June 5, 2008

Two studies released yesterday find that the number of U.S. high school students carrying weapons and being threatened on school property remains high, and students’ willingness to report threats of school shootings depends largely on the school climate. These findings underscore the need to give students an anonymous mechanism for reporting threats in addition to creating a climate of trust in which threats are taken seriously.

1-866-SPEAK-UP is the first and only national toll-free hotline dedicated to giving students a way to report weapons threats anonymously. In six years, the hotline has received more than 25,000 calls.

Dan Gross, co-founder of PAX/Real Solutions to Gun Violence, which established the hotline in 2002 said, “In the case of a threat of violence, students are facing uncomfortable questions of whether the threat is real and whom they can trust to tell. Unfortunately, indecision and silence can have tragic consequences. An anonymous hotline takes the guesswork out of the equation so students can share what they know, which makes everyone safer.”

The newly released Centers for Disease Control and Prevention annual survey of youth risk behaviors finds that 6 percent of students continue to carry weapons to school at least once a month (down from 6.5 percent) and 8 percent of students have been threatened or injured with a weapon on school property one or more times in a year.

A separate study by the U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Department of Education and Harvard Medical School's McLean Hospital is based on their earlier finding that in 81 percent of school shootings, the attackers tell someone about their plans beforehand – in nearly all cases, another student. The study finds that students’ trust of teachers and administrators, concerns about confidentiality, and anticipation of negative consequences for sharing information are central to their decisions about whether to report threats of a shooting.

“Obviously it’s important to look at issues such as risk factors and school climate,” said Dan Gross. “But it’s vitally important that we don’t overlook the immediate opportunity to save lives and the critical role an anonymous hotline plays.”

SCHOOL VIOLENCE PREVENTION EXPERTS

Daniel Gross is the co-founder of PAX, the nation’s largest nonpolitical gun violence prevention nonprofit, and the creator of the SPEAK UP school violence prevention program. Daniel started the organization in 1998 after his brother Matthew was critically wounded in a shooting atop the Empire State Building. Over the past decade, Daniel has become a leading spokesperson on the gun violence issue, appearing regularly in national and local media. In 2007, he spoke at the White House Conference on School Violence, and he has been awarded a fellowship by the Rockefeller Foundation as one of the next generation of America's leaders. 

Jennie Lintz, Managing Director of Programs,oversees the implementation of PAX’s national SPEAK UP Campaign in hundreds of communities across the United States. She has managed the development and expansion of the 1-866-SPEAK-UP hotline, which in five years has received more than 25,000 calls. She holds an MS in Education from Lehman College and a JD from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.

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In 2008, PAX/Real Solutions to Gun Violence celebrates ten years of providing all Americans with solutions to keep their families, schools and communities safe from gun violence.