Preventing School Shootings: January 2017

Introduction

Greetings: This blog is intended to be a lighthouse for anyone interested in preventing school shootings, whether you be a parent, cop, faculty member, school administrator, or student. My background is a thirty-year career in public safety, and I hold a master’s degree in criminal justice. More importantly, I was a single parent of two children whose lives, like so many others, have been touched by tragedy and marred by dangers not of their making. Parent to parent there was nothing I wouldn’t do for those boys or their classmates, and I know you feel the same for your children. Retired cop to parent: My commitment is to provide you practical information based on my experience, academic literature, and best current practice. Feel free to comment here or contact me at david@shieldwallconsulting.com. Be safe and well, David L. Williams

Friday, January 27, 2017

BULLYING PART I

A consistent theme throughout the literature is the focus on bullying and bullying victimization as a common denominator in school shootings. Bullying prevalence rates vary based on the survey methods, but best evidence indicates that approximately 30% of middle school and high school students are actively engaged in bullying behavior at any given moment (Meehan, 2011). Approximately 13% of students are engaged in bullying behavior toward other students, 11% are being victimized, and 6% are perpetrating bullying behavior while concurrently being victimized by others (Meehan, 2011, p. 16). Further, according to the National Association of School Resource Officers, 5% of all children in public middle schools don’t go to school at least one day a month because they don’t feel safe from bullies (Canady et al., 2015, 11).

Nearly every reference work utilized in this analysis pointed to bullying as foundational to the rage associated with a person planning mass murder. The only noted exception to this is psychopathy with violent tendencies as discussed in the following segment, but children and adolescents who share the commonality of having been bullied comprise the bulk of school shooters (Coloroso, 2003). “In a tormented child’s mind, the threat of psychic annihilation combined with a need to somehow respond to the injustice perpetrated by the actions of the bully and the inactions of peer and adult bystanders leaves him one choice—to strike out…Violence is the tragic ending of what is often a long, dramatic story, with small hints, red flags, and cries for help along the way” (Coloroso, 2003, pp. 53, 54)

Resources Cited