Mississippi State University alumnus David May discussed the causes, preferences and sources of gun carrying in youths with students Thursday. “Kids and Guns: Why They Do It” was sponsored by the sociology, anthropology and social work department.
May received a master’s degree from MSU in 1994, followed by a doctorate in sociology, with an emphasis in criminology in 1997. He currently teaches at Eastern Kentucky University.
From the beginning of his presentation, May dispelled many popular beliefs that schools are more violent now than they have ever been. He said school shootings are a rare occurrence.
“These incidents do not happen as much as you would think,” he said. “People are always telling me that they’re glad they grew up in the decades before now because schools were much safer unlike today. That’s just not true.”
May said in the 2006-2007 academic year, there were eight students killed by other students in school shootings nationally.
“The idea that school violence is rampant and that everyone should home-school their kids is something that is so far from the truth in 2008, that it is startling that so many people believe it,” he said.
May said children are at a very low risk of being involved in gun crime during school hours. “Juveniles are more likely to commit a crime between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m.,” he said. “In reality, kids are safer at school during school hours than after school.”
National media outlets have helped to contribute to the misconception that school violence is at an all-time high, but are not at complete fault, May said.
“The main criticism I have of the media is the disproportionate amount of negative reporting than positive,” May said. “If we had more reporting about the incidents that were controlled, where kids spoke up to teachers and parents, that in itself could help bring that climate of responsibility and safety to many other schools.”
May suggested potential ideas that could further reduce gun violence and crime with youths, including increasing cooperation between law enforcement agencies, increasing direct deterrence projects and reducing the amount of gang membership.
He also proposed that improving unsafe neighborhoods could reduce the amount of youths carrying guns.
“These kids need to live in neighborhoods that make them feel like they don’t have to or don’t want to carry a gun,” May said. “We cannot take guns from kids and tell them that they can live safely in society until we can give them assurance that, by taking their guns, they can live safely in society.”
Peter Wood, professor and interim director of the department of sociology, anthropology and social work, said May’s research is important due to the severity of the topic.
“You’ve got to consider that this deals with kids running around with guns and killing each other,” Wood said. “I’d consider that a pretty important topic.”
Freshman pre-accounting major Michelle Hawkins said May’s presentation was very informative.
“You can tell just by listening to him that he’s a very smart man,” Hawkins said.
She said there is a large need to discuss gun violence within academic settings due to many of the recent tragic shootings that have occurred.
“It is very important that we discuss these issues here, especially after what happened at Virginia Tech,” Hawkins said. “We need to have more people like May going around and discussing this with students. More people need to attend talks like these.