December’s shooting at a small, private, Christian high school in Wisconsin mirrors countless other stories published over the past few years, each one begging the same question: “What can we do to stop this?”
While there is no concrete formula on how to prevent a school shooting, there is clear research on what is and what is not working. The next step for Trinity and the rest of America should be to take in this information and make a plan.
Implementing Smart Emergency Measures
When it comes to planning for a school shooting, there is a fine line to walk between being safe and being scary.
Recently schools in Florida and North Carolina have taken “safety” to a new level with extreme and unprompted lockdown drills that have instilled terror in kids. One school had kids sending what they believed were their final messages to loved ones during a drill as they were not notified it was a drill in advance. Another school covered students in makeup resembling gunshot wounds as people disguised as school shooters ran through the building. These are great examples of what not to do.
With that being said there is still immense value in lockdown drills. A 2022 study from the Journal of School Violence reported that there was a 59% decrease in casualties for schools that followed safe lockdown policies.
Drills should include locking classroom and building doors, hiding students out of sight and requiring kids to stay silent, according to guidelines published by the National Association of School Psychologists, National Association of School Resource Officers and Safe and Sound Schools.
Currently, Trinity practices emergency drills in accordance with the these standards, but there are still areas for improvement.
For example, nearly all of the emergency drills conducted occur in the morning, during the same period. Since students are in the same classroom for drills, they don’t necessarily know what to do if they are in a different room or outside during lunch in the case of an emergency. While the plan to run and hide remains the same in theory, it is a lot harder to remember on the spot if you haven’t practiced it before. Obviously, it’s not realistic to run drills during every class period, but by changing up when drills are conducted every now and then, students can practice adapting to the plan based on where they are located.
Another measure worth considering are covers for classroom door windowpanes. While many classrooms have blinds for their standard windows, most don’t have any sort of cover for the windowpanes in their doors. Reports frequently highlight windows as a safety concern for classrooms during lockdowns. By adding window covers to all areas of the classroom, teachers can quickly cover up their classroom and give students added peace of mind.
Another easy way to improve our safety could just be communicating more with students. Almost all of the communication on safety policy for students comes from advisors or teachers, which can be difficult because none of the information is streamlined. Trinity’s security team could lead a few meetings throughout the year dedicated to educating students about where to run depending on where they are on campus, knowing when they should fight, or any other procedures we don’t currently practice during drills. While administration covers the essentials once a year in an assembly, the message is often short and leaves little room for questions. By opening the topic up for broader discussion, students can grow more educated and confident in our lockdown policies.
Better Supporting the Emotional Needs of Students
The saying “hurt people hurt people” is entirely true. According to the U.S. Secret Service National Threat Risk Assessment, the majority of school shooters had experienced consistent bullying for weeks, months and/or years leading up to the actual shooting.
In an NPR episode from last year, several teens who had experienced bullying firsthand explained that even if they don’t condone it, they could understand how someone could be so angry at the world that they’d resort to violence. When there is no one helping these students, they internalize all of their emotions, which creates a sense of powerlessness. In turn, students may feel that they are out of options and must resort to violence.
“‘No one will help me’ — the desperation of that becomes the thing that makes it okay in the person’s mind to resort to violence,” said Dr. Beverley Baligad, Chair of the University of Hawai West O’ahu Campus Threat Assessment Team.
For schools to better support their students, they need to make them feel safe, and a lot of that starts with not only investing in more mental health infrastructure like additional counselors but advertising that those counselors exist as a resource for students.
In many regards Trinity is ahead of the game compared to both other public and private schools. We have advisories to make sure every student has an on-campus advocate, faculty undergo training on mental health issues and the guidance department is working on a parent education series. However, there is still significant room for improvement.
The American School Counselor Association’s recommended student-to-counselor ratio is 250-to-1. Trinity’s is 450-to-1, which is nearly double.
When there are over 850 students on campus and only two counselors, it becomes difficult to meaningfully connect with them all. In addition to handling counseling, Trinity’s guidance counselors are also responsible for field trips, the advisory program and accommodations. By hiring an additional counselor or two, Trinity could better enable its guidance department to be more available for the student body.
Furthermore, by simply marketing our counselors more to students, Trinity could make a significant difference. While we have counselors available, many students are unfamiliar with where their offices are located or how to reach out for help. This year, due to construction, the guidance department has been temporarily moved to the back of the MAC building, an area which has very little student foot traffic. Additionally, in order to enter the offices, you have to bypass a plethora of other administrative areas, which adds another barrier for students seeking help.
Fighting for Increased Gun-Control Legislation
Despite the recent normalization of school shootings, they aren’t normal. School shootings seem to be a uniquely American problem.
A statistical analysis by CNN reports that since 2009 the U.S. has had 57 more school shootings than all the other G7 countries combined, meaning that at some level the issue is in US legislation.
While the U.S. has increased restrictions on arms in the past few decades, we have nowhere near the level of regulation of other industrialized nations. For example, in Florida, no permit is required to carry a concealed firearm, nor is there a permit required to purchase said firearms. On the other hand Japan — the nation with the lowest gun homicide rate in the world — requires its citizens to pass written, mental and drug tests as well as a background check in order to purchase a firearm.
Increased regulation on guns has been directly linked to a reduction in mass shootings. Following the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, Australia immediately began implementing fundamental changes to their gun laws. They cracked down on ownership of automatic and semiautomatic assault rifles and implemented a buyback program that took about 650,000 assault weapons out of public circulation. These measures contributed to declining gun deaths and mass shootings.
These measures may feel out of reach in America’s political state, but they are possible. Hawaii offers a fascinating historical precedent because they have a high gun ownership rate, but one of the lowest homicide rates due to their stricter regulations on gun ownership.
With that being said, legislators should also work on funding new policies so schools can implement them successfully without taking away from other necessary procedures.
“When states mandated through their legislative process that schools put a [threat assessment] team together … but no money follows … Well, that’s setting schools up for failure [because] one, they’re in danger of non-compliance with the law now, and two, they literally have no capability with which to create what would have ideally helped them stay safe,” Baligad said.
Moving forward the U.S. can use other nations as a precedent for how to tackle the issue of gun violence. In doing so, our government can ensure America’s students feel safer attending school.
