EDITORIAL
School Shootings and the Need for More
School-Based Mental Health Services
Martell L. Teasley
T he uptick in school shootings has gener-
ated much debate in our society over
methods to reduce this growing and tragic
problem. The increase in school shootings is real.
“Specifically, school shootings increased from 23
to 179 between the 1980s and 1990s and also
increased from 179 to 245 between the 1990’s and
2013” (Paolini, 2015, p. 4; data from Lee, 2013).
High-profile school shootings have generated
a national dialogue resulting in calls for remedy
in the form of more mental health providers
in schools, greater gun control measures, and more
guns in schools to counter potential or active
shooters. Whereas the “guns in schools” debate is
highly controversial, the need for more mental
health services is not.
Research demonstrates a complex web of factors
associated with school shootings, of which mental
health challenges is one variable. “Nationwide,
16.2% of all students; 16.0% of heterosexual students;
18.9% of gay, lesbian, and bisexual students; and
14.7% of not sure students had carried a weapon
(e.g., gun, knife, or club)” to school (Kann et al.,
2016, p. 9). In an overview of research literature on
school shootings, Paolini (2015) determined that
many school shooters were male (99 percent), with a
high percentage having experienced school bullying,
isolation because of not getting along with others,
and noncompliance in the use of psychiatric medica-
tion and problems with the side effects of such medi-
cation. Most school shooters have no previous record
of criminal justice activities, have access to guns at
home, and may have dealt with a recent significant
loss in their lives (Paolini, 2015). Exposure to gun
violence in the media such as violent video games
and films helps to increase youth aggression (Paolini,
2015). According to Paolini’s (2015) review, most at-
tacks are premeditated, with 61 percent of school
shooters carrying out attacks to “get revenge, and
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81% of attackers held a grievance against another per-
son at the time of the attack” (p. 3).
A study conducted by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention found that nationwide
about 20 percent of all students need mental health
services for a variety of reason. Yet, many do not
receive these services (Kann et al., 2016). “Approxi-
mately half of all lifetime mental health disorders
start by the mid-teens, and the onset of all major
mental illnesses happen as early as 7 to 11 years of
age” (Paolini, 2015, p. 5). The demand for greater
mental health services comes while public school
systems are facing many monetary challenges, as
witnessed by mass school teacher strikes throughout
the country. During the economic downturn of
the Great Recession, cash-strapped school districts
made cuts to what are considered “nonessential”
personnel. For example, the Philadelphia school
district attempted to cut in half its workforce of 110
school social workers. Although the national eco-
nomic outlook has improved in recent years, school
funding continues to face challenges. During early
2018, school teachers in Pueblo witnessed the first
teacher strike in the state of Colorado in 25 years,
and New Jersey teachers engaged in their first strike
in 20 years. With the lowest pay for school teachers
in the nation and state cuts to the school system by
9 percent since 2008, the Oklahoma school board
backed the teacher strike in February 2018. More-
over, demanding greater pay and benefits, the states
of Arizona, Kentucky, and West Virginia all wit-
nessed school teacher strikes in the first six months
of 2018. State legislators avoided strikes in St. Paul,
Minnesota, and in Pittsburgh through legislative
action. When school revenues are cut, the hiring of
related services personnel is considered nonessential.
A major challenge in gaining school-based men-
tal health services is the high ratio of students
to related services personnel. “The recommended
131
ratio of school social worker to students by the
National Association of Social Work[ers] is 1:250
general education students or 1:50 at-risk or inten-
sive needs students” ( Johnston, n.d.). Yet, some
states have ratios of one school social worker for
every 1,000 students. The American School Coun-
selor Association (ASCA, n.d.) also recommends a
250:1 ratio of students to school counselors. The
ASCA October 2017 report identified wide dispa-
rities in student-to-school-counselor ratios (Bray,
2017). Among states, rates were found as high as
924 to one and as low as 202 to one. Similarly, the
National Association of School Psychologists (NASP,
2013) recommends a student-to-psychologists ratio
of between 500 and 700 to one; however, the aver-
age rate is approximately 1,000 to one. These less
than optimal ratios for related services to students
create barriers to mental health services and prevent
students with problematic behaviors from getting
access to services in schools. Overburdened service
providers reduce the probability of service avail-
ability and thus efforts aimed at violence preven-
tion in schools. Collaboration to reduce school
violence and identify students who need mental
health services and measures to de-escalate anger
are of extreme importance in a resource-deprived
school system.
Another challenge to school-based mental health
services is our national stigma toward seeking help
from mental health providers. Gulliver, Griffiths, and
Christensen’s (2010) review of quantitative and
qualitative studies (N = 22) on adolescent percep-
tion of barriers and facilitators to help seeking for
mental health problems determined that “young
people perceived stigma and embarrassment, prob-
lems recognizing symptoms (poor mental health
literacy), and a preference for self-reliance as the
most important barriers to help-seeking” (p. 5). In
addition, parents often find it difficult to recognize
that their child is experiencing mental health
problems and are reluctant to enforce medication
compliance.
