Washington — A third of high school students say they can think of a classmate who may be troubled enough to stage a violent attack at school, though students' fears have declined slightly since just after the April 1999 attack at Columbine High School, says a new poll.
The ABC News poll taken for "Good Morning America" said about a third of students think such an attack is at least somewhat likely at their school and about a third say their school isn't doing enough to prevent violence there. Four in 10 girls felt their school was not doing enough while just over a fourth of boys felt that way.
"Somewhat fewer high school students think there's a likelihood of an attack," said ABC News polling director Gary Langer. "But nearly a third see some risk. There's still a significant level of concern."
The poll of 500 high school students was taken Thursday through Sunday and has an error margin of 4.5 percentage points.
The levels of anxiety have dropped slightly since a similar poll in April 1999 after the attack at Columbine High School near Denver when two students killed 12 classmates, a teacher and themselves. In a poll taken soon after that, four in 10 students felt an attack was at least somewhat likely at their school. That number has dropped to three in 10.
Earlier this month, two students were killed and 11 other students and two adults wounded at a school in southern California. A 15-year-old freshman who had been bullied is suspected in the shootings.
Two years ago, just over half of students said their school was doing enough to try to prevent violence and now almost two-thirds say the schools are doing enough.
About a third of students have heard a student threaten to kill someone. But most of the students, just over seven in 10, who heard a classmate threaten to kill someone did not take it seriously and did not turn them in.
Just over half said they have had a class or special program in their school on the subject of school violence.
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