Poll: Parents' concerns about school safety remain same since Newtown

PRINCETON, N.J., Aug. 29 (UPI) -- Parents of school-age children say they aren't any more at ease about school safety eight months after the Newtown, Conn., grade school massacre, Gallup said.

Thirty-three percent of parents of K-12 students say they fear for their oldest child's safety at school, unchanged from December, and higher than the 25 percent reported at the beginning of the 2012-2013 school year, results of a Gallup poll released Thursday indicated.

The results are based on Gallup's annual Work and Education poll, conducted Aug. 7-11, the Princeton, N.J, polling agency said. Parents of school-aged children had expressed less worry about their children's safety in the five years before the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School, with the percentage fearful ranging from a low of 15 percent in 2008 to 26 percent in 2009.

On Dec. 14, 2012, 26 children and adults at the elementary school were killed by gunman Adam Lanza, who also killed his mother and himself.

While parents were more concerned about school safety now than before Newtown, children appear to be less affected, Gallup said. The poll found 10 percent of parents said their school-aged child expressed concern about feeling unsafe at school, compared with 12 percent this time last year.

Results are based on nationwide telephone interviews with 508 parents of K-12 students conducted Aug. 7-11. The margin of error is 5 percentage points.