Sophia Ko

School Violence and

the Availibility of
Mental Health
Services
2019

GUN VIOLENCE ON
THE RISE
A common perception of many
Americans is that students are
increasingly unsafe in today’s school
systems. The concern has pushed
government funding of hundreds of
millions of dollars for safety
precautions in schools across
America, yet there still exists this
intrinsic fear. The funding delegated
to schools is being spent to over
prepare for a mass shooting through
the hiring armed officers, addition
of metal detectors to entrances and
smart locks to all doors, and the
implementation of more frequent
safety drills. Even with these efforts,
a University of Colorado study
reveals that parents are still
expressing concern, with half of its’
correspondents attributing the
unsafe environments to bullying and
mental health, and the other half
arguing accessibility of firearms
creates this dangerous environment.
The focus of this paper is evaluate
the role that mental health services
could play in preventing the threat  Education to join
of a school shooting, contributing to a
safer school environment (Goldstein).
THE NUMBERS
Most signify the Columbine High
School massacre as the beginning of
an era of prolonged school violence,
but accounts of school gun violence
have existed since as early as the
1700s (Paolini). The types of gun
violence incidents have changed,
however, with the 21st century there
being more than 100 accounts of
school shootings, with 77% of them
carried out by adolescents aged 11-18
(France-Presse). This is nearly 20%
higher than the gun incidences
carried out by adolescents in the past
century, indicating a trend to our
school systems (France-Presse).
Washington Post study also
confirmed that an additional 180,000
students from about 200 different
school districts were also exposed to
violence in their schools ("School
Shootings"). The increase in school
violence in current times is an
immediate issue, which has led to the
US Secret Service and Department of
together in conducting a study on all
A POSITIVE SCHOOL
past incidents of gun violence in
schools, then proposing a plan to ENVIRONMENT
prevent future attacks. In their
One key factor related to school
initiative, the Safe School Initiative,
gun violence involves elements like
they outline the ten key factors
bullying, personal failures, and lack
related to incidents of gun violence
of support, and these can be
in school (Fein et al.). These include:
targeted by creating a positive
Gun violence acts are mostly school environment.
premeditated
The attacker will share their
plans before most attacks
Threats are often not made to
direct targets
Attackers do not fit one
specific profile
Most attackers give reason for
concern prior to the attack,
have lack of support,
experience personal failures,
and/or struggle from bullying
Attackers practice with (Fein et al.)
weapons before the attack
Even with law enforcement
WHAT CAN SCHOOLS
responses, most past shootings DO TO CREATE
were halted due to other
reasons POSITIVE
The departments acknowledge that ENVIRONMENTS
some of these factors can’t be
controlled, but efforts can still be A recent study indicated that seventy
made to directly target some of the percent of perpetrators were reported
listed factors. While no attack is as victims of bullying, had poor self
exactly like another, finding worth, and had limited coping skills.
similarities in past incidences can These are areas in which the school
give indication to possible threats. has responsibility to step in to give
guidance when needed (Paolini).
All schools should be an
environment fostering respect, and
one way to attend to the positive
social and emotional needs of all its’
students is through student-adult
connections. These type of
connection act as “critical emotional
glue … meeting students’
educational, social, emotional, and
safety needs” (Fein et al.). One
California school district
exemplifies the types of actions that
school’s can take at its’ monthly staff
meetings. The meetings consist of
powerpoints of pictures and names
of every student, and staff have the
opportunity to star the students in
which they have strong personal
connections. Then the students who
receive the fewest stars are the focus
for building relationships in the
next months prior to the following
meeting. This type of action
requires requires extra time for
staff, thus it should be an area that is
considered for an increase in federal
funding to school systems (Fein et
al.).
Another study completed by Gest,
Mahoney and Cairns provides
alternative ways to enhance the
school community.
Their research stresses how
positive and negative constraints
can determine the wellbeing of a
student. Positive constraints
include items like academic
success, and the engagements or
involvement of the student
(Paolini). Other positive constraints
are parallel with the findings of the
Safe School Initiative; the
importance of positive
relationships and support from
peers and adults. On the other
hand, negative constraints included
items like academic failures, lack of
social identity and lack of a support
system for the student. Gest,
Mahoney and Cairns argue that in
order to address and reduce these
negative constraints, schools
should increase tutoring and
mentoring programs, implement a
peer pal and buddy system,
increase awareness for anti
bullying, and facilitate friendship
making and social skills of students
(Paolini). Above all, this study
introduces the idea that counselors
can be the positive constraint for a
student who is struggling.

