Preventative Measures for School Shootings and Violence

***Post written by Dustin Blair, Southwest Representative for WSPA*** Current controversy in my local community and around the nation regarding school safety in schools has increased in recent years.  In many school districts of familiarity, large amounts of funds have been utilized for security systems, surveillance, and facial recognition software. Many schools require locking systems that are controlled by personnel within the building. Schools require parents to scan their ID, in order to process a quick background check, before gaining access to classrooms. In addition, the movement of arming school staff with firearms has increased throughout the nation. Personally, I do not object to increasing security measures within the schools. I sometimes question the amount of money that is being used to implement such measures, but am more concerned with the mental health of students. How can schools more closely address students that are bullied excessively, effectively cope with rejection, are emotionally unstable, etc.? Are universal screeners of social/emotional functioning effective in identifying students at-risk. Besides increased security what other methods can be used to prevent violence and homicide in the schools? According to Dewey Cornell, one of the best preventative actions is to have thorough threat assessments in place. I have heard the need for SEL programs to be embedded in the curriculum as well. Many conversations revolve around the perceived decline in overall mental health of school-aged children. If we could increase social/emotional well being of students, could we reduce the risk of active school shooters? This may be an avenue for preventive action as well. In addition, this approach may help with cases of suicide, in which have a higher likelihood of occurrence for school-aged kids as compared to homicides. 0.3% of school-aged homicides occur in the school setting. The likelihood of a child homicide is significantly higher in the home setting.