The shootings in schools in the United States and deaths from them have increased dramatically in the last 24 years, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released today.
“The number of juvenile homicides related to schools remains unacceptably high,” said the report, which analyzed the incidents that occurred in schools between 1994 and 2018.
According to the study, between those years, 393 individual incidents and 38 shootings with multiple victims were registered in schools in the United States, for a balance of more than 100 fatal victims.
During the nearly quarter of a century analyzed, 121 deaths were recorded among children between the ages of 5 and 18, in a total of 431 incidents in study centers throughout the country.
Of all the recorded incidents, five occurred in the 2017-2018 school year and another three in the 2016-2017 school year, notes the CDC report.
The investigators determined the main cause of death the wounds by firearm, that was the cause in 62.8% of the cases of individual attacks and in 95.0% in the attacks with multiple victims.
Of the incidents with a known motive, the authorities cited among the main causes the desire to retaliate against someone they considered was harassing them as the main cause (39%); rivalry between gangs (34%) and personal disputes (29%).
The study highlights the need to develop strategies that promote better relationships among students and help them find nonviolent alternatives to their problems.
A shooting at Marjory Stoneman High School’s Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, which killed 17 students and teachers in February of last year, sparked a heated national debate among those who propose to further regulate access to firearms and those who seek to arm teachers and school administrators. (EFEUSA) .-
