Effects of School Shootings on Risky Behavior, Health and Human Capital

We examine the impact of school shootings on health and human capital outcomes of exposed students as adults in their twenties and early thirties. Our data on school shooting incidents is from a database compiled by the Center for Homeland Defense and Security. The analytic dataset contains incidents from 1994-2005 in conjunction with Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance System survey data from 2003-2012. We find substantial evidence that, relative to their unexposed peers, students exposed to school shootings experience declines in health and well-being, engage in more risky behaviors, and have worse education and labor market outcomes