| Due
to requests from members who represent the educational
field, this article is reprinted from the Fall/Winter
2000 edition of Trauma Response®
The following article appears as the foreword to
the new fourth edition of A Practical Guide for
Crisis Response in Our Schools. For additional information
about the guide, please see page 25 of this edition
of Trauma Response®. Dr. Mark D. Lerner is President
of The American Academy of Experts in Traumatic
Stress and Publisher of Trauma Response®. He
is an author of A Practical Guide for Crisis Response
in Our Schools and frequently consults in the areas
of preventing school-based tragedies, reducing the
frequency of disturbing threats in our schools,
and school crisis response. Comments may be directed
to Dr. Lerner at the Academy¹s administrative
offices at 368 Veterans Memorial Highway, Commack,
New York 11725.
Introduction
Not long ago the most severe problems encountered
in our schools were students running in the halls,
making excessive noise, cutting a line, talking
out-of-turn, chewing gum or violating a dress code.
Today, we are faced with a dramatic increase in
the frequency of assaults and gang activity. Additionally,
we are seeing an increase in the frequency of substance
abuse, self-mutilation, suicide, abandonment of
newborn babies, and serious injuries and deaths
from automobile accidents. We are also contending
with new types of trauma including hostage-taking,
sniper attacks, murders, terrorist activities, ³hit
lists,² threatening graffiti, bomb scares and
real bombs.
In response to this disturbing trend, The American
Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress published
A Practical Guide for Crisis Response in Our Schools.
Since the release of the first edition, the Academy
has been regularly updating and revising the document
in response to the rapidly changing climate in our
nation¹s schools.
As a foreword to the fourth edition of the guide,
I would like to address what may be some of the
causes of the dramatic increase in the frequency
of school-based crises and offer practical strategies
for preventing tragedies in our schools. Secondly,
in response to a recent trend of disturbing threats
in our schools, I would like to share a strategy
for reducing the frequency of such threats as bomb
scares, hit lists and threatening graffiti.
Causes of School-Based Tragedies
Although statistically rare, the frequency of dramatic,
well-publicized school-based disasters is increasing.
Even more disturbing is that less-publicized tragedies
are impacting upon members of our school families,
every day, at a significantly faster rate than ever
before. In fact, we no longer question if a school
will be faced with responding to a tragedy, but
when.
Many factors contribute to the causes of school
crises and we must not focus on only one. Research
is helping us to understand the relationship between
violent television programs, movies, music lyrics
and violent behavior. Additionally, investigation
concerning the impact of violent computer and video
games is presently underway. Should we be more concerned
with these media due to their interactive nature?
We hear about the availability of guns and other
weapons and we cannot ignore the data. From 1992
to 1999, 77 percent of all violent deaths in schools
were caused by guns (The Center for the Study and
Prevention of Violence, 1999). We must develop zero-tolerance
policies.
There is a dramatic increase in alcohol and substance
use among our children, peer pressure and gang involvement.
We are learning about children who are tormented
and teased, and then go on to harm themselves and
others. We are seeing the effects of divorce, ³latchkey
kids,² parents working long hours and an absence
of parental supervision, training and example-setting.
Today, there are relaxed curfews, a lack of respect
for authority and a lack of family involvement with
schools. There is a changing family structure as
well, with a large number of single parent families,
grandparents and extended family living in the home.
There is also a growing trend of violence related
to race and/or religion. This is particularly disturbing
in light of the fact that diversity in America is
rapidly increasing. The extent to which these variables
are related to the quantitative and qualitative
changes in school-based crises will become more
apparent with time and with further empirical investigation.
The inevitability of illness, accidents and loss
may be accepted and even anticipated by schools
that often view themselves as microcosms of our
world. But why is there such a dramatic increase
in deliberately-caused tragedies‹those of intentional
human design?
I believe that at the very core of our problem is
a fundamental communication breakdown in families‹the
result, in large part, of an increasingly technological
and mechanized world. We are spending less time
communicating, teaching and modeling appropriate
behavior with our children‹we are losing the battle
to the proliferation of electronic media.
Today¹s children all too often leave or avoid
the dinner table or family room, opting for the
new era in violent television, video and computer
games, and Internet chat rooms. Consequently, our
children lack interpersonal communication, coping
and problem-solving skills to meet the challenges
of our new world‹one reason why an increasing number
of them act-out feelings of anger and frustration
in dangerous attention-seeking ways, self-medicate
with alcohol and other substances, and commit suicide
at a higher rate than ever before. Media today offers
our children a regular dose of violence and I cannot
underscore enough the negative impact this has on
our society.
