Stanford
Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR)
School shooting memorial

School shootings: The impact on survivors

The massacre in Uvalde, Texas, is a stark reminder that school shootings are a horrific American phenomenon. Stanford economist Maya Rossin-Slater has conducted extensive research showing how school shootings impact the mental health, educational attainment and economic outcomes of children who witness them.

Highlighting Rossin-Slater's research during these tragedies is meant to give policymakers and others a deeper understanding of the long-term implications of school shootings. We invite you to explore the following pieces.

Policy Brief

Surviving a school shooting: Impacts on the mental health, education, and earnings of American youth

Congress and statehouses throughout the U.S. can ensure that schools, families, and communities have access to mental health resources and financial support. This is of paramount importance if our society wants to give these children a chance at prevailing as happy, successful, and productive adults.

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Video Series

The silent cost of school shootings

Driven to better understand the lasting impact of fatal school shootings, Rossin-Slater and her colleagues comb through data that reveal startling trends in the mental health of children who witnessed the tragedies.

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Research Highlight

New study of gun violence in schools identifies long-term harms

Rossin-Slater finds that students exposed to school shootings face 'lasting, persistent' adversity in their educational and long-term economic outcomes.

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Working Paper

Trauma at school: The impacts of shootings on students' human capital and economic outcomes

Using linked schooling and labor market data in Texas from 1992 to 2018, Rossin-Slater and her colleagues compare within-student and across-cohort changes in outcomes following a shooting to those experienced by students at matched control schools. 

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Research Highlight

The impact on mental health

Rossin-Slater finds the average rate of antidepressant use among youths rose by 21 percent in the local communities where fatal school shootings occurred.

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Working Paper

Local exposure to school shootings and youth antidepressant use

Using large-scale prescription data from 2006 to 2015, Rossin-Slater and her colleagues examine the effects of 44 school shootings on youth antidepressant use in a difference-in-difference framework.

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