Firearm suicides among adolescents have increased in the US and rates vary across racial and ethnic groups. In this study, we examined contextual information around adolescent firearm suicides and analyzed how incident characteristics vary across racial and ethnic groups. We analyzed firearm suicides among adolescents (ages 10-18 years) from 2004…

This polling brief describes the observations and views about guns and school safety among school parents, teachers, and the general public. The brief highlights their perspectives about what steps can be taken to ensure children across America have safe schools and classrooms for their learning. This poll was conducted between June 15-June 21,…

The tables in this report provide national-level estimates of the extent to which students ages 12-18 enrolled in grades 6-12 experience bullying during school. The tables show how bullying victimization varies by student and school characteristics such as sex, race/ethnicity, grade, household income, region, school locale, school enrollment size,…

This essay considers 12 books of contemporary young adult fiction, published in the United States between 2000 and 2016, with plots directly related to rampage school shootings. It compares the shooters' psychological types, ages, races, genders, roles, motives and the narrative points of view in the books with dominant cultural scripts for…

Four-day school weeks have proliferated across the United States in recent years, reaching over 650 public school districts in 24 states as of 2019, but little is known about the effects of the four-day school week on high school students. This study uses district-level panel data from Oklahoma and a difference-in-differences research design to…

At the end of the 84th Legislative session, Texas joined seven other states in giving individuals the right to carry a concealed handgun on campuses of higher education. With guns being allowed on higher education campuses, little is known about the perceptions of the students whom attend these higher education institutions. Politicians are making…

This prospective study examined the effects of early childhood physical aggression and violence exposure on bullying victimization/perpetration and attitudes toward guns and violence in early adolescence (EA) in a high-risk sample. Participants included 216 mother-child dyads from an ongoing longitudinal study using multi-method assessments (e.g.,…

Recently, states have enacted teacher-carry laws. While controversial, little scholarship has tapped public attitudes toward such reforms. Because public opinion shapes policy, the public is an important stakeholder in this debate. Thus, we investigated three questions. First, how supportive is the public of arming teachers? Second, what…

That campuses suffer unacceptable levels of violence is undisputable; they are part of a larger American society in which family, community, and institutional violence far exceed levels found in comparable Western nations. And yet, amid the finger-pointing and scapegoating of students as violent, we note a critical lack of evidence-based analysis,…

Background: The United States has more than 90% of all youth firearm deaths that occur in high-income countries. Purpose: We summarize the epidemiological literature on the prevalence, risk factors, and protective factors associated with adolescent homicides and suicides and the role of firearms in the loss of these lives. Methods: A systematic…

The current study examined the unique and interactive effects of family and community violence across types of violence (weapon, physical, and death) and relationship proximity (self, family/friend, and strangers) in African American adolescents (mean age = 12.63, SD = 0.99, 54% female). Items from the community violence and family violence…

This study examined the psychometric properties of the Risk Assessment and Distress Recovery (RADR) Scale--a new self-report psychological screening tool for high school students that explores risk factors related to mental health characteristics of students who have engaged in school violence. The sample consisted of 1093 high school students…

The focus of classroom incivility research thus far has been at the individual discipline and large public or specialty institution level, which limits the generalizability of findings. Surveying undergraduates (N = 150) at different types of schools (2-year public, 4-year public and 4-year private) and majors on their perceptions of incivility in…

The Montana Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is administered by the Montana Office of Public Instruction every two years to students in grades 7 through 12. The purpose of the survey is to help monitor the prevalence of behaviors that not only influence youth health, but also put youth at risk for the most significant health and social problems…

Research abounds on adolescent poverty and on gifted education, but these fields are seldom considered together. This study explores trajectories of aggressive behavior (i.e., weapon carrying) of impoverished, gifted youth. Results indicate that gifted students engage in lower levels of weapon carrying than non-gifted students. Gifted and…