Practical Prevention Strategies
While consulting in the area of school crisis prevention,
I am frequently asked about the efficacy of installing
metal detectors, surveillance cameras and conducting
safety audits. At the end of last school year, I
recall one superintendent who asked whether book
bags should be permitted in schools. Although there
are certainly benefits gained from taking these
steps, I believe that they fail to address the root
of the problem.
We must help our children and adolescents to develop
and enhance their communication and problem-solving
skills. We must teach them how to actively listen
and to empathize when relating with others. We must
help our children to understand the importance of
articulating their feelings about themselves and
for others, and to know that it is okay to err on
the side of caution when expressing concerns about
others. We must regularly remind them that they
can turn to their parents and/or school support
personnel who will take the time to listen and respond
to them.
Too often our children and adolescents hear of disturbing
ideation or plans prior to a tragedy and they do
not know how to respond. It is not until the aftermath
of a disaster that we see survivors interviewed
and we hear them describe how the alleged perpetrator
had, in some way, suggested impending doom. In cases
of adolescent suicide, more than 80% of kids who
commit suicide tell someone, in some way, that they
are going to end their life. Our children do not
know what to do or where to turn with critical information.
We must work toward improving communication in order
to prevent violent school-based tragedies. Yet,
we must address our problem through a multimodal
approach. For instance, we can help our children
and adolescents to identify physiological changes
in their bodies which may precede or coincide with
feelings of frustration and anger. We can help them
to understand which behaviors/actions cause others
to become frustrated and angry. We can teach them
to become aware of and to identify negative self-statements
that generate feelings of frustration and anger.
And, we can help our children to learn to replace
self-defeating statements with positive coping statements.
Behaviorally, we must model and espouse appropriate
moral behavior, set limits and be consistent with
our responses to aberrant behavior. Ultimately,
we must teach our children to show compassion and
sincerity in relating with others.
We must help our children to understand that conflict
is a natural part of interpersonal relationships.
When we handle conflict well it presents an opportunity
to learn, to better understand ourselves and to
generate creative solutions. When we handle conflict
poorly, it can lead to violence.
We must help our children to make more adaptive,
goal-directed decisions when faced with feelings
of frustration. For example, we can teach them that
it is okay to walk away from altercations or to
take a few moments to ³cool down.² We
can teach our children to express themselves assertively,
to implement relaxation techniques, and to utilize
conflict resolution and peer mediation skills.
The latter areas of conflict resolution and peer
mediation offer great potential. When we ask children
and adolescents what they believe may help to reduce
the frequency of school-based tragedies, they indicate
that there needs to be more constructive opportunities
for expression of feelings. On the other hand, we
must keep in mind that conflict resolution techniques
and peer mediation programs presuppose conflict.
It is my conviction that we must reach our children
when they are very young and provide an ongoing
effort to develop their communication and problem-solving
skills.
Finally, we must view all students as being ³at
risk.² However, there are ³early warning
signs² to identify students who should be considered
at greater risk for engaging in violent behavior
(see checklist below). Let us all become hypervigilant,
learn to err on the side of caution, and work toward
preventing violent tragedies in our schools.
Reducing the Frequency of Disturbing Threats
In the aftermath of recent highly publicized tragedies
in our nation¹s schools, we have experienced
a dramatic increase in the frequency of disturbing
threats. Through opportunities in consulting, I
gained a greater appreciation of the impact of such
threats in our schools. For example, when a bomb
threat is made by telephone, e-mailed or written
on a bathroom wall, there is an enormous impact
on the school community. The potential need to evacuate
a school building under such circumstances presents
a host of complex decisions for school administrators.
Ensuring the safety of the school family and preventing
further disruption of the educational process is
crucial.
Many feelings are generated from observing bomb-sniffing
dogs comb a school. I recall one principal¹s
description of how traumatized he, his students
and staff were after standing outside of the building
for nearly two hours while dogs searched the building.
He indicated that when they reentered the school
everyone was anxious, hypervigilant and startled
by every closing locker.
As I spoke with administrators, I learned of other
disturbing threats such as ³hit lists²
and threatening graffiti. For example, the traumatic
stress endured by fourteen students, teachers and
school administrators specifically named on a poster
that was placed in the entrance area of one high
school was profound. The poster described how each
of them would be harmed. Furthermore, the fear that
was experienced by another school family after the
statement ³Everyone will die on June 4th²
had a far-reaching impact upon the entire community.
