We live in a world where more people die by selfies than shark attacks.
So it should come as no surprise that there are other unfortunate statistics that exist right now.
Make no mistake: people throw statistics at each other all the time. Four out of five dentists might approve the gum you’re chewing, and AT&T found in May that seven out of 10 customers use their smartphones while driving. However, statistics are not something to fear. It is what they indicate that we might worry about.
On October 1st, there was a school shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon. Nine people were killed including a professor.
There have been an average of five school shootings a month in the United States this year; out of the 45 that have happened this year, 17 have been on college campuses.Now this number is up to 19 after incidents on College Campuses in Arizona and Texas.
These statistics indicate that the deterrent to school shootings on campuses are equivalent to the “See something, say something” signs on Metra trains, or the neighborhood watch that probably doesn’t see everything. The deterrent to these shootings happening doesn’t seem to exist.
You should have a better chance of being struck by lightning than attending one of the colleges affected by these shootings. Should.
There are 5,300 higher education institutions in America according to the Washington Post. Nineteen have been affected by shootings so far this year; that is more than one-third of a percent of the institutions in just one year. There is about an eight-thousandth of a percent chance of being struck by lightning at some point throughout your lifetime.
So, the math works out that, at present, as a college student you are 42 times more likely to attend a school where a shooting happens in any given year than being struck by lightning during an 80 year lifespan, not taking into account any social or regional factors.
The good news is that at this time last year, even more shootings had occurred signaling a slight decline.
College should not be a place where students have any chance of being involved in a shooting. At five school shootings a month, what can be done to decrease these odds?
The Crisis Task Force recently announced several one-hour training sessions to prepare people for dealing with violent intruders. However, being prepared is a step in the right direction, but also doesn’t directly address the issue of violence on campuses.
