Reducing School Shootings 3030665488, 9783030665487

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William H. Jeynes

Reducing School Shootings

Reducing School Shootings

William H. Jeynes

Reducing School Shootings

William H. Jeynes California State University Long Beach, CA, USA Witherspoon Institute Princeton, NJ, USA

ISBN 978-3-030-66548-7 ISBN 978-3-030-66549-4 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66549-4 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

Preface

Reducing School Shootings is an optimistic book dealing with a topic that has become an unfortunate symbol of the times. Children are precious jewels to parents, especially, but also to society as a whole. There is no reason to allow innocent children to die or to be traumatized, because of a school shooting. Moreover, the communities where they take place are never the same in the aftermath. In addition, much more must be done to help children and adolescents, before they become the assailants in these mass catastrophes. Granted, it is a shame that with all the talk about how to reduce the likelihood of school shootings happening and the actions that have been taken to curb their growth, especially legislatively, that their frequency continues to surge. Nevertheless, the author asserts that the context of the efforts to curb these shootings actually offers some hope. The previous efforts to stem the bloodshed have been very narrow in their approach. The author asserts that society needs to think more broadly regarding solutions and no longer settle for the band-aid approach. It is time to apply a comprehensive strategy, objectively examine the data that are available, and get to the roots (plural) of the problem. Dr. Jeynes believes school shootings can be significantly decreased if people lovingly begin to listen to one another about likely solutions, examine why school shootings are so much more frequent than they were before the early 1960s, address the data, and then act with both kindness and determination. Narrow solutions will not be enough. Instead, a comprehensive set of solutions is a must to help the most defenseless in society: the world’s children. Long Beach, USA

William H. Jeynes

v

Acknowledgments

I am very thankful to many individuals who played a large role in making this work possible. I want to thank numerous people in the academic world at Harvard University and the University of Chicago for helping me give birth to this project and in guiding me through the early stages of planning this book. I especially want to thank the late Bob Jewell for his encouragement. I want to thank a couple of academics for their input into this project. These individuals include Byron Johnson and James Hartwick. In addition, I deeply appreciate President Obama, President G. W. Bush, the E.U., the U.N., and former members of the Clinton Administration for inviting me to speak, write, and advise on these issues. I also want to thank several dear friends whose encouragement with respect to this project touched me deeply. Among these friends are Wayne Ruhland, Jean Donohue, Larry and Vada DeWerd, Jessica Choi, Sharon Myung, Charles and Marion Patterson, and Roger and Janet Friend. I count myself fortunate to have been married for 35 years to my wife, Hyelee, whose support has been exemplary. We have three wonderful boys, whom I thank for their love and inspiration. I also want to thank God for giving me the strength and providence to complete this project. May this book open many eyes and hearts.

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Contents

Part I 1

2

The Historical and Personal Context of the School Shootings

The History of School Shootings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2 The Number of School Shootings Has Skyrocketed . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3 School Shootings on the Rise All Over the World . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.4 British School Shootings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.5 An Increasing Number of School Shootings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.5.1 In the United States Beginning in the Early 1960s . . . . . 1.6 School Shootings Surge in the 1990s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.7 The Jonesboro School Shooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.8 The Columbine School Shooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.9 The School Shootings Continue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.10 More Recent Shootings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.11 Reasons for the Shootings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.12 How Widespread is Juvenile Violence and Crime . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.13 Possible Solutions