Weapon carrying in a sample of high school students in New Zealand.
OBJECTIVE
To examine self-report of carrying weapons and correlates in a sample of New Zealand high school students.


METHODS
A sample of 652 Year 11 students from all Dunedin high schools completed a web-based version of the US Youth Risk Behaviour Survey. This included questions on weapon carrying, fighting, and feeling unsafe at school, as well as measures of family and peer/friend connectedness and perception of school climate.


RESULTS
Reports of ever carrying a weapon and carrying one in the last 30 days were relatively common, being 27.5% and 19.3% respectively. Weapon carrying in the last 30 days was strongly associated with being male, fighting in the last year, missing school due to feeling unsafe, and a poorer perception of school climate.


CONCLUSIONS
Many high school students report weapon carrying, which in turn was associated with other aspects of physical aggression. Further study of the lethality of weapons being carried and the context in which they might be used is clearly warranted.
McGee
Rob
R
Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, University of Otago Medical School, Dunedin, New Zealand. rob.mcgee@stonebow.otago.ac.nz
Carter
Melissa
M
Williams
Sheila
S
Taylor
Barry
B
D000293:Adolescent; D003617:Dangerous Behavior; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D005389:Firearms / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009520:New Zealand; D011336:Probability; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012309:Risk-Taking; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013334:Students; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014754:Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*