Posted on May 29, 2022
School Shooters: Understanding their path to violence is key to prevention
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It's hard to empathize with someone who carries out a school shooting. The brutality of their crimes is unspeakable. Whether the shootings were in Uvalde, Columbine, or Parkland, they have traumatized students and communities across the U.S.
Psychologist John Van Dreal understands that. "Someone went out of their way to target and kill children who look like our children, teachers who look like our teachers — and did it for no other reason than to hurt them," says Van Dreal. "And that's very personal."
Van Dreal is the director of safety and risk management at Salem-Keizer Public Schools in Oregon, a state that has had its share of school shootings. In 2014, about 60 miles from Salem, where Van Dreal is based, a 15-year-old boy shot one student and a teacher at his high school before killing himself.
Psychologist John Van Dreal understands that. "Someone went out of their way to target and kill children who look like our children, teachers who look like our teachers — and did it for no other reason than to hurt them," says Van Dreal. "And that's very personal."
Van Dreal is the director of safety and risk management at Salem-Keizer Public Schools in Oregon, a state that has had its share of school shootings. In 2014, about 60 miles from Salem, where Van Dreal is based, a 15-year-old boy shot one student and a teacher at his high school before killing himself.
School Shooters: Understanding their path to violence is key to prevention
Posted from npr.org
Psychology
Law Enforcement
FBI
Depression
U.S. Secret Service
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 3
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I think one section of the article needs to be emphasized much more, the effects of unaddressed bullying in public schools. In the majority of the incidents of mass violence at learning institutions that I'm familiar with, particularly when the perpetrator/s are under 21/22, mistreatment by peers and unstable home lives are the two most common denominators. Unless there is a push to address the lack of accountability in the schools when notified of a student being harassed by peers, I don't foresee these events reducing in frequency. With kids like Nicolas Cruz, who have limited advocacy and whose name is the common denominator in reported disruptive events, the response of the school is usually to punish the victim. Single parents have a tendency to be completely ignored in these situations when the accused offender has both of theirs.
I was attacked in school one time as a young kid by three of my classmates in the hallway in front of a teacher and a hall monitor. One of those kids wound up with a head injury and I ended up getting suspended for 3 days and put in a week long out of school disciplinary program for youths. I had been in numerous fights like this before and I was the common denominator, who started it was irrelevant. Two good things came out of it for me; 1. I learned how stop having emotional reactions to direct insults.(a skill-set I have not mastered) 2. No one ever screwed with me again.
A good starting point if you want to ignore incompetent school officials, gun law structure, and bulldozer parents might be public discussions in schools with the students, staff, and parents in a group setting about self-confidence vs. narcissism or self-pity, and emotional control vs. emotional suppression or explosiveness. The people who don't participate go on the naughty list.
I was attacked in school one time as a young kid by three of my classmates in the hallway in front of a teacher and a hall monitor. One of those kids wound up with a head injury and I ended up getting suspended for 3 days and put in a week long out of school disciplinary program for youths. I had been in numerous fights like this before and I was the common denominator, who started it was irrelevant. Two good things came out of it for me; 1. I learned how stop having emotional reactions to direct insults.(a skill-set I have not mastered) 2. No one ever screwed with me again.
A good starting point if you want to ignore incompetent school officials, gun law structure, and bulldozer parents might be public discussions in schools with the students, staff, and parents in a group setting about self-confidence vs. narcissism or self-pity, and emotional control vs. emotional suppression or explosiveness. The people who don't participate go on the naughty list.
PO1 Sam Deel
Agreed. In your personal scenario, while you had personal responsibility for your own actions and the Educators with their organizational responsibility, the Student Body, by and large, shoulders a fair portion of responsibility. Bullying was not an issue at my Elementary. So in Middle School, a number of us "jocks" decided to police our own, to keep the peace, giving a more rewarding school experience. It was a learning curve. It was about the end of the 7th Grade before we got it figured out. When we began High School, we brought this "pact" and the lessons learned with us. I made it my mission for everyone, every clique, to get along, converse and socialize with each other. Whenever troubled reared its ugly head, the Coaches, the Principal, would step back and allow us to handle it. This self-governance approach worked extremely well. However, it only worked because the adults put a measure of faith in us, giving us the space we needed to accomplish our goals. Sadly, it was not more than 2.5 years after our Graduation, that it all devolved into the dysfunctional top-down approach. The Student Body and some people with bad morals and lack of personal responsibility, quickly unraveled the progress that was made.
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An interesting read, Chip. Thanks.
Not sure how we as a society can identify and treat most of the kids going through what this article points out. It is going to take more than a village.
Not sure how we as a society can identify and treat most of the kids going through what this article points out. It is going to take more than a village.
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
MSG Stan Hutchison I'm Sure SSgt Richard Kensinger Could give Us a more Indepth Explanation.
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Consummate rage is the core of murder & mass murder. The revenge fantasy is quite potent. We see a former president maintaining this posture! And many continue to have legal access to weapons of mass destruction for proximal kills.
Rich
Rich
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