The San Diego Traveler

Preventing School Violence

by Carole A. Lane on April 18th, 2007

“Our schoolchildren should never fear [for] their safety when they enter into a classroom.”

These were the words of President George W. Bush when he attended the Conference on School Safety in Maryland last October.

In light of the Virginia Tech massacre on Monday, parents around the nation are left shaken and frightened, wondering if any of our children are safe in their schools.

The most recent statistics on school crime and safety indicate that violent crime on campuses has gone down somewhat in recent years, yet the percentage of public schools experiencing one or more violent incidents has actually gone up.  (These government statistics do not include colleges and universities however, so Monday’s shootings will not be reflected.)

Sadly, San Diego County is no stranger to campus violence.  Eleven years ago, three professors were shot and killed by a graduate student at SDSU.  In 2001, two students were murdered and 13 other people wounded by a 15-year-old boy at Santana High School in Santee.  Less than three weeks later, another 5 students and teachers were wounded in a shooting by an 18-year-old student at Granite Hills High School in El Cajon.  Clearly, what happened in Virginia can happen here.

Can Campus Violence Be Prevented?

In a report by the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Department of Education, ”The Final Report and Findings of the Safe School Initiative: Implications for the Prevention of School Attacks in the United States,” they point out that these attacks are rarely spontaneous, and that the steps leading up to an attack are often observable.

They examine the 10 key findings of the Safe School Initiative, explaining the implications of each finding and what it means in terms of being able to prevent violence.

Key Findings:

1. Incidents of targeted violence at school rarely were sudden, impulsive acts.
2. Prior to most incidents, other people knew about the attacker’s idea and/or plan to attack.
3. Most attackers did not threaten their targets directly prior to advancing the attack.
4. There is no accurate or useful “profile” (defined here as meaning demographic traits, rather than behaviors) of students who engaged in targeted school violence.
5. Most attackers engaged in some behavior prior to the incident that caused others concern or indicated a need for help.
6. Most attackers had difficulty coping with significant losses or personal failures.  Moreover, many had considered or attempted suicide.
7. Many attackers felt bullied, persecuted or injured by others prior to the attack.
8. Most attackers had access to and had used weapons prior to the attack.
9. In many cases, other students were involved in some capacity.
10. Despite prompt law enforcement responses, most shooting incidents were stopped by means other than law enforcement intervention.

With these factors in mind, the U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Department of Education recommend that schools form multidisciplinary threat assessment teams to assist with identifying, assessing and managing students who may pose a threat of targeted violence.  Does your school have this team in place?

The U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Department of Education have also issued a 95-page guide entitled A Guide to Managing Threatening Situations and to Creating Safe School Climates.  This tool (available for free online) can be instrumental in measuring the safety of your schools, identifying areas that need resources and improvement, and creating a framework for school safety.  Is your school aware of this guide, and are they implementing its guidelines?

Fostering a Culture of Respect

The guide explains the importance of creating a culture of safety in which teasing and bullying are not accepted as a normal part of the adolescent culture.

Creating Connections Between Adults and Students

According to the guide, students need to have a positive connection to at least one adult in authority.  They provide an example of a school in California where the names of students are posted during staff meetings, and faculty members are asked to put stars next to the names of students with whom they have the closest relationships.  Faculty members then focus on establishing relationships with those students with few stars next to their names.

Are your faculty identifying and reaching out to students without positive connections to adults?  Are there ANY students who are missing this key relationship?

Breaking the “Code of Silence”

Their studies have found that most school shooters shared their potentially lethal plans with other students, but students who knew of planned attacks rarely told adults.  In fact, students were sometimes warned to avoid the time and place of the attack, or told where to stand in order to avoid danger.  In one case, a student even brought a camera to capture the event.

Students must be encouraged to break the pervasive “code of silence” that both forces students to handle their pain and problems on their own, and to feel like “snitches” for sharing concerns about  their peers with teachers or other adults in position of authority.

Does your school have a “Code of Silence?”

Major Components and Tasks for Creating a Safe/Connected School ClimateAccording to the guide, the major components and tasks identified for creating a safe school climate include:

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POSTED IN: News, Schools & Education