On Wednesday, Dec. 8 the Daily editorial board printed “Warning Signs of Our Time,” which stated “School shootings are getting to be so common these days that soon they probably won’t even make the news any more.”

Yet for as much as the media plays up this “recent trend” of school violence, the actual statistics paint a far different picture.

According to the National School Safety Center’s (a research group created in 1984 by Presidential Decree) “School Associated Violent Deaths Report” (www.nssc1.org), released a couple of months ago, there were 21 total school shooting deaths during the 1998-1999 school year (including the 15 victims at Columbine).

Six years earlier, during the 1992-93 school year, a total of 43 were shot to death at school. If there is a trend, it is that shooting deaths at schools (includes elementary through high school) have been cut by more than half in six years.

From 1997-98 school year to 1998-99, the study reports the number of shooting deaths dropped from 35 to 21.

Granted, the report does not mention non-fatal shootings, but one would suspect that the number of shootings in relation to shooting deaths would remain more or less proportionate over the time frame.

I am not saying that school violence does not continue to be a cause for concern, nor am I arguing with the Daily’s views for added features to the gun control laws.

Rather, I would just like to express my concern over why the media insists on creating this false “trend,” in spite of statistics to the contrary.

Ed Snook

Senior

English