The news is horrendous. Just when you think it couldn’t get any worse, another school shooting breaks the calm. It seems that this whole nightmare started with two trench-coated assailants at Columbine in 1999. That is a misconception, as school shootings in the US go back to our beginnings. While researching this article, I was surprised to find the first school shooting in the US was in Pennsylvania in 1764 where ten victims were killed.
Although school shootings have been around for hundreds of years, the frequency in which they are occurring is frightening. Granted, 200 years ago the population and the number of schools was very different, but the writing is on the wall. The situation is worsening. For instance, from 2000 to 2010 there were approximately 56 school shootings. Compare that to the 67 school shootings since 2015 to present, less than three full years, and you can see the alarming trend.
Since Columbine, the more recent shootings tend to follow a pattern. School shootings are much more likely to be targeted. In over half of the incidents the attacker had selected at least one school administrator, faculty member, or staff member as a target. Students were chosen as targets in fewer than half of the incidents.
The indiscriminate shooter is very much an outlier in school shootings. Terrorism is also not a common factor. Although terrorism does account for many school shootings in other nations, it is not prevalent in the US.
In 2002, the National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC) completed the Safe School Initiative (SSI), a study of attacks at K-12 schools. Conducted in collaboration with the US Department of Education, the study examined incidents in the United States from 1974 through May 2000, analyzing a total of 37 incidents involving 41 student attackers.
The SSI found that school-based attacks are rarely impulsive acts. Instead, they are typically thought-out and planned in advance. Almost every attacker had engaged in behavior before the shooting that seriously concerned at least one adult—and, for many, had concerned three or more adults.
Also, before most of the incidents, other students knew the attack was to occur but did not alert an adult. Rarely did the attackers direct threats to their targets before the shooting. The study’s findings also revealed that there is no “profile” of a school-based attacker; instead, the students who carried out the attacks differed from one another in numerous ways.
There was one common denominator identified in the study. Almost three-quarters of the attackers felt persecuted, bullied, threatened, attacked, or injured by others prior to the incident.
Prior Notice: Failure of the See Something, Say Something Policy
Another chilling fact is that in most cases, other people knew about the attack before it took place. In over three-quarters of the incidents, at least one person had information that the attacker was thinking about or planning the school attack (81 percent). In nearly two-thirds of the incidents, more than one person had information about the attack before it occurred.
Since the 2002 SSI report was completed, the Secret Service has maintained data and is continuing to study school shootings, though no new report has been released.
So, What Has Changed?
Since the Columbine shooting in 1999, schools have taken several steps to try to protect their students. Those measures include metal detectors at school entrances. As well, many schools now have security personnel on duty. This can be a security guard, a resource officer, or a police officer assigned to the school. Some school districts have developed their own police force with all the same powers and authorities that traditional police have. This has been a trend more common at universities, but larger school districts have started going in that direction.
School Active-Shooter Drills
These drills are becoming common and are being questioned by some as traumatizing. The critics point to scaring the students and raising anxiety, but the drills do have a safety effect. Several incidents have occurred where the students have participated in active-shooter drills, and these may have saved lives.
After the Parkland, Florida school shooting earlier this year, many comments were made by the students and staff as to the active-shooter drills they had participated in helping them stay safe and not panic.
The National Center for Education Statistics stated that during the 2015-2016 school year, lockdown drills were conducted at 94.6 percent of public schools. This number has risen sharply as more school shootings have taken place, and has more than doubled since the early 2000s. Currently, schools in 32 states are required to conduct active-shooter drills.
Gun Control Movement
With every mass shooting in the US and especially where a school is involved, there is a call for more gun control. Some states, such as Florida, recently passed legislation that raised the age requirement for the purchase of a firearm such as a rifle or shotgun, and several major retailers have curtailed the sale of certain firearms. The restrictions usually point to what the media and gun control groups deem as assault-type weapons, although the majority of school shootings have not involved these types of weapons. The vast majority of school shootings involved handguns, not rifles.
Focus on Mental Health
There is currently a push to focus on mental health treatment and identification of mental health issues that might point to the next school shooter. The question with this approach is there has been no correlation to mental health problems in the vast majority of school shooters.
Referring to the SSI cited above, the report found that a history of having been the subject of a mental health evaluation, diagnosed with a mental disorder, or involved in substance abuse did not appear to be prevalent among attackers. However, most attackers showed some history of suicidal attempts or thoughts or a history of feeling extreme depression or desperation. Only one-third of attackers had ever received a mental health evaluation (34 percent), and fewer than one-fifth had been diagnosed with mental health or behavior disorder prior to the attack (17 percent).
A New Movement to Arm Teachers and Administrators
The movement to allow a school district to arm some of the teaching and administrative staff is relatively new. The purpose and rationale behind this policy is to give the staff a fighting chance to stop the shooting before the police arrive. Most school shootings are over before law enforcement is able to respond. This is extremely common in more rural areas.
Several states have passed legislation to allow the school districts to put this system in place. In Texas, the school districts have several choices. There is the state-administered School Marshal program whereby a designated staff member is authorized as a School Marshal and allowed to be armed.
The other choice, and the one more school districts in Texas are implementing, is the Guardian Plan. Here, the school district sends approved volunteers from the teaching staff for training and licensing. This allows those staff members to be armed at school.
There are of course many restrictions and safeguards that must be complied with, but it is a way the school districts can take an active role in stopping the school shooting should an armed assailant show up on campus. In Texas, 172 school districts allow teachers to carry weapons under one of the two programs.
Texas passed legislation allowing concealed-carry of a firearm by licensed holders at all state institutions of higher learning. Several other states have also followed suit in that regard. As of August 1, 2017, community colleges must allow campus carry in Texas. Private universities, such as Baylor, Rice, Texas Christian University and others, have the option of banning or allowing weapons.
How has the prevalence of school shootings changed my personal behavior since I am now a student? I have written on this subject before which can be found on OpsLens. I find myself thinking about my background and training more than I did before. I have a tendency to mentally run the possible scenarios through my head and preplan my actions should I be in an active-shooter situation, but I guess the most tangible change for me is I now carry an extra magazine.
