Despite high-profile incidents of violence in schools, new research indicates an overall drop in violent behavior by students  Read details of the study: From Centers for Disease Control and Prevention From The Journal of the American Medical Association  IN-DEPTH SPECIAL: Are U.S. schools safe? INTERACTIVE Recent school shootings Columbine High School to reopen August 16 : Some students at the suburban Denver high school have applied for transfers, deciding they'd rather not return to the place where two classmates fatally shot 12 fellow students and a teacher on April 20 before killing themselves. Columbine's library, where most of the killing took place, will be closed until parents and students can give their input on whether it should reopen. In the meantime, trailers outside the school will serve as its library.

August 4, 1999
Web posted at: 11:18 a.m. EDT (1518 GMT)

In this story: Findings Violence 'still unacceptably high' Students feel vulnerable RELATED STORIES, SITES

(CNN) -- With episodes of school violence and their aftermath of fear and vulnerability still fresh in America's mind, the findings of a new study showing a drop in violent behavior by teen-agers may seem hard to believe.

But the federal government study made it clear that conditions that threaten youth safety remain unacceptably high overall.

The research was completed before this year's incidents at Columbine High School in suburban Denver and at Heritage High School in suburban Atlanta.

At Columbine, 15 people died, including two student gunmen; six students were injured at Heritage, where a student who opened fire was taken into custody.

Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said violent acts by American high school students declined between 1991 and 1997.

The study found a "significant" drop in the number of students who said they got into fights or carried weapons, according to the CDC's Thomas Simon. The decline was steeper for girls than it was for boys.

Among the major findings:

• The number of high school students who reported carrying a weapon of any type during the previous month declined from 26.1 percent in 1991 to 18.3 percent in 1997.
  
  
• The researchers said that in 1991, 42.5 percent of high school students said they had been in a fight in the previous year. In 1997, the figure was 36.6 percent.

The findings are similar to the results of other recent national surveys. But the report's authors warned against interpreting them too optimistically. They wrote that rates of youth homicide and other violence are still at ``historically high levels.''

"In addition, this study did not find significant decreases in the percentage of students feeling too unsafe to go to school, being threatened or injured with a weapon on school property, or having property stolen or deliberately damaged at school," they added.

It also said there had been no decrease in the percentage of students carrying weapons other than guns "and in 1997 this behavior was twice as prevalent as gun carrying.''

"Therefore, although the reductions in gun carrying and fighting are encouraging, the prevalence of youth violence and school violence is still unacceptably high,'' it concluded.

Erin Woo, 13, is a junior high school student who says he is afraid of school violence 67K/6 sec. AIFF or WAV sound

It remains to be seen, the report said, whether the more recent acts of school violence will result in more students carrying weapons to school.

"We know from other studies that the most common reason for weapon carrying is a perception of vulnerability," Simon told CNN. "The kids report that they want to carry the weapon for self-protection."

That's where experts say guidance from teachers and parents is needed -- to encourage children to talk to adults about weapons and to help them find other ways to feel safe.

The data came from the federal government's Youth Risk Behavior Surveys which have been conducted periodically since 1990 and involve a representative sample of U.S. teen-agers. The sample size was not listed.

The study was published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Correspondent Pat Etheridge, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report, written by Jim Morris.