Keeping Our Students Safe

How to Prepare for and Prevent Violent Situations at School

Violence is, sadly, a reality on thousands of K-12 campuses today in America. Once seen as an outpost for learning and safety, an alarming number of violent acts have been committed on grounds ranging small rural schools to large metropolitan campuses. The National Center for Education Statistics found that, during the 2013-2014 school year alone, 65 percent of all public schools reported at least one act of violence had been committed, cumulating in approximately 757,000 incidents throughout the country.

Violent acts can run the gamut from shoving to mass shootings, but often these early signs of aggression lead to more powerful incidents. While these statistics may seem overwhelming, there are many things that can be done to help troubled students and create a safer learning environment for all. The following guide provides insight from school safety and mental health experts, as well as concrete and practical advice for educators, administrators, parents and students.

How Does Violence Affect Schools?

Though the types of school violence most often covered in local and national news typically involve the use of weapons, many other types of violence can exist on school campuses. It’s important for teachers, administrators, parents and students alike to be aware of the different forms violence can take, as well as the telltale signs of unacceptable behavior. Examples of school violence include:

What Causes School-Related Violence?

Pinpointing reasons for school-related violence is difficult because there is no one single cause, or even a few easily distinguished causes. School-related violence is a multifaceted issue requiring a thoughtful and nuanced approach.

Brian Moore, an expert on school climate and discipline with the Delaware Department of Education, suggests that the most commonly reported issues may not be fully getting to the heart of the problem. “While media sources often refer to issues such as bullying, studies by the U.S. Secret Service into mass school shootings do not reveal as much of a connection as some believe,” he says.

Rather than looking at the symptoms, Moore suggests digging into the roots to understand the cause of school violence. “Some factors include mental illness as well as social and emotional disconnection.” He continues, “Some of these young people reflect the experiences of grown ‘reasonable’ adults who commit mass shootings: They lack the coping mechanisms to survive negative social or emotional traumas.” Meanwhile, mental health clinician Tara McShane Pandarinath suggests that students don’t feel connected. “When youth feel disconnected from one another, from adults and/or from the school, that can sometimes manifest as violence.”

When discussing school-related violence, another question frequently asked is whether there are telltale signs that administrators, teachers and students can be sensitive to in relation to problematic students. While every learner is different and it would be unwise to solely rely on stereotypical behavior to assess every child, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention list a range of risk factors. Some of these include:

In addition to these risk behaviors, Moore offers advice for staying vigilant. “Signs that a student could be considering such an event could include sudden withdrawal from normal activities or a fixation on violence and historic reference to previous school shootings – in one case a shooter wanted to do ‘better’ than the two Columbine shooters,” he says.

It’s also important to consider the day and age in which we live. “Another consideration in this environment is the self-radicalization of young people,” Moore notes. “We are well aware of terror groups who use social media to encourage mass shootings and acts of violence.”

School Shootings

While the names of early school shootings are still firmly planted in the minds of those who remember them happening – such as Columbine, Jonesboro and Virginia Tech – sadly they’ve become so numerous in recent years that some go forgotten in the country’s collective conscious.

Aside from death and injury, however, this wave of school shootings has also forever altered everyday life for students. Lockdown drills, which require students and their teachers to simulate how to behave in the case of an active shooter, are now common place and some parents have even purchased bulletproof panels to insert in their children’s backpacks. Once seen as a refuge for some children from problems at home or the dangers of their neighborhoods, schools are now on high alert for possible shootings.

“We used to see schools as ‘open’ buildings where parents were encouraged to come in and interact with students,” Moore says. “Often schools had no access control mechanisms, front doors were often open for anyone to come in and the front office was easily accessible, but visitors were not funneled physically into them.” All of that has changed now. “In many schools, visitors now must be ‘buzzed’ into the school and main office before being given access to the students.” He continues, “staff members are more aware of visitors who are out of place and schools are being built to defend against attacks instead of being a welcoming, open environment.”

Some of the shootings that have taken place since Sandy Hook include:

Umpqua Community College – Roseburg, Oregon

A 26-year-old student opened fire in Snyder Hall on the school’s campus. After killing an English professor, the student killed eight others before turning the gun on himself. An additional eight people were injured.

University of California – Los Angeles

A 38-year-old Ph.D. student killed his former professor in an engineering building on the school’s campus before killing himself.

Townville Elementary School – Townville, South Carolina

A 14-year-old student opened fire on a school’s playground and killed one student. The gunman’s father was also found dead at their home.

Aztec High School – Aztec, New Mexico

A 21-year-old former student snuck into the school while pretending to be a pupil. He murdered two students in a hallway before killing himself.

