What Can Possibly Be Done About School Shootings?

The world was rocked with tragic news yesterday morning. An AP live update yesterday edited by Sal Christ, Luena Rodriguez-Feo Vileira, Nell Clark, and Peter Orsi revealed that “a shooter opened fire Wednesday morning during Mass at a Minneapolis Catholic school, killing two children and injuring 17 other people before dying by suicide, officials said.” Fourteen of the injured were children, ranging in age from 6 to 15, while the other three were adult parishioners in their 80s. This occurred at Annunciation Catholic School.

The shooting that occurred yesterday morning in Minneapolis, and all the shootings that have happened anywhere, for that matter, were remarkably tragic and sad. The question remains: “What are some possible causes of these school shootings, and what measures could possibly be taken to prevent them?

While it’s hard to point to a definitive cause or a specific way to prevent them, it’s important to look at some of the findings from research on this matter.

Possible Causes of School Shootings

Mental Illness

Arguably, one of the most common symptoms that has been associated with school shootings is that of mental illness. However, many studies do point to mental illness being a primary factor. An article titled “The Timing of Opportunities to Prevent Mass Shootings: A Study of Mental Health Contacts, Work and School Problems, and Firearms Acquisition,” which was published in the International Review of Psychiatry, revealed that many studies found evidence of mental illness in the majority of school shooting perpetrators.

In relation to mental illness and shootings, the aspect of mental illness never being diagnosed in people has been discussed as a possible factor. The article “The Timing of Opportunities to Prevent Mass Shootings: A Study of Mental Health Contacts, Work and School Problems, and Firearms Acquisition” discussed how many public mass shooters may have had mental illness but concealed their symptoms due to social stigmas and other issues. In other cases, they may not have showcased the traits of mental illness when they went in for an examination.

Bullying

Bullying is a controversial topic nowadays. It occurs in both schools and the workplace. Certain people can be affected by bullying more so than others. The article “School Shooters: Patterns of Adverse Childhood Experiences, Bullying, and Social Media,” which was published by the Journal of Pediatric Health Care, stated that “a high percentage of the school shooter sample reported being bullied, which may have contributed to their desire to cause harm and violence to others.”

School and Work Problems

In the article titled “A Comparative Analysis of Suicide Terrorists and Rampage, Workplace, and School Shooters in the United States from 1990 to 2010,” which was published in Homicide Studies, it was revealed that 88% of school shooters had problems at school, while 97% of workplace shooters had problems at work. Many people of all ages experience problems at school and work. At schools, whether for children or adults, some students may have problems academically and socially. When it comes to the workplace, individuals may have the same issues just in a different setting.

Abuse

Studies have revealed that physical and sexual abuse can be traumatizing. In the article titled “Rampage school shooters: A typology,” which was published in Aggression and Violent Behavior, a group of shooters is categorized as traumatized shooters. In this research, it was indicated that the traumatized shooters came from broken homes where they suffered physical and/or sexual abuse.

As mentioned, though, none of these factors are excuses for a shooting to occur. They are just indicators of possible motivations and causes of certain perpetrators.

Possible Way to Prevent School Shootings

Many suggestions for how to prevent school shootings have been brought to the table. Everything from restrictions on firearms to the monitoring of violent media. However, while doing some research, I found one suggestion that I found interesting.

As mentioned, mental illness is a factor that has been discussed as being one of the potential causes of school shootings. For many people, mental illness has been a recurring theme in their lives. Therefore, they may have sought psychological help for a considerable amount of time. Unfortunately, in the case of shootings some of the shooters who could have been helped at the last minute to prevent their actions were not. 

Sources

The article titled “The Timing of Opportunities to Prevent Mass Shootings: A Study of Mental Health Contacts, Work and School Problems, and Firearm Acquisition,” published in the International Review of Psychiatry, revealed findings that found that school shooting perpetrators’ contacts with mental health professionals began, in some cases, “more than a decade before their mass shootings and often ended more than a year before their attacks.”

It’s like they could have been helped at the last minute before the tragedy occurred. However, because they had ceased mental health contact, they weren’t. There’s no denying the great role that mental health professionals play in helping people. However, the problem is that they don’t have influence over patients they have not recently seen.

Since this is the case, the article discusses how employers and educators could play a role in intervening. This is especially important since a good number of reported shootings occurred a few years after the perpetrator ceased mental health contact.

Medical Professionals

It is stressed in the article that, in comparison to psychiatrists, psychologists, and mental health professionals, employers, coworkers, school administrators, and fellow students may have a better chance to intervene in a mentally ill person’s life before a shooting occurs. This would also be great, because as the article states, “perpetrators often had work or school problems that were closer in time to their attacks.” It’s certainly not to say that employers, coworkers, school administrators, and students are more qualified than psychiatrists, psychologists, and mental health professionals. It’s just that, in a lot of cases, they have better proximity to a person who may have ceased mental health contact. So they could have a special incentive to be proactive in their incentives.

Let’s Remember

There are various theories as to what causes school shootings to occur and how they can be prevented. While it’s difficult to point to a specific cause and solution to the problem, it’s worth taking a look at why these tragedies occur. However, let’s not forget the people who have lost their lives or those whose lives were affected by these heinous acts. The shooting yesterday at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was both tragic and sad. Let’s remember those who lost their lives in this specific shooting, as well as the individuals injured or who have been greatly affected.

References

https://apnews.com/live/minneapolis-annunciation-school-shooting

https://www.jpedhc.org/article/S0891-5245(21)00290-X/fulltext

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1359178908000839?via%3Dihub