16 percent of students
reported being in a physical fight
over the course of a year. By 2015,
that percentage dropped to 8
percent.
The percentage of public schools reporting the use of security cameras
increased from 19 percent in 1999-2000 to 81 percent in 2015-16. During
that same period, the percentage of public schools reporting that they
control access to school buildings increased from 75 percent to 94
percent.

Schools today are also more prepared for a school shooting. In 2015-
16, 92 percent of public schools had a school shooting plan,
compared to 79 percent of schools in 2003-04.
SOURCES
“Despite Focus on School Shootings, Classroom Violence Is on the Decline - and
5 Other Key Facts from a New Federal Report on School Safety.” The 74 The
Problem With Homework Not Much Evidence on Whether It Works Comments,
www.the74million.org/despite-focus-on-school-shootings-classroom-violence-is-
on-the-decline-and-5-other-key-facts-from-a-new-federal-report-on-school-
safety/.

Gray, Sarah. “What to Know About the March 14 National School

Walkout.” Time, Time, 13 Mar. 2018, time.com/5195960/national-school-walkout-
march-14/.

“Gun Violence in Schools.” Teaching Tolerance,

www.tolerance.org/magazine/gun-violence-in-schools.

“NIJ's Comprehensive School Safety Initiative.” National Institute of Justice,

nij.gov/topics/crime/school-crime/pages/school-safety-initiative.aspx.

“School Violence Myths.” Curry School of Education | University of Virginia, 13

Sept. 2017, curry.virginia.edu/faculty-research/centers-labs-projects/research-
labs/youth-violence-project/violence-schools-and-5.