Marshall County High School – Marshall County, Kentucky

A 15-year-old student walked into the lobby of the school before classes started, opening fire on a group of people. He injured 15 people and killed two 15-year-old students.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School – Parkland, Florida

A 19-year-old former student opened fire inside the Parkland, Florida, school shortly before classes were scheduled to end for the day. Authorities say he killed 14 students and three teachers.

Active Shooters on School Grounds

As active shooters become more commonplace on school grounds and college campuses, many educational institutions have developed plans for how to handle them. Different schools of thought exist in terms of best practice: some have lockdown procedures in place while others favor evacuation plans. Some schools have even discussed providing teachers with guns. Regardless of whether the school in question serves K-12 or college students, protocol is typically similar.

While the goal of any safety plan to deal with an active shooter works to keep both faculty and staff, along with students, out of harm’s way, each group has specific roles to play.

Faculty/Staff

According to Brian Moore, numerous experts in the field of school safety support what is known as the Run, Hide or Fight method of response:

Other ways for faculty and staff to feel better prepared or more confident in their safety measures in the case of an active shooter include:

Students

If possible, students should follow the same protocol as teachers in the Run, Hide or Fight method, Moore suggests. Here are other suggestions for keeping safe and getting help:

Schools and Gun Control

Based on expert insights from Brian Moore of the Delaware Department of Education and our background research, we’ve developed a handful of questions and answers to provide more information about gun control efforts in the K-12 environment.

Anti-Violence Messaging for Students

It’s no secret that opinions about gun control are starkly divided throughout the country – a fact that has become even more pronounced in an increasingly polarized political landscape and a social media-centric society. As K-12 schools, universities and nonprofit organizations work to implement anti-violence campaigns and messaging, the central question at many of these places is how to effectively rise above the noise and communicate a message that is both effective and accepted.

In speaking about this topic with our experts, both Tara Pandarinath and Brian Moore had specific ideas about how to best go about reaching this goal. According to Pandarinath, it starts with providing a positive example: “Many public schools have appropriately thorough processes to hear from parents and the community before they bring evidence-based practices to students,” she says. “We know that children are much more likely to learn what they should do with a positive example (do this) than a negative example (don’t do this), so it’s up to schools and organizations to find messaging that resonates.”

According to Moore, it’s all about creating open and inclusive environments. “These spaces foster a climate that attempts to prevent students with social or emotional issues from feeling alone when struggling to achieve success and acceptance from their peers.” He continues, “Judgment-free zones are hard to find, but schools that implement a culture that doesn’t allow for sheep to wander away from the care of the flock are often successful.”

To implement these spaces, schools have focused highly on training. “They encourage staff members to recognize students in emotional crisis and instead of ignoring the signs, they care enough to approach students as a team and make sure they are there to meet that student’s needs, even in cases where the family cannot or will not help.”

In addition to schools working diligently to implement anti-violence messaging, the organizations below are also great models of what can be done to promote communication and peace on school campuses.

Anti-Violence Project

The AVP is a national advocacy program that organizes community programs, fights against violence and champions those who are frequently the target of violence.

The National Center for Victims of Crime

In addition to providing support services and help for victims of crime, the NCVC offers a range of training programs to help reduce acts of violence.

National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs

An offshoot of the Anti-Violence Project, the NCAVP is specifically focused on developing anti-violence programming to protect and support students who identify as members of the LGBTQ community.

Schools Promoting Violence Prevention

Encouraging Peaceful Protests Among Students

Every U.S. citizen has the right to protest or join with others in peaceful assembly, and these forms of healthy dialogue can help improve communication between students, faculty and staff as a means of diffusing emotions that can lead to violence. “Teaching students how to talk to each other, how to build healthy relationships and how to resolve conflict can have a dramatic effect on our culture,” says clinician Tara Pandarinath.

Brian Moore echoes Pandarinath’s seniments: “The best way to avoid these issues is to create an opening and welcoming environment that fosters communication and caring between every sector of the campus – from parents to staff to students.” He goes on to say that peaceful protests can help facilitate that communication. “It encourages people with concerns to share them before a crisis becomes a shooting.”

When the Supreme Court ruled in the Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District case of 1969, the ruling stated students (and teachers) don’t “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” Though many schools have rules in place to guide student behavior, these fundamental rights are protected. When deciding to protest at school or campus, here are a few tips to keep in mind:

School Violence Prevention Resources

Creating an inclusive school environment and educating students on how to express their emotions is key to decreasing violent incidents, Pandarinath says. “If children know they will be listened to and taken seriously by teachers, faculty, staff and other students, they’re much more likely to talk to someone when things in their lives are not going well,” she notes. “We can build a culture of prevention so no child has to feel that violence is the answer.”

The resources below are designed to help school employees and students alike prevent violence: