Articles - School Violence

Articles - School Violence

04-01-2002

SCHOOL VIOLENCE
Dealing with a Deadly Situation
By Gary D. Sabol - lois@selfjpa.org

Metal Detectors. Clothing searches. Lock downs. These sound like normal procedures at a prison but what about a school? Following the shootings at numerous schools the past few years including two in San Diego, a number of districts are considering whether to adopt these types of practices. But are they really effective? Just like in correctional institutions, if a person decides they want to perform an act of violence, chances are it's probably going to happen despite our best efforts.

So how do we stop the violence from occurring? Unfortunately, there is no easy solution to stopping violence in schools. It's how a school prepares and reacts to these situations that can make the difference and limit the violence.

Preparation

Identifying a potential shooter before they act would be the best way to prevent violence. However, this is very difficult to do. According to a report published by the U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center, there is no accurate or useful profile of a school shooter.1 Shooters range in ages, races, backgrounds and personalities.

Students can be a lifeline when it comes to identifying shooters. In almost three-quarters of the school shootings that have occurred over the past 25 years, other students knew the shooters were planning something before the incidences occurred.2 Students should be encouraged to call the district if they hear about a potentially violent act being planned. A good way to encourage students to call the district is to have an anonymous hotline.

Preparation is the key to limiting and preventing violence in schools. All schools have the potential for a shooting to occur on campus and should be prepared for the situation. If you ask the administrators at Santana or Granite Hills High Schools in San Diego if they ever thought a shooting would occur at their schools, their answer would probably be "no." Despite that, both schools were well prepared to deal with the shootings.

Twenty years ago, a shooting on campus may have received limited coverage from the local media. But with the advent of mobile satellite units and the Internet, these events are being reported around the world in minutes. Following Columbine and other highly publicized incidents, schools across the country are learning from other districts' experiences. Because of the preparations made following these incidents, a 3 ½-hour standoff at Columbine turned into a 19-second incident at Granite Hills.

One of the reasons the faculty at each San Diego school was able to control and diffuse their situations was because of their close contact with the police department. As bad as these shootings were, the violence could have been much worse. Both schools fostered relationships with their local police departments and law enforcement was very familiar with each campus. The Ontario, California police department has developed the Violent Intruder: Police & Educators' Response (VIPER) Program. This program is designed to incorporate both training and a universal response system for implementation throughout each school district. By working with its local police departments, districts can have a better idea of how to prepare for these incidents.

Police should have current maps of the campus that are updated annually. Old maps can prevent law enforcement from locating a building quickly. Seconds or minutes lost locating a specific building increases the danger to students.
Having room and building keys updated and kept in a specific location can help the police gain access to buildings. Especially with the population boom in California, many schools are adding portables and new buildings to their campuses. Building numbers should be displayed prominently on the front, back and roof of the buildings so police on the ground and in the air can quickly identify the structure.
One problem that arises during these incidents is that of phone use. It's understandable that a student or parent would want to call one another to confirm the student's safety. Unfortunately, excessive and immediate cellular phone use can overload relay transmission capacity and gridlock systems. This can prevent police from communicating with someone on campus. To get around this problem, some new cellular phones have a two-way radio option that could be used instead of a phone line. Also, there are several, palm-size walkie-talkie models that can be purchased for less than $100 (a pair) with a range of up to five miles.
Training of staff is another key element to preventing and/or diffusing an incident. Confirm that every staff member knows what to do in a situation, how to handle the students and where to go following the shooting.

Aftermath

No matter how much a district tries to prevent a shooting, they can and do happen. Especially in California with sprawling campuses, numerous entrances and open corridors linking buildings, it's very difficult to prevent a student from bringing a weapon to school and using it.

Schools should have a lock-down procedure in the event of an emergency. At both Santana and Granite Hills, lock-down procedures were implemented during the shootings. This prevented more students from becoming injured from stray bullets.
Specific alarms should be implemented which signal a "lockdown" and "all clear". These tones would be different than a fire or evacuation alarm. Students and staff should be trained to understand what the alarms mean and what to do when one is sounded.
Once the students are released from the building, there should be a secure location for them to gather. An established policy for release of the students should be implemented. This system can be used to get an accurate count of students and to check and see if any student needs medical attention.
The psychological effects of a shooting can have a lasting impact on the staff and students. Following a shooting, psychologists should be on-hand for days or weeks. A psychologist or counselor can help the students and staff talk about the situation and help alleviate fears.
A Public Information Officer (PIO) or spokesperson for the district can be invaluable during a shooting. Reporters will ask a number of difficult questions about the incident and each district needs someone to answer these questions. All information about the incident should come from this one person so there is no miscommunication or varying stories about what happened.

The Future

Despite the number of shootings that have grabbed the headlines in the past few years, schools are still one of the safest places for our nations children. A recent report from the U.S. Secret Service states that rates of school violence have steadily decreased since 1993.3 By encouraging communication between students and staff and working closely with the community, California schools can continue to provide our children a safe environment in which to learn.

*Information for this article was compiled in part from The Agos Group, San Diego County Schools Risk Management JPA, U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center and Ward North America.

Gary Sabol is the Communications Coordinator for Schools Excess Liability Fund (SELF), a statewide joint powers authority providing excess workers' compensation and liability coverage to more than 1,000 California public educational agencies.

1 Bryan Vossekuil et al., Safe School Initiative-An Interim Report on the Prevention of Targeted Violence in Schools (Washington, D.C., Department of the Treasury, 2000), 5.
2 Vossekuil, 4.
3 Vossekuil, 1.