Threats of violence against schools in the country are up 158%, according to a survey conducted over the first half of this school year.
National School Safety and Security Services, an Ohio-based consulting firm, registered 812 threats against schools across the country between Aug. 1 and Dec. 31 of 2014. The threats, 70% of which were directed at high schools, resulted in 320 arrests.
The survey found nearly half of all threats were bomb threats (44%) and close to 30%of the threats caused school evacuations.The vast majority were hoaxes.
The firm stressed the negative impact these threats have on students, staff and police departments. It also noted the rising role of electronic communication in school threats. Over a quarter of all threats were made through social media (28%).
President of National School Safety and Security Services Ken Trump encouraged a more trusting relationship between school officials and students, increased social media education and increased scrutiny of threats to determine if they are credible, among other things, to solve the problems caused by rising threats.