THE DEFINED ROLE
OF SCHOOL
COUNSELORS
Altogether, an immense amount of
research into past schools shootings
leads to the conversation of whether
or not schools are providing the
right resources for students. During
most weeks of the year, adolescents
spend more time at school than in
their homes, so if they are
struggling, who should they turn to
at school? Research conducted by
NPR evaluates the role of different
adult figures to children, and
released the results summarized in
the following table.  silence exist when students are
(Anderson and Kavitha)
While there is no correct answer for
who should be at the forefront for
identifying struggling students, many
studies believe that the school
counselor is in the best position to
provide help. Even though counselors
are not authorized to provide
treatment services, they are trained in
recognizing when a student is
suffering and identifying a mental
health issue (Paolini). They are
certified to help students with coping,
communication methods, and
problem solving, which is a primary
role in promoting and preserving the
wellbeing of students (Paolini). One
method of intervention for
counselors should include efforts to
break codes of silence. Codes of
hesitant to come forward with
concerns and possible threat
information. Therefore, there should
be a well known anonymous way to
report attack threats. In addition,
there should be an increase in
consultation resources for better
communication between school staff
and counselors. This could help
teachers become aware of struggling
students, allowing them to act more
 positively and understanding
around them. The National
Education Association also urges the
necessity for better and more
efficient screening. They identify
the necessary steps for better
wellbeing as screening, evaluation,
identification and referral. In order
to carry out these steps, however,
the counselors at a school need to be
actively involved and aware of the
mental health of all their students,
which may mean there should be
more staff (no longer a shortage of
counselors), more resources, or a
higher salary for the counselors in
order to complete these demands. A
key theme with mental health
evaluation is collaboration, so
communication among local mental
health agencies and counselors
should also increase (Paolini).
ACTIONS OF
COUNSELORS &
OTHERS IF A THREAT
IS IDENTIFIED
If funding for more counselors and
better training increases, how should
these counselors identify students of
concern? The Safe School
Initiative proposes that a
multidisciplinary threat
assessment needs to be put in
place prior to an attack. The
assessors of this type of evaluation
should be prepared with the skills
and qualification to evaluate each
individual case. Some important
aspects of the assessment are as
follows:
Needs to be with an investigative
mindset
Threat assessment should be based
on facts, not characteristics or traits
Every attack is different, and
inferences should not be made
because student profiles can shift
attention away from other important
details
(Fein et al.)
Another important part of this
assessment is an integrated systems
approach, in which communication
is mandatory between counselors,
law enforcements officials, social
services, mental health providers,
community agencies, families,
religious organizations and more.
The central question for assessors is
whether a student poses a threat,
not whether they made a threat,
because fewer than 20% of school
shooters communicated direct
 threats before their targeted attack. Despite the low percentage of direct
threats, above 80% of school shooters did communicate intent to at least one
other person prior to attack. In situations like these, quick and efficient
communication is necessary, so threat assessment meetings and broken silence
codes are imperative. The meetings that occur should be specific to a threat
assessment team, which will focus more on the mental health and threats of
students. According to the Safe School Initiative:

Regular members of the team ideally should include:

1) a respected member of the school faculty or administration
2) an investigator, such as a school resource officer or other
police officer assigned to the school;
3) a mental health professional, such as a forensic
psychologist, a clinical psychologist, or a school psychologist;
and
4) other professionals, such as guidance counselors,
teachers, coaches, and others, who may be able to contribute
to the threat assessment process
(Fein et al.)

