The number of deaths have not increased in the past decade, but the severity of the incidents has,'' said Dr. Ronald Stephens, executive director of the National School Safety Center in Westlake Village, Calif., which has compiled a report on school-associated violent deaths. When you combine the severity of the crimes with the media coverage they get, that's where the magnitude grows. They are 99 times more likely to be victims of homicide in the community than they are in school.'' An advocacy group for the prevention of school crime and violence, NSSC provides resources and identifies strategies that support safer schools. The organization began as a U.S. Department of Justice program in 1984. Shooters in school-related killings tend to be males, and the average age is 16, Stephens said.
Most victims also are male.
Dylan Klebold was 17 and Eric Harris was 18. Teenage perpetrators like Klebold and Harris frighten Stephens because of the complexity of their crimes. In shootings the past couple of years, automatic weapons have been used. Mass. Also missing from the report was the January 1998 shooting in Washington, D.C., that left one student dead, according to a list compiled by the National Education Association. Because of the 15 people killed in the Columbine shootings, Colorado is second only to California's 56 school-related violent deaths.