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Can we keep our schools safe? TSU, UH survey looks at Texas opinions

Posted on Monday, October 03, 2022

school safety survey graphic

Texas Trends 2022 – School Safety, a new survey from the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston and Barbara Jordan–Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University, reveals broad support for most of the nine proposed actions it presents.

Everyone agrees schools should be places of safety, but conversations about how to reach and maintain that vision rarely end in consensus.

 

Texas Trends 2022 – School Safety, a new survey from the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston and Barbara Jordan–Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs
at Texas Southern University, reveals broad support for most of the nine proposed actions it presents. It finds differences, too, including some strong divisions along politics and race.

 

“At least three-fourths of the survey’s participants supported two of the survey’s nine proposals: Increasing mental health support for students drew support from 76% of respondents, and increasing school drills for active-threat situations was supported by 75%,” said Hobby School senior research fellow and Rice University professor Mark P. Jones.

 

Almost as many said yes to having armed police officers (71%) and/or armed security guards (68%) inside schools. Metal detectors at school entrances were favored by 69%.

 

A little over three-fifths (61%) agreed that antibullying campaigns would be effective.

 

“Opinion gaps were widest around the idea of firearms-trained teachers carrying guns inside classrooms. At 48%, almost half believed the presence of armed teachers would increase school safety, while more than a third, 35%, believed the opposite – that guns in the classroom would end up making schools less safe,” said Michael O. Adams, founding director of the Executive Master of Public Administration Program and professor of political science and public administration at Texas Southern University.

 

To view the full survey results, click here.

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Last updated: 10/03/2022