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Killings at United States schools have not risen in recent years, despite some highly publicised crimes, and are far lower than in the early 1990s.
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention tracked student slayings in public and private primary, intermediate and high schools, finding that the rate had more than halved over the period from 1992 to2006.
The rate remained stable from July 1999 to June 2006, CDC and other government researchers reported. During that time, an average of 16.5 students a year were killed on school campuses, going to or from school, or at school events.
Murder is the second-leading cause of death in Americans aged 5 to 18, behind only accidents, but slightly fewer than 1 per cent of these were school killings, the report showed.
About two-thirds of the homicides involved gunshot wounds, with other leading causes including stabbings and beatings.
The average age of a victim was 15, the CDC said.
There was a higher homicide rate among male students and students in urban areas. Most of the school killings involved a single victim and a single attacker.
"Despite the occurrence of some high-profile events, schools remain relatively safe places for students. The vast majority of homicides among children and youth tend to occur outside of school hours and off school properties," CDC behavioural scientist Jeff Hall said.
The study did not look at killings on tertiary campuses, such as the one last year at Virginia Tech in which a student with a history of mental illness killed 32 people before shooting himself.
- REUTERS
