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Causes and Prevention Measures of School Shootings

Lindsay Marchant

College of the Albemarle

ENG 112-02: Writing and Research in the Disciplines

Mrs. Mary Forsblom

March 22, 2022

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Abstract

School shootings started to be a popular event in the 1900’s and overtime this rate of occurrence

has increased dramatically. The goal is to make the children’s schools a safe space for learning

and with the possibility of a shooting, this makes everyone worried. Taking steps to prevent this

from happening starts by planning ahead. Creating a map for each classroom would be beneficial

as well as monthly drills for all students and staff to be ready if this event were to arise. Some

shootings are from students who are aware of this drill and have a mindset that they will not get

caught bringing a weapon on school grounds. Metal detectors would be a helpful way for staff to

control what is being brought into schools. If each visitor, student, and staff stepped through this

each morning it could ultimately result in a decrease of these shootings from occurring. Lastly,

decreasing the amount of bullying within the school environment will overall assist the negative

energy these victims feel. Children should be held accountable for their poor choices by both a

parent and school administrators. With stastics of increasing suicide rates due to bullying, this

issue can create harmful events to others or themselves.

Keywords: School threat assessment, School Shootings, School Violence, Violence prevention,

Criminal Psychology
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Causes and Prevention Measures of School Shootings

Throughout the past 25-30 years the number of school shootings have increased

excessively, leading to several deaths of students and staff members within the United States.

These serious events have occurred within elementary schools, high schools, and colleges

throughout the U.S, leaving researchers clues on how to prevent these events from happening.

“School shooting is defined as a multiple-victim act of extreme violence perpetrated on school

premises, generally by a school-related perpetrator who carefully plans the act in advance

(Dumitriu, 2013).” With this information, researchers have come to the result that bullying is a

factor of these shootings. The report by Vossekuil et al. (2002), states that “69% of those

committing violent acts using a gun within the school setting were between 10 and 19 years of

age.” With factors such as a depressed home life, bullying, and even negative thoughts about

themselves. These factors can result in life changing events such as school shootings. Statistics

states that 61% of mass shooters have also attempted suicide prior to the attack as stated in the

article (Lee 2013). It is important that this issue is tamed so that children are safe at school. To

decrease the amount of school shootings districts should create distinct plans for these shootings,

invest in metal detectors, and decrease bullying within the school.

School shootings within the U.S have increased dramatically within the last 30 years.

Multiple school shootings have occurred killing several students and teachers. A total of 160

school shooting events worldwide were identified. These school shootings were perpetrated by

163 shooters (Dumitriu, 2013). This leads to safety concerns for schools and while researchers

analyze this problem they begin to dig further into this recurring issue. Some examples of these

shootings within the U.S consists of Columbine High School which took place on April 20,

1999, Buell Elementary School, Feb 29th 2000, and Centennial, Colorado, 2013. Children,
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teenagers, and adults are affected by this problem which has increased the amount of worry

within school environments. These injuries and deaths are negative effects for society and this is

why people must attempt to stop mass shootings from happening. This issue is very serious and

must be controlled. School and mass shootings will result in prison time. Gun possession has

been an issue for years, and became a huge problem in the 1900’s. While suspects have different

motives for their actions, it is a wonder of how they managed to get a weapon of this type. Kids

are getting access to guns and weapons which can be harmful to themselves and others. It is

important that this issue is tamed so that children are safe at school and everywhere else.

By creating distinct plans for these events, investing in metal detectors, as well as

decreasing bullying within the school, it provides a comfortable environment for the students.

Starting by creating a descriptive graphic of lockdown drills to be kept in classrooms and having

monthly drills for all students and teachers to be prepared if this situation were to occur for real.

