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Research Paper Final 1
Research Paper Final 1
Lindsay Marchant
Abstract
School shootings started to be a popular event in the 1900’s and overtime this rate of occurrence
has increased dramatically. The goal is to make the children’s schools a safe space for learning
and with the possibility of a shooting, this makes everyone worried. Taking steps to prevent this
from happening starts by planning ahead. Creating a map for each classroom would be beneficial
as well as monthly drills for all students and staff to be ready if this event were to arise. Some
shootings are from students who are aware of this drill and have a mindset that they will not get
caught bringing a weapon on school grounds. Metal detectors would be a helpful way for staff to
control what is being brought into schools. If each visitor, student, and staff stepped through this
each morning it could ultimately result in a decrease of these shootings from occurring. Lastly,
decreasing the amount of bullying within the school environment will overall assist the negative
energy these victims feel. Children should be held accountable for their poor choices by both a
parent and school administrators. With stastics of increasing suicide rates due to bullying, this
Keywords: School threat assessment, School Shootings, School Violence, Violence prevention,
Criminal Psychology
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Throughout the past 25-30 years the number of school shootings have increased
excessively, leading to several deaths of students and staff members within the United States.
These serious events have occurred within elementary schools, high schools, and colleges
throughout the U.S, leaving researchers clues on how to prevent these events from happening.
premises, generally by a school-related perpetrator who carefully plans the act in advance
(Dumitriu, 2013).” With this information, researchers have come to the result that bullying is a
factor of these shootings. The report by Vossekuil et al. (2002), states that “69% of those
committing violent acts using a gun within the school setting were between 10 and 19 years of
age.” With factors such as a depressed home life, bullying, and even negative thoughts about
themselves. These factors can result in life changing events such as school shootings. Statistics
states that 61% of mass shooters have also attempted suicide prior to the attack as stated in the
article (Lee 2013). It is important that this issue is tamed so that children are safe at school. To
decrease the amount of school shootings districts should create distinct plans for these shootings,
School shootings within the U.S have increased dramatically within the last 30 years.
Multiple school shootings have occurred killing several students and teachers. A total of 160
school shooting events worldwide were identified. These school shootings were perpetrated by
163 shooters (Dumitriu, 2013). This leads to safety concerns for schools and while researchers
analyze this problem they begin to dig further into this recurring issue. Some examples of these
shootings within the U.S consists of Columbine High School which took place on April 20,
1999, Buell Elementary School, Feb 29th 2000, and Centennial, Colorado, 2013. Children,
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teenagers, and adults are affected by this problem which has increased the amount of worry
within school environments. These injuries and deaths are negative effects for society and this is
why people must attempt to stop mass shootings from happening. This issue is very serious and
must be controlled. School and mass shootings will result in prison time. Gun possession has
been an issue for years, and became a huge problem in the 1900’s. While suspects have different
motives for their actions, it is a wonder of how they managed to get a weapon of this type. Kids
are getting access to guns and weapons which can be harmful to themselves and others. It is
important that this issue is tamed so that children are safe at school and everywhere else.
By creating distinct plans for these events, investing in metal detectors, as well as
decreasing bullying within the school, it provides a comfortable environment for the students.
Starting by creating a descriptive graphic of lockdown drills to be kept in classrooms and having
monthly drills for all students and teachers to be prepared if this situation were to occur for real.
School boards should consider investing in metal detectors for all visitors at the school to walk
through before entering. This decreases the chance of weapons entering the school in the first
place. Stay consistent with using the metal detectors, be sure that all precautions of this item
have been established to the users to help prevent children, staff, and visitors from bringing in
violence items. Students and staff should be aware of what to do if this situation were to occur on
a normal school day. If they are not prepared then how will they be ready to take on real
situations? Children want to feel safe in a school environment and doing these drills will help
grow their comfort level even after listening to stories on these events. Metal detectors will
decrease the likelihood of violence items coming into school buildings which overall decreases
the chance of a shooting. Next, decreasing bullying within the school environment will lessen the
likelihood of mental health decrease within victims of bullying. Bullying awareness is very much
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needed in today’s world. Teachers and other adults must take charge of these situations and speak
up if a child is being harassed by a peer. Staff should be persistent when a child bullies another
because if not the victims self esteem lowers and mental health decreases. This could potentially
be a factor of future harm of the victim himself or others. Keeping children from bullying or
harassing others while at school can decrease the uncomfortable feeling some children get while
attending school. This also helps prevent school shootings from happening considering bullying
is a huge factor of these events. Lastly, Positive mindsets greatly lessen the chance of shootings,
if everyone is using positive psychology to assist them in their daily lives it could drastically
decrease this issue. Mentally and physically preparing for these situations are very important for
a person’s safety. If a plan is established it is less likely to cause harm to yourself or another
person.
Researchers have found that school shootings are almost always well planned, the
criminals prepare them in advance. The issue and examples include information on positive
psychology and factors of school shootings such as bullying and lack of positive mental health
upon these criminals. Using this information, the use of data collected from articles helps back
First solution is creating visuals for all classrooms and other rooms, including bathrooms
by using a map of the school building and colors to indicate entrances and exits of the building.
Districts should also include a legend for all visitors and students to read so they are able to
understand the information listed. Doing this will give visitors and students closure of knowing
Moving on to the next solution to this issue would be to include metal detectors within
school entrances to assist the likelihood of a person entering the building with a weapon of any
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sort. This will also give staff of the building reassurance of safety for people within the school
building. While some schools have many entrances, putting these detectors throughout the
school’s main entrances would be beneficial for all students and staff. Teachers and other staff
would also feel more comfortable when attending their jobs when knowing there are precautions
The last way to assist the process of decreasing school shootings would be to prevent
bullying from happening on school property. When a child has low mental health due to bullying
it can greatly affect these events because bullying happens to be a huge factor within these
shootings. Most school shooters have had past experiences with bullying and harassment. When
staff and teachers discipline for the action of bullying it helps children realize that it is wrong and
should be stopped before worse consequences occur. When victims of bullies start to feel
uncomfortable and hopeless it can lead to harm toward themselves or others. Staff members of
any sort should always use positive psychology to assist a child’s mental health. By using things
such as focusing on their strengths or assisting their skills of development within the school
domain it could overall improve their mindset for themselves and even gives the child a reason to
Students attending school want to feel comfortable and safe in their daily environments.
By using distinct plans for these events, investing in metal detectors, as well as decreasing
bullying within the school this will greatly impact the process of preventing shootings. By taking
precautions and looking deeper into these situations it is possible to lower the chances of these
shootings from occurring. It is a must that researchers use their knowledge that they have
uncovered throughout their experiences to assist with decreasing the use of violent machines in
schools as well as people must make a change to our school systems to help prevent these awful
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events from taking another person’s life. It is a must to prioritize the mental health of both
yourself and the children which will ultimately create a safer environment for everyone. Planning
ahead for these situations involves the parent, teacher, and child. This may be a brutal topic to
speak with children about but it is needed in today’s world for their own safety. Children should
be aware of these events to a certain extent. Having these conversations with kids will ultimately
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