WHAT THE THREAT as all background info and history

ASSESSMENT TEAM
SHOULD BE IN
CHARGE OF IN AN
INQUIRY
Once a threat assessment team is
accumulated, the staff in charge of the
facts that drew attention to the
student. These facts include
information about the student, such
of criminal behavior/substance
abuse/grievances/mental
health/history of violence,
bullying, and harassment. Other
information that should be
explored are attack related
behavior incidences, motives,
target selection, and school
information from interviews with
parents/guardians potential targets,
and the students of concern.
 Powerpoints and awareness can be made for other students of concern, in
addition to reviews of anonymous reports from current students. Most
importantly a clear protocol should also be in place, so schools can be in
contact with legal counselors and share information to help prevent future
attacks (Fein et al.). Although communication between law enforcement and
school staff should be fluid, they may face some current federal law
restrictions, including the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
FERPA ensures that a school can’t disclose any education records without
consent, however there are a few exceptions (Fein et al.). The most applicable
exceptions are for health and safety emergencies, and FERPA is only
applicable to what is already in student records. Moreover, as long as a school
incident is urgent and staff keeps up to date with tracking possible dangerous
actions and behaviors, communication is allowed.

CONCLUSION
Throughout this paper, the necessary appraoches and role of people surrounding
a threat are outlined in order to reduce the fear of future school gun violence
attacks. With the help of studies like those conducted by the US Secret Service and
Department of Education, schools should become educated on how to put in
place clear protocol that allows for threats to be prevented, but also for threats to
be handled quickly and properly. A fundamental aspect of a successful threat
prevention includes the role of school counselors in addressing students who
appear to be struggling in social and psychological areas. The imortance of the
role of a school counselor should be emphasized throughout all school districts,
and if there is not enough resources and staff to attend to students needs, this
should be addressed by local and national government authorities. Federal
funding in areas like salaries for trained counselors may be a necessary action for
certain school systems to benefit from, in order to prepare and prevent the future
of a possible school attacks. Altogether, no threat is exactly like another, but there
do exist similarities among the mental states of those students of concern, and the
increased role of school staff in compliance with local authorities is one way to
decrease the possibility of future attacks.
 WORKS CITED

Anderson, Meg, and Kavitha Cardoza. “Mental Health In Schools: A Hidden

Crisis Affecting Millions Of Students.” NPR, NPR, 31 Aug. 2016,
www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/08/31/464727159/mental-health-in-schools-
a-hidden-crisis-affecting-millions-of-students.

France-Presse, Agence. “More US School Shootings In Two Decades Than In

The Last Century: Study.” NDTV.com, 19 Apr. 2018, www.ndtv.com/world-
news/more-us-school-shootings-in-two-decades-than-in-the-last-century-
study-1840102.

Fein, R., Vossekuil, B., Pollack, W., Borum, R., Modzeleski, W., & Reddy, M. 
Threat Assessment in Schools: A Guide to Managing Threatening Situations
and to Creating Safe School Climates. U.S. Department of Education, Office
of Elementary and Secondary Education, Safe and Drug-Free Schools
Program and U.S. Secret Service, National Threat Assessment Center,
Washington, D.C., 2002.

Goldstein, Dana. “20 Years After Columbine, Schools Have Gotten Safer. But
Fears Have Only Grown.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 20
Apr. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/04/20/us/columbine-anniversary-
school-violence-statistics.html.

Paolini, Allison. School Shootings and Student Mental Health: Role of the

School Counselor in Mitigating Violence. American Counseling Association,
2015, pp. 1–17, School Shootings and Student Mental Health: Role of the
School Counselor in Mitigating Violence.

“School Shooting Brings Mental Illness to Forefront.” The Oaks at La

Paloma Treatment Center, 4 May 2018, theoakstreatment.com/blog/school-
shooting-brings-mental-illness-to-forefront/.