School boards should consider investing in metal detectors for all visitors at the school to walk

through before entering. This decreases the chance of weapons entering the school in the first

place. Stay consistent with using the metal detectors, be sure that all precautions of this item

have been established to the users to help prevent children, staff, and visitors from bringing in

violence items. Students and staff should be aware of what to do if this situation were to occur on

a normal school day. If they are not prepared then how will they be ready to take on real

situations? Children want to feel safe in a school environment and doing these drills will help

grow their comfort level even after listening to stories on these events. Metal detectors will

decrease the likelihood of violence items coming into school buildings which overall decreases

the chance of a shooting. Next, decreasing bullying within the school environment will lessen the

likelihood of mental health decrease within victims of bullying. Bullying awareness is very much
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needed in today’s world. Teachers and other adults must take charge of these situations and speak

up if a child is being harassed by a peer. Staff should be persistent when a child bullies another

because if not the victims self esteem lowers and mental health decreases. This could potentially

be a factor of future harm of the victim himself or others. Keeping children from bullying or

harassing others while at school can decrease the uncomfortable feeling some children get while

attending school. This also helps prevent school shootings from happening considering bullying

is a huge factor of these events. Lastly, Positive mindsets greatly lessen the chance of shootings,

if everyone is using positive psychology to assist them in their daily lives it could drastically

decrease this issue. Mentally and physically preparing for these situations are very important for

a person’s safety. If a plan is established it is less likely to cause harm to yourself or another

person.

Researchers have found that school shootings are almost always well planned, the

criminals prepare them in advance. The issue and examples include information on positive

psychology and factors of school shootings such as bullying and lack of positive mental health

upon these criminals. Using this information, the use of data collected from articles helps back

up all solutions using statistics and quotes for direct information.

First solution is creating visuals for all classrooms and other rooms, including bathrooms

by using a map of the school building and colors to indicate entrances and exits of the building.

Districts should also include a legend for all visitors and students to read so they are able to

understand the information listed. Doing this will give visitors and students closure of knowing

how to exit or hide in a building if an event like this were to occur.

Moving on to the next solution to this issue would be to include metal detectors within

school entrances to assist the likelihood of a person entering the building with a weapon of any
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sort. This will also give staff of the building reassurance of safety for people within the school

building. While some schools have many entrances, putting these detectors throughout the

school’s main entrances would be beneficial for all students and staff. Teachers and other staff

would also feel more comfortable when attending their jobs when knowing there are precautions

being taken to prevent shootings from happening.

The last way to assist the process of decreasing school shootings would be to prevent

bullying from happening on school property. When a child has low mental health due to bullying

it can greatly affect these events because bullying happens to be a huge factor within these

shootings. Most school shooters have had past experiences with bullying and harassment. When

staff and teachers discipline for the action of bullying it helps children realize that it is wrong and

should be stopped before worse consequences occur. When victims of bullies start to feel

uncomfortable and hopeless it can lead to harm toward themselves or others. Staff members of

any sort should always use positive psychology to assist a child’s mental health. By using things

such as focusing on their strengths or assisting their skills of development within the school

domain it could overall improve their mindset for themselves and even gives the child a reason to

try harder throughout their school life and other activities.

Students attending school want to feel comfortable and safe in their daily environments.

By using distinct plans for these events, investing in metal detectors, as well as decreasing

bullying within the school this will greatly impact the process of preventing shootings. By taking

precautions and looking deeper into these situations it is possible to lower the chances of these

shootings from occurring. It is a must that researchers use their knowledge that they have

uncovered throughout their experiences to assist with decreasing the use of violent machines in

schools as well as people must make a change to our school systems to help prevent these awful
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events from taking another person’s life. It is a must to prioritize the mental health of both

yourself and the children which will ultimately create a safer environment for everyone. Planning

ahead for these situations involves the parent, teacher, and child. This may be a brutal topic to

speak with children about but it is needed in today’s world for their own safety. Children should

be aware of these events to a certain extent. Having these conversations with kids will ultimately

result in a better understanding of their own perspectives.

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References

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and Behavioral Sciences, 92, 299–308. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.08.676

Kelley, T. (2004). Positive psychology and adolescent mental health: false promise or true

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Lakritz, N. (1999, May 04). The bully factor and high school shootings: [Final Edition].

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Rosenwald, M. S. (2016, July 1). The twisted minds of school shooters, and the anguished man

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