School shootings hit two-decade record high in 2021, according to government report

There were 93 school shootings at K-12 campuses throughout the United States in the 2020-21 school year, the highest number since the federal government started tracking the data about 20 years ago, according to a report by the National Center for Education Statistics released on Tuesday. 

Deaths resulted from 43 of those shootings, while the other 50 caused injuries. 

The 93 school shootings in the last school year mark a grim increase from the 2000-01 data, when just 23 shootings were records on school campuses. 

The report did note some positive trends, including a decrease in bullying. Just 15% of public schools reported incidents of student bullying at least once a week in the 2019-20 school year, compared to 23% in 2009-10. 

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As students spend more time on social media though, cyberbullying has been on the rise, increasing from 8% a decade ago to 16% in 2019-20, according to the report. 

“The involvement of young bullying victims in recent suicides and school shootings has also heightened concerns regarding the public health implications of bullying,” the authors of the report wrote. 

The National Center for Education Statistics uses a broad definition for school shootings, including any incidents in which a gun is brandished on school property or any time that a bullet strikes school property. 

School safety has come under increased focus in recent months following a spate of shootings across the United States. 

A gunman opened fire at Robb Elementary School last month in Uvalde, Texas, leaving 19 children and two adults dead. 

Last November, a sophomore at Oxford High School in Michigan allegedly shot and killed four of his classmates.