TW: Risk of gun violence in public vs. private schools

[Anonymous]

Hi, parents. Trigger Warning here.

I really want to send my children to public school. I can get over the large (and burgeoning) class sizes in Montgomery County, the high student teacher ratios (in our school line-up, at least), the very high school classes. I want them to be exposed to a true diversity of opinions, economic strata, races, and religions. To have lots of children to choose from / build friendships with at each phase of their school experiences. I also really want to build community with our neighbors, and public school helps with that.

What I'm having the hardest time with: Guns and the trauma of gun-related lockdowns/secure status. Statistically, sending a child to public school raises the chance they'll be killed - or at least have experienced - an on-campus school shooting by 18-20x vs. sending them to a private school. My source? Washington Post and CATO Institute survey data from around 2022/2023 (can't remember the exact date).

How do other parents who can afford to send their kids to privates rationalize sending your kids to public in light of this?
What decision did you make ultimately?

To front-run the potential respondents who say "The risk of gun violence is everywhere, so you're never fully protected," let me respond: Yes, of course. There is a risk of shootings and lockdowns at all school types (with the recent Annunciata shooting in Minnesota, as a recent private example). But, let's please move beyond this and acknowledge the statistical reality that the national and even local (just read Bethesda Today in the last 12 months) context show this is much more common in public schools.

Thank you in advance for your constructive feedback.

[Anonymous]

I still sent my kids to public. Last one is in 10th grade.

I pay attention to risk calculations, OP. Even though any number of school shootings greater than 0 is unacceptable... the risk that your kid would be victim of a school shooting remains very, very low.

And compared to that, my financial situation has been significantly improved by sending my kids to public, since I've successfully invested a lot of the money that I would otherwise have spent on private.

These investments have taken various forms:
1. Stock market. I've done very well.
2. A nice house in a nice neighborhood with great schools. Contrary to less nice neighborhoods, it means the value of my property is largely shielded from recessions and will increase more reliably in non-recession times.

And I have money left over to pay for enrichment or remedial tutoring, as needed, plus a host of activities for my children.

The money I've made in the stock market is paying for a private university for my oldest, and will be there for my youngest, and for grad school, and for downpayments on homes, etc. When I saw my stock market returns years ago, I stopped my 529 contributions. I've made a lot more in a normal brokerage account, being able to pick my own stocks, than I would ever have made in an unwieldy 529.

So it's public school all the way.

[Anonymous]

We had two guns incidents in our private school when my kids were there.

[Anonymous]

School shootings are so rare that a 20x increase is still an incredibly small number. The data you're talking about (which I think is older than you remember:https://www.cato.org/blog/are-shootings-more-likely-occur-public-schools) shows 134 school shootings over a 19 year period. In a country when a 130,000 schools that's too many, but it's also not something that a typical student is likely to experience.

[Anonymous]

I can understand your concern. School shootings and any kind of shootings are terrifying and horrible. I'd gently remind you that your child is way, way, way more likely to die in a car accident each day than be a school shooting victim. Do you avoid cars because of this? I'm not being unkind or snarky. Truly, driving is pretty dangerous, yet we all do it.

[Anonymous]

Nephews private in NC shooting.
Newphews private in PA shooting.

Neices private in Texas shooting
Friends DD private in Florida shooting

Public all the way. Not to mention costs of private which we can easily afford nope Public all the way.

[Anonymous]

How far this country has fallen such that parent are having this discussion.

[Anonymous]

We have kids in 3 PGCPS middle and high schools and gun violence would be the last reason I would shift them to private schools.

They have been through a lot of lock downs, 90% of which were because of issues off of school grounds and out of an abundance of caution. The others were because they thought that there was an unauthorized person in the school who turned out to be a student out of uniform and because of fights between students in the halls.
Although I HATE them, clear backpacks and metal detectors do seem to have made a difference.

[Anonymous]

I know this is different depending on geography but my niece goes to private school in a major city. She walks there. She's white and jewish, and her best three friends are black (and jewish), Asian, and Brazilian. My sister said over 50% of the kids get some form of financial aid. So there are kids who are full scholarship and live in a small apartment sharing a bedroom with a sibling, and kids whose parents have three homes in three different countries. If you look for diversity you can find it.

[Anonymous]

First, that's nationally, gun deaths vary vastly by state. By your logic, people who live in states with higher gun death rates should just move. Obviously resources are required but your risk calculation seems a bit single sourced and not in context: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/state-stats/deaths/firearms.html

[Anonymous]

Public schools are better prepared for gun incidents than private schools. Private schools keep incidents hushed if they don't result in deaths -- we had gun incidents in my private school 20 years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We had two guns incidents in our private school when my kids were there.

There have been plenty of shootings at private schools just recently, including the mass shootings at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis this past August, the Abundant Life Christian School shooting in 2024, the Covenant School shooting in Tennessee in 2023.

Tell your legislators to vote for common sense gun safety regulations. This country has gone nuts with its guns and its children are paying the price.

[Anonymous]

Please remember that 18-20 times a very low possibility is still a low possibility. Body armor has gotten extremely light and flexible while still being effective. Take the money saved by going to public school and invest in body armor and bullet resistant backpack.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please remember that 18-20 times a very low possibility is still a low possibility. Body armor has gotten extremely light and flexible while still being effective. Take the money saved by going to public school and invest in body armor and bullet resistant backpack.

This

[Anonymous]

Privates hide it public’s do not

Public is safer