Welcome to the October 2023 edition of 5 Facts. This collection of interesting data runs on the last Friday of every month and reviews what Campus Safety has recently covered as well as the quirky, interesting, random information or factoids I come across on practically a daily basis when I’m conducting research for our articles.
Fact No. 1: Since the Hamas attack on Israel, both Jewish and Muslim Americans are being harassed more.
Muslim and Jewish civil rights groups report that since the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, both have seen a large increase in reports of harassment of their communities.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations said it had received 774 reports of bias-related acts between Oct. 7 and Oct. 24. The Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism recorded at least 312 reports of antisemitic acts between Oct. 7 and Oct. 23.
Fact No. 2: ‘Medical emergencies’ is the most common reason panic alarms are activated at schools and universities.
Schools and colleges activate their panic alarms most often for medical emergencies. Active shooters, students acting out, someone with a weapon, and fights round out the top five reasons panic alarms/mobile duress devices are activated on K-12 campuses. At institutions of higher education, reasons 2 through 5 are: students acting out, visitors acting out, mental health emergencies, and threats made by students.
Fact No. 3: More than six guns per day were seized at U.S. K-12 schools last year.
More than 1,150 guns were seized on K-12 campuses in the 2022-2023 school year. That translates to more than six guns seized at schools per day last year.
The same study found that 51 of the country’s largest school districts reported a sharp increase in the number of firearms recovered on campus. Additionally, from the 2018-2019 school year to the 2022-2023 school year, the 47 districts that could provide the Washington Post with full data experienced a 79% increase in gun seizures.
Fact No. 4: Harassment of healthcare workers has more than doubled in the past four years.
More than double the number of healthcare workers reported harassment at work in 2022 than in 2018, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). More than 13% reported threats, bullying, verbal abuse, or other hostile actions from patients and coworkers last year, compared to 6% in 2018.
Of the workers that did experience harassment, 85% reported feelings of anxiety, compared to 53% of workers who didn’t experience harassment. Six in 10 (60%) employees who were harassed reported feelings of depression, compared to 31% of employees who weren’t harassed. More than eight in 10 (81%) who were harassed are burned out, compared to 42% who were not harassed.
Fact No. 5: The U.S. economy grew faster than expected in the third quarter at 4.9%.
The U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) rose at a seasonally adjusted 4.9% annualized pace July through September. In the second quarter, the GDP was only 2.1%. The sharp increase was greater than expected and was due to consumer spending, increased inventories, residential investment, and government spending.
