Since the recent and tragic mass homicide at Sandy Hook
elementary school we have fielded quite a few questions regarding what should
be done to make the nation’s schools safer.
Most of these people are looking for one cure-all security measure and while
those have certainly been tossed around by politicians, media pundits, and
special interest groups I can tell you that there is no “one size fits all” and
the politicians, media, and special interest groups that focus on their
singular agenda item are missing the root causes of school violence and leaving
our students and teachers in danger.
There
are approximately 139,000 schools and institutions of higher learning across
the country and each of them will have some individual areas where improvements
can be made in policies, processes, and access control. However, most people do not realize that the
protective needs of elementary schools are quite different than the needs of
high schools and colleges.
History has shown that homicides committed in high schools & institutions of higher learn are almost exclusively committed by a student, faculty member, or other employee. Usually these are people who suffer from mental illness and feel wronged by an individual or group of individuals. Because of this their killings are usually targeted toward the people that they feel wronged them. However, depending upon the depths of their mental illness they may continue to kill beyond their immediate circle of revenge. Internal aggressors were responsible for the shootings at Cal State Fullerton in 1976, the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School, the shooting at the Red Lakes Indian Reservation School in 2005, the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, the Northern Illinois University shooting in 2008, and the 2012 shooting at Christian College in Oakland.
History has shown that homicides committed in high schools & institutions of higher learn are almost exclusively committed by a student, faculty member, or other employee. Usually these are people who suffer from mental illness and feel wronged by an individual or group of individuals. Because of this their killings are usually targeted toward the people that they feel wronged them. However, depending upon the depths of their mental illness they may continue to kill beyond their immediate circle of revenge. Internal aggressors were responsible for the shootings at Cal State Fullerton in 1976, the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School, the shooting at the Red Lakes Indian Reservation School in 2005, the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, the Northern Illinois University shooting in 2008, and the 2012 shooting at Christian College in Oakland.
Homicides committed at elementary schools, however, are
almost exclusively perpetrated by a psychopathic outsider with no connection to
the school. Their driving motivation is the desire to rack up a large body
count and their killing is indiscriminate.
This was true with the 1989 shooting at Cleveland Elementary School in
Stockton, CA, the 2006 shooting at an Amish schoolhouse in Nickel Mines, PA,
and the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012. Only the 1998 shooting at the Westside Middle
School in Jonesboro, AR was perpetrated by students and, as one of them was 13
years of age, we could certainly make a case that his age and actions were
closer to those of a high school aged student which he would have been in a
mere six months .
All of this means that the elementary schools need to focus on policies, processes, and hardware designed to keep the psychopath off of the school’s premises while high schools and colleges should focus on training students, parents, faculty and staff members on the symptoms of mental illness and also provide processes for intervention and treatment. Early detection and effective treatment are the keys to violence prevention in high schools and colleges.
All of this means that the elementary schools need to focus on policies, processes, and hardware designed to keep the psychopath off of the school’s premises while high schools and colleges should focus on training students, parents, faculty and staff members on the symptoms of mental illness and also provide processes for intervention and treatment. Early detection and effective treatment are the keys to violence prevention in high schools and colleges.
Schools can become safer without arming
teachers, awareness can be raised, parents can be involved and we can
help. VPS provides violence prevention
experts to:
·
Conduct site
vulnerability Assessment
·
Engineer
physical security designs that are low key and visually appealing
·
Review your current policies and processes and
help you put together practical and effective prevention and response programs
·
Train your threat assessment and crisis
management teams
·
Help you
develop applicable training for the people who visit, study, or work in your
facility.
For more
information please contact us.
Phone:
Dan Murphy: 952.500.3506
Randy Ferris: 952.452.3145
Randy Ferris: 952.452.3145
E-mail:
violenceprevention.info@gmail.com