After the building principal informed parents of
the threat, nearly all of the eighteen hundred students
were absent from school‹many roamed the streets
of the community.
Understanding what may have caused or contributed
to the surge of disturbing threats in our nation¹s
schools in the wake of well-publicized tragedies
may help to mitigate against similar behavior in
the future.
The reasons why some students choose to make bomb
threats, develop ³hit lists,² or write
threatening graffiti are complex, and ultimately
sound research will help us to understand the relationship
between these threats and such variables as domestic
violence, sexual abuse, substance abuse, chronic
teasing and tormenting, etc. Following is my theoretical
perspective based upon many years of clinical experience
in working with children and adolescents as well
as my interpretation of extant literature.
There are a significant number of young people who
are feeling alone and powerless in our rapidly changing
world. When these individuals observe the tremendous
and overwhelming attention following highly-publicized
dramatic events, many of them identify with the
aggressor(s). They may fantasize about an opportunity
to overcome feelings of aloneness, inadequacy, weakness
and powerlessness. They envision themselves acting-out
and perhaps overcompensate for these dystonic feelings.
Fortunately, relatively few act upon these violent
impulses with significant magnitude. Apparently
there is some impulse control which prevents them
from going to the extent that perpetrators of violent
mass casualty incidents ultimately manifest. However,
in their minds, they see an opportunity to take
action, of a lesser magnitude, and still draw a
great deal of attention.
As I reflect upon disturbing threats experienced
in our schools, I ask myself why some schools experience
many threats, why others experience few, and why
others seem to escape such experiences. I hypothesize
that the climate established by the school staff
and administration is directly related to the frequency
of disturbing threats.
Educators must be careful not to challenge disturbed
young people with statements like, ³Our school
is a safe place and we will not experience the kinds
of events that you heard about yesterday....²
Such statements may serve to create a double bind‹a
challenge for these individuals. They may incite
these students to try to disprove authority figures,
to make themselves feel more powerful and to help
them to compensate for their feelings of inadequacy
and weakness. Furthermore, educators that ignore
the highly-publicized tragedies occurring in our
nation¹s schools are missing a critical opportunity
to help young people articulate disturbing thoughts
and feelings, and to learn more adaptive coping
strategies.
What can we do to decrease the frequency of disturbing
threats? If indeed the ³type² of individual
or individuals who generate threats are trying to
overcompensate for feelings of aloneness, inadequacy,
weakness and powerlessness, we must work toward
helping these young people to understand that the
effect that they are trying to achieve by making
a threat (i.e., to overcompensate for these disturbing
feelings) will not result in the attainment of their
perceived goal (e.g., to feel more powerful). Rather,
the result of the threat may likely cause them to
be arrested, feel very alone while incarcerated,
more inadequate, weaker and truly powerless. If
in fact we focus our attention on helping young
people to understand and observe the CONSEQUENCES
of being caught for making disturbing threats, the
frequency of such threats may be dramatically reduced.
How can we focus our attention on the consequences
of being caught? The responsibility here lies at
a number of levels. For example, legislation could
be enacted that would make reporting bomb threats
a felony in all states. In addition to prosecuting
perpetrators, these students could face significant
school-related consequences including expulsion.
Schools could establish clearly understood policies
whereby all ³lost time² due to disturbing
threats would have to be made-up. Parents could
be held financially responsible for the municipal
costs of responding to threats. The media could
invest more attention in showing alleged perpetrators
being led in handcuffs to police vans, and less
time on pictures of adolescent killers sitting and
smiling among their peers.
The bottom line is that we can take steps to help
young people to understand the consequences of disturbing
threats by focusing attention not on the glorification
of such acts, but on the reality of their actions.
Conclusion
It is important to understand what factors may be
causing school-based tragedies. Similarly, it would
be helpful to comprehend the ideation of people
who make disturbing threats. Ultimately, research
will help us to understand the causative factors
and the effects of specific interventions. However,
like many events in a rapidly shifting zeitgeist,
we must take initial thoughtful, realistic and logical
steps to respond to the problems that we are facing
in our schools by developing effective prevention
and response strategies. May A Practical Guide for
Crisis Response in Our Schools continue to serve
as a national standard for responding to school-based
crises.
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