Past 25 Years Saw Increase in Number of School Shootings in America

No increase seen in the number of school mass shootings, but they have become more deadly

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, March 4, 2024 (HealthDay News) — In the past 25 years, there has been an increase in the number of school shootings in the United States, but no increase in the number of school mass shootings, according to a study published online March 4 in Pediatrics.

Luke J. Rapa, Ph.D., from Clemson University in South Carolina, and colleagues used data from two publicly available datasets to tabulate the frequency of school shootings and school mass shootings during the past 25 years.

The researchers identified 1,453 school shootings across the 1997-1998 to 2021-2022 school years. A substantially higher number of school shootings was seen in the most recent five years compared with the previous 20 years. Although school mass shootings have become more deadly, the number of U.S. school mass shootings has not increased.

“This public health crisis leads to detrimental outcomes for all the nation’s youth — not just those who experience school-related gun violence firsthand,” the authors write. “School-based interventions can be used to address this public health crisis, and effective approaches such as Multi-Tiered Systems of Supports and services should be used in support of students’ mental health and academic and behavioral needs.”