SCHOOL VIOLENCE
13 Ways You Can Prevent a School Rampage Violence in schools by heavily armed adults may be difficult to prevent, but many, if not most assaults by students are preventable. The phenomenon of a school attack can be defined as a large- scale event where several people are shot and/or killed in a school. The victims are shot for symbolic significance or at random, and these attacks are committed by current or former students.
In the past 12 years alone, 195 incidents were averted where students plotted to kill multiple peers (Madfis, 2012). Recently, a major plot was thwarted when an observant neighbor spotted something out of the ordinary outside her home in Waseca, Minn. Her quick thinking to call police prevented a school rampage that would have included guns and bombs.
Best practices for preventing a campus rampage are rooted in effective decision making, proactive leadership, data-sharing, school safety, and relationships between schools and law enforcement. It should also be noted that school leaders should not feed into false assumptions or beliefs. There is no profile of a school rampage plotter, and checklists used to predict potential threats are inappropriate.
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Focusing Only on Active Shooters Leaves Schools Less Prepared for Terrorists
Recent events have caused many school and public safety officials to re-consider the potential for school terrorism. Many are wondering if an emphasis on active shooter events could leave them ill-prepared for terrorist attacks on or near schools. While active shooter incidents are one method of attack we have seen in school terrorist attacks globally, we have also seen the use of fire, explosives and chemicals either as alternative attack methodologies or in combination with attacks using firearms. Therefore, the intensive focus on active shooter incidents could reduce the amount of time, energy and fiscal support for other types of school safety incidents and terrorism attacks. Effective antiterrorism strategies involve an all-hazards approach that is not overly focused on any one particular attack methodology.
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School Safety Requires Early Intervention Against Violence, Advocate Says
Stu Auty, the head of the Canadian Safe School Network, advocates early intervention programs that
help students develop conflict resolution skills. The training teachers currently have is not enough to prevent violent incidents, he said. "The point I'm making is the kind of training in terms of the need for teachers to have a full understanding of all aspects of children's pro- social behaviours—the importance of that —isn‘t there as much as it should be.‖
Pro-social behaviour is prompted by empathy and actions intended to help others and is at the core of early intervention programs for which Auty advocates.
Auty said one particularly effective program was SNAP —Stop Now And Plan. It's a cognitive- behavioural strategy that was developed in Toronto to help children and parents regulate angry feelings by getting them to stop and think before acting impulsively. It involved role-playing situations and getting kids to solve problems and defuse conflicts. It asked students questions such as, "What do you do when you're angry?"
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Study Shows Student-Teacher Conflicts Contribute to School Shootings
Previously, it was assumed that bullying by peers and social exclusion of campus gunmen were the primary causes of school shootings. New research now indicates that conflicts with teachers is another significant risk factor.
German researchers analyzed 37 studies of 126 attacks in the United States, Canada, Germany, Finland, Brazil, Argentine, Australia, Bosnia, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Sweden and Thailand. Nearly nine out of 10 perpetrators (88%) had experienced problems in their social lives and 85% had been marginalized, reports PsyPost.
What surprised researchers was that 43% of offenders had experienced some sort of conflict with teachers or campus representatives. However, U.S. gunmen were more likely to have experienced bullying by their peers than German perpetrators.
Read more Sandy Hook No Reason To Scare Kids To Death
Countless schools have adopted active shooter drills, voluntarily or by legislative mandate. The hope is that students and faculty will be sufficiently prepared should some dispirited student or deranged intruder decide to turn the school into a battle zone.
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