Intruders in Our Public Schools: Two-thirds of Youth and Three-quarters of Parents Find it Likely that an Intruder Could Enter a School

The recent rash of acts of school violence, including the Amish school shooting in October, has focused the nation’s attention on the issue of school safety. While most youth (ages 8 to 18) and parents of a child enrolled in public school indicate that they believe schools in their community are safe, and although data compiled by the National School Safety Center indicates that the probability of school shootings is low, an effective defense against school intruders is a concern among both parents and youth.

When asked about the likelihood of an intruder entering their child’s school, two-thirds (65%) of youth and three-quarters (77%) of parents say it is "extremely" or "very" likely. Three-in-10 (29%) parents indicate that they are not satisfied that the school their child attends can prevent intruders from entering the school grounds.

These are the results of a Harris Poll of 2,429 U.S. adults (ages 18 and older), of whom 602 who are parents of a child in public school, conducted online by Harris Interactive^® between November 13 and 20, 2006; and another survey of 1,240 U.S. children and teenagers (ages 8 to 18), of whom 1,114 attend school and are not home schooled, conducted online by Harris Interactive between November 15 and 27, 2006.

U.S. schools are deemed safe by the majority of adults and youth alike. Seventy-five percent of parents with children enrolled in a public school and 86 percent of youth believe that the schools in their community are "very" or "somewhat" safe. Furthermore, nine-in-10 (92%) youth say they feel "very" or "somewhat" safe when they are at school.

When asked to reflect on the recent acts of violence in schools, half of parents and youth describe the people who commit these acts of violence as "mentally ill" (53% parents, 52% youth). Many parents and youth also believe these people were motivated by homicide (62% parents, 40% youth) or suicide (51% parents, 31% youth).

Youth say that their school has created rules about who is allowed to enter school grounds or buildings in an effort to prevent intruders from entering the school (64%), followed by ID cards for students and teachers (48%), surveillance cameras (42%), guards (32%), gates (21%), student hall monitors (21%), and metal detectors (5%). A greater percentage of teens (those ages 13-18) than tweens (those ages 10-12) report their school’s use of ID cards (63% vs. 38%), surveillance cameras (51% vs. 33%) and guards (44% vs. 22%). While this could be an issue of awareness among tweens, it could also be explained as measures taken to combat higher potential violence among teens in schools.

Despite the procedures that youth report their schools have implemented to protect them from intruders, one-in-five (21%) parents report that their child’s school does not have measures to prevent intruders from entering the school grounds and 14 percent are not sure if these measures exist. Stunningly, about half (51%) of parents state that they are not sure if there is a policy to notify parents or caregivers in the event that an intruder is identified on their child’s school grounds, and another 12 percent say there is no plan in place to notify parents. In addition, one-third (34%) of youth state that no one from their school has informed them about what to do if an intruder enters their school, and 11 percent are not sure if someone has spoken to them about what to do.

"Of great concern is the parents’ lack of awareness and understanding of the school policies regarding their children’s safety," says Dr. Suzanne Martin, a researcher on the Youth and Education Research Team at Harris Interactive. "It suggests that schools should devote some attention to their parental communication effort."

Principals, chief administrators and headmasters are widely viewed by both parents and youth as the entity that should have the primary responsibility for protecting students from intruders in schools (45% parents, 58% youth), followed by the local school board (28% parents, 6% youth), local police (8% parents, 16% youth), parents (8% parents, 3% youth), the state legislatures (8% parents, 3% youth), or teachers (1% parents, 11% youth).

Dennis White, research and policy analyst at the Hamilton Fish Institute on School and Community and Violence at The George Washington University explains, "Schools have necessary features of both open and closed systems. The intruder may be taking advantage of the open system features, for reasons – rational or not – we do not yet know. With No Child Left Behind due for re-authorization in 2007, it is probably prudent to review state policies and definitions of a ‘persistently dangerous school’ and the Unsafe School Choice Option." This option is part of the No Child Left Behind Act and allows a student attending a persistently dangerous public school, as agreed upon by state and local agencies, or who becomes a victim of a violent criminal offense, while in or on the school grounds be allowed to transfer to a safe public school within the local educational agency.

"How would you describe the schools in our community in terms of safety?" [parents]

"How safe are the schools in the community where you live?" [youth]

Base: U.S. Parents of child in public school

U.S. Youth aged 8-18

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

*Less Than 0.5%

"Overall, how safe do you feel when you are at school?"

Base: U.S. Youth aged 8-18 who attend school and are not home schooled

"Of the following, who do you believe has the primary responsibility for implementing policies to protect children from intruders in schools?" [parents]

"Of the following, who do you believe has the main responsibility for protecting students from intruders or people who do not belong in your school?" [youth]

Base: U.S. Parents of child in public school

U.S. Youth aged 8-18 who attend school and are not home schooled

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

"How likely is it that an intruder or trespasser could enter your child’s school?" [parents]

"How likely is it that an intruder or someone who does not belong in your school could enter your school?" [youth]

Base: U.S. Parents of child in public school

U.S. Youth aged 8-18 who attend school and are not home schooled

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

"How satisfied are you that the school your children attend can prevent intruders from entering the campus?"

Base: U.S. Parents of child in public school

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

"Has someone at your school (for example a teacher, principal or school administrator) spoken to you about what to do if an intruder or someone who does not belong in your school enters your school?"

Base: U.S. Youth aged 8-18 who attend school and are not home schooled

Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

"Does the school that your child/children attend have measures to prevent intruders from entering the school grounds?"

Base: U.S. Parents of child in public school

"If an intruder is identified on your child’s school grounds, is there a policy to notify parents or caregivers?"

Base: U.S. Parents of child in public school

"Recently there have been some school violence incidents. Thinking about the intruders in these incidents, how would you describe them?" [parents]

"Recently there have been some acts of violence in schools. Thinking about these events, how would you describe the people who commit these acts of violence?" [youth]

Base: U.S. Parents of child in public school

U.S. Youth aged 13-18

Note: Multiple-response question

"Does your school have any of the following to prevent intruders or people who do not belong in your school from entering the school grounds?"

Base: U.S. Youth aged 8 to 18 who attend school and are not home schooled

Note: Multiple-response question

The Harris Poll^® was conducted online within the United States between November 13 and 20, 2006 among 2,429 adults (aged 18 and over), of whom 602 are parents of children in public school. Figures for age, sex, race, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

The Youth survey was conducted online within the United States between November 15 and 27, 2006 among 1,240 youth ages 8 to 18 of whom 1,114 attend school and are not home schooled (including 318 "tweens" aged 10 to 12 and 602 teens aged 13 to 18). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, parental education, and region were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population.

All surveys are subject to several sources of error. These include: sampling error (because only a sample of a population is interviewed); measurement error due to question wording and/or question order, deliberately or unintentionally inaccurate responses, nonresponse (including refusals), interviewer effects (when live interviewers are used) and weighting.

With one exception (sampling error) the magnitude of the errors that result cannot be estimated. There is, therefore, no way to calculate a finite "margin of error" for any survey and the use of these words should be avoided.

With pure probability samples, with 100 percent response rates, it is possible to calculate the probability that the sampling error (but not other sources of error) is not greater than some number. With a pure probability sample of 602 or 1,114 one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 5.6 percentage points and +/- 3 percentage points, respectively. However that does not take other sources of error into account. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

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Q 920, 925, 930, 935, 940, 945, 960

J25746K

Q 800, 805, 900, 905, 910, 915, 935