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Lincoln Memorial University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

Abstract

Compared to other industrialized countries, America is a relatively violent country. The impact of violent crime on America’s youth is alarming and there is no clear solution. School violence is a serious problem that threatens American youth, and politicians are concerned about the high number of violent crimes committed by teens. However, Democrats and Republicans have very different policy platforms on dealing with violent crimes. On the one hand, Republicans support Stand-Your-Ground laws and believe that individuals have a right to protect themselves. On the other hand, Democrats oppose Stand-Your-Ground laws and believe the government is the best source for protecting people. The purpose of this study is to determine if there is a difference between political partisanship and the percentage of male high school students who carry weapons on school property. This study examined electronic second-hand data collected in 2013, 2015, and 2017 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Data were collected via the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) using a three-stage cluster sample design, which produced a nationally representative sample of students in grades 9-12 who attended public and private schools. The results of logistic regression for repeated measures revealed that there is a statistically significant relationship between male high school students who carry weapons and political party. Males were 56.9% more likely to carry weapons on school property in Republican states than in Democrat states.

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