PREVENTION AND SCHOOL SAFETY
On the prevention side, Paolini’s (2015) research
identified several measures that should be con-
sidered for schools working with youths who
develop negative behaviors and have negative
experiences that can lead to anger, academic prob-
lems, and antisocial peer relationships. Among
these measures are the use of psychosocial groups
132
to address grief and loss, the need for group bully-
ing intervention, self-esteem and conflict resolu-
tion, and prosocial group work to assist students
with coping skills. NASP recommends a compre-
hensive school safety policy that includes the
following:
• Increased access to mental health services and
supports in schools
• Development of safe and supportive schools
• Implementation of school safety initiatives
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that consider both psychological and physical
safety
• Improved screening and threat assessment
procedures to identify and meet the needs of
individuals at risk for causing harm to them-
selves and others
• Establishment of trained school safety and cri-
sis teams
• A national campaign to reduce stigma around
mental illness and to promote mental health
on par with physical health
• Policies that limit exposure to media vio-
lence among children, youths, and vulnera-
ble populations
• Review and revision of current policies and
legislation addressing access to firearms by
those who have the potential to cause harm
to themselves or others.
THE NEED FOR LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Given the dynamics and research findings surround-
ing the increase in school shootings, state legislators
not only need to consider the best alternative to
increasing school safety, but must likewise provide
teachers with the time to focus on their jobs minus
the headache of inadequate school resources and
insufficient supportive services, particularly in the
form of preventive measures. In March 2018 the
state of Florida passed a bill that provides new men-
tal health programs and more police for schools; the
law has provisions to keep guns away from people
with violent behavior and who show signs of mental
illness. At the time of this writing the Charlotte–
Mecklenburg, North Carolina, school board is con-
sidering adding $4.4 million to 2018–2019 school
year budget to hire more school social workers,
counselors, and psychologists, as opposed to more
school police (Glenn, 2018). Similarly, in Spring-
field, Illinois, the state house legislators voted to
hire more school mental health providers over the
Children & Schools Volume 40, Number 3 July 2018
request to hire more police officers to maintain
school safety; the bill has now moved on to the
state senate (Associated Press, 2018).
The country appears to be at a crossroads on the
need to repair and prepare public school systems
for the rest of the 21st century and the ongoing
decline in importance of the American public
education enterprise. The increasing number of school
shootings is a sign of adolescence affected by the
social order and a need to build youth social com-
petences and supportive services. Such a situation
Mankato area public school district [PowerPoint pre-
sentation]. Retrieved from http://sbs.mnsu.edu/
socialwork/graduate/johnston.pdf
Kann, L., O’Malley Olsen, E., McManus, T., Harris, W. A.,
Shanklin, S. L., Flint, K. H., et al. (2016, August 12).
Sexual identity, sex of sexual contacts, and health-
related behaviors among students in grades 9–12—
United States and selected sites, 2015. Morbidity and
Mortality Weekly Report, 65(9), 1–202. Retrieved from
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/ss/pdfs/
ss6509.pdf
Lee, J. H. (2013). School shootings in the U.S. public
schools: Analysis through the eyes of an educator.
Review of Higher Education and Self-Learning, 6, 88–120.
National Association of School Psychologists. (2013, Janu-
ary). NASP recommendations for comprehensive school

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will require attention and resolve based on evi-
dence and not politics. “Schools should be enabled
to hire more school-based mental health profes-
sionals (e.g. school counselors, school psychologists
and school social workers) and funds should be
allocated specifically for hiring these professionals”
(NASP, 2013, p. 2). Although more correlation
studies are needed on the effectiveness of related
services personnel in prevention of school vio-
lence, “model programs using school-based mental
health and student service providers have reduced
school suspensions, reduced referrals to the princi-
pal’s office, reduced the use of weapons, force, and
threats, and increased students’ feelings of safety”
(American Counseling Association, 2013, p. 1). CS
safety policies. Retrieved from https://www.nasp
online.org/about-school-psychology/media-room/
press-releases/nasp-calls-for-comprehensive-school-
safety-measures-and-common-sense-gun-violence-
prevention-efforts
Paolini, A. (2015). School shootings and student mental
health: Role of the school counselor in mitigating vio-
lence (Article 90). VISTAS Online. Retrieved from
https://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/
vistas/school-shootings-and-student-mental-health.p
Martell L. Teasley, PhD, is dean, College of Social Work,
University of Utah, 395 South 1500 East, Salt Lake City,
UT 84112; e-mail: martell.teasley@utah.edu.
Advance Access Publication June 8, 2018

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