Bullying, School Shootings, and The Importance of School Safety

What long term mental health treatment methods are available to fellow students and teachers at schools struck by mass shootings? Should there be psychologists on hand in school districts that specialize in trauma, PTSD, and grief counseling? Many questions are asked in the wake of a school shooting but the questions that many of us should be asking are the ones mentioned previously. Just in the first 21 weeks of 2018 there were already 23 school shootings, that averages out to one shooting a week. School shootings have dramatically grown over the past few years. They have got to the point where they do not broadcast it on the news as frequently as they occur. This has become an epidemic in our communities. Society has deemed as normal due to how frequent it seems to happen now. The neglect of school shooting prevention has caused it to happen more frequently today. This will continue if we do not take preventative measures to stop it.

What have we seen in students and teachers, in the months following mass shootings, relative to their behavior and how they cope with going to school in the same place this horrible thing happened. In the 2000s school shootings have become a usual occurrence in our society “Mass shootings are common in this country. According to the Gun Violence Archive, an oft-cited nonprofit that tracks shootings, there have been more than 200 mass shootings in the first seven months this year”. In 1999 the worst school shooting yet had occurred, referred to as the Columbine Highschool Massacre. Two boys by the name of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold conducted an elaborate plan to bomb their school but when that failed they began shooting. Journals left by the two told investigators that “the teens had been planning for a year to bomb the school in an attack similar to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing”. By eleven in the morning they had shot twelve students, one teacher, and injured 20 people. This brought awareness to gun control, school security, and other underlying issues. The shooting also left a negative impact, it influenced other kids to take out their frustrations through the same actions. Twenty mass school murder attempts happened after Columbine till 2016. On March 20th 2018, an armed student shot two kids at Great Mills High School in Maryland, the shooter was later killed. Situations like this are not broadcasted on the news anymore due to how frequent they are in our society in our society. If we let these problems go unnoticed school shootings will be something the next generation will think of as ordinary.

What ways can we implement follow on care for the students and teachers so that way parents don't have to spend extra money for therapy and counseling. People argue whether this is a mental illness case or gun control in our nation. Either way as the issue goes on we should be helping raise awareness to both. According to Psychology Today “If the problem is all about increases in psychological disorders in our nation, then we need to support programs in the fields of psychology and mental health”. This is saying if this is truly a mental health problem we should invest more money or time into building research to help better treat those in need. There are twenty four hour hotlines for anyone feeling depressed, Psych Guide expresses “there are many ways to find help, including calling a depression hotline for information about treatment centers and 12-step programs”. Calling a hotline not only gives you someone who is there for you but they provide advice on dealing with it. Bullying can also lead to depression or anger, which could cause someone to bring a weapon. Statistics show “An estimated 200,000 victims of bullying bring weapons to school over the course of a month, according to the authors’ analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control’s 2011 Youth Risk Surveillance System Survey”. Bullying in schools has been an issue for a long time in our country. Students either cannot find help or refuse to talk to someone about what they are going through. People have noticed the connection between bullying and school shootings “For years, anti-bullying groups have drawn a connection between bullying and school Shootings ” (Julia “A Shocking Number of Teens Bring Weapons to School. Here's One Reason Why.”). This should be enough for our communities to bring light on these subjects if it means more people getting bullied the more lives in danger. As for gun control due to the Parkland school shooting February 2018 which killed at least 17 people have been protesting nonstop for gun control. Since the Parkland shooting fifty new gun laws were placed. ”This was a year of unparalleled success for the gun-control movement in the United States. States across the country, including 14 with Republican governors, enacted 50 new laws restricting access to guns, ranging from banning bump stocks to allowing authorities to temporarily disarm potentially violent people”(Matt “Huffington”). This has caused people to start taking action in doing something to prevent another one. These shootings have left families devastated and citizens concerned for the future. According to news journalist “Florida in March enacted a law that expanded background checks, banned bump stocks, allowed local authorities to temporarily restrict access for “red flag” gun owners, and added a three-day waiting period to purchase a handgun”. The shooting left a devastating effect on the country but made us realize that we need a change in safety rules for our country. School also have implemented safety precautions in case of a school shooter “The millions born after Columbine in 1999, who practiced “code red” drills at school their entire lives...”. The people are starting to be heard about this issue but the number of school shootings and attempts are still rising. On March 24th 2018, adults and children hit the streets to march for gun control. Those who were marching had school sit ins to support the cause. Over 800 marches took place on this day around the United States. The prevention of school shootings is still a work in progress but there are a lot of actions taking place to help. People are coming together to put an end in the shooting, our community is realizing how serious and out of control it is getting.

