Citation

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA. MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. 2001; 50(31): 657-660.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2001, (in public domain), Publisher U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

11785564

Abstract

Recent, widely reported violent deaths associated with schools have led many adults to believe that a school shooting could occur in their community and many children to express increasing concern about their own safety at school. CDC, in collaboration with the U.S. Education and Justice departments, has been tracking school-associated violent deaths since the 1992-1993 school year. To evaluate whether the risk for school-associated violent death varies during the school year, CDC analyzed monthly counts of school-associated homicide and suicide events that occurred among students in elementary and secondary (middle, junior high, and senior high) schools in the United States. This report summarizes the results of these analyses, which indicate that student homicide event rates are usually highest near the start of the fall and spring semesters, and suicide event rates are highest during the spring semester. These findings can assist school personnel in planning and implementing violence-prevention programs.