Most Americans say students should be involved in gun policy and school safety
By Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus, Kabir Khanna and Anthony Salvanto
More than six in 10 Americans, including most parents, think students should get involved in the issue of gun policy and school safety; just over a third say the issue would be better left to adults.
More women (65 percent) are supportive of the students getting involved than men (58 percent).
There are some partisan splits. Most Republicans think the issue of guns and school safety would be better left to adults, while majorities of Democrats and independents say students should be involved in these issues.
Americans express skepticism about allowing teachers to carry guns, with more saying it would lead to gun violence (44 percent) rather than help prevent it (29 percent). A quarter don't think it will have an impact. Parents of children under 18 echo these views. The differences on this are partisan: a majority of Republicans thinks armed teachers would prevent violence. Democrats and independents disagree.
In general, most Americans think teachers in their community are paid too little.
Two in three parents of children under 18 say they have talked with their children about gun violence in schools since the shooting in Parkland, Florida.
This poll was conducted by telephone March 8-11, 2018 among a random sample of 1,223 adults nationwide. Data collection was conducted on behalf of CBS News by SSRS of Glen Mills, PA. Phone numbers were dialed from samples of both standard land-line and cell phones.
The poll employed a random digit dial methodology. For the landline sample, a respondent was randomly selected from all adults in the household. For the cell sample, interviews were conducted with the person who answered the phone.
Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish using live interviewers. The data have been weighted to reflect U.S. Census figures on demographic variables.
The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups may be higher and is available by request. The margin of error includes the effects of standard weighting procedures which enlarge sampling error slightly.
This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.