How do we prevent future attacks from happening from a psychological perspective. Strong anti-bullying campaigns, better care for students, and better training for teachers on how to deal with problems before they can have serious mental health effects. The way school shootings are being normalized will only bring more grief to us and our loved ones. We need to follow through on all of the preventative measures to ensure the safety of our students and faculty. We do not want our future kids having to go through the same situations some people unfortunately had to go through because we neglect the warning signs. “We are the generation that’s had to be trapped in closets, waiting for police to come or waiting for a shooter to walk in to our door. Our communities need to open their eyes and realize if we do not do anything schools will no longer be safe. School shootings are progressively getting worse, they have become an overlooked threat to society. While some people agree that extra security measures should be set in place in order to prohibit future shootings, some argue that more security might in fact be a problem. “Filling schools with metal detectors, surveillance cameras, police officers and gun-wielding teachers tells students that schools are scary, dangerous and violent places – places where violence is expected to occur”. Some even believe that they will just scare students rather than help them in a situation of crisis. Others have even stated that there is no evidence that increased security decreases school shootings. “Such security measures decrease the likelihood of school shootings. Surveillance cameras were powerless to stop the carnage in Columbine”. Past tragedies have shown this to be factual.

There is no true answer to why school shootings happen. You can always look for the signs. When something as tragic as a school shooting happens people often try and make sense of the situation. We often ask ourselves why they did it. School shooters are usually “psychopathic or responding with rage to taunting or bullying behavior”. Many do it as a plot of revenge for being treated poorly. “They were treated by others, as reported by peers. The shooters obsessed over being rejected by a perceived “elite in-group” they view as having become successful unfairly. They thus plan to annihilate those who have transgressed against them in an act of vengeance for the way they were treated”. There are always warning signs that we need to be alert at all times and report anything that seems potentially dangerous. “Shooters always “show signs” before they enact their usually horrific actions”. Shooters often have no remorse, tend to act violently, have a history of social, emotional & mental disturbances, have an obsession with weapons, and have high family dysfunction. School shootings are completely preventable and awareness needs to be further spread about this subject. “One of the most important ways to keep schools safe is to create a consistent, reliable system for reporting and responding to concerns about students' intentions, they say.” Weapon use on school grounds needs to be limited. Students with an obsession of firearms and intentions to hurt others need to be monitored. After the events of the Parkland school shooting teachers made it their number one priority to ensure that the students felt safe. “Reminding students to report warning signs of mental health issues and possible threats to an adult”. Teachers also informed students on what of how to spot the warning signs and that they should be reported immediately. Hopefully after we examine this problem more we can make sure that more atrocities like this can be prevented and care for those victims can be adequately provided.

In conclusion this essay has provided persuasive arguments to why school safety should be a number one priority and action needs to be taken in order to protect innocent lives. We can never truly know why school shootings occur but we can look for the signs. Informing people of the potentially dangerous signs of a school shooter need to be made heavily aware so that these signs can be reported to stop the event from transpiring. School shootings can be prevented and warning signs and concerns need to be reported in order to prevent the unthinkable from happening. Change doesn't happen overnight, no matter how much we want it to. We can’t just prevent shootings schools by little actions and simply talking to people trying to address the issue. But that doesn't mean efforts were nothing. Change can happen whenever we change one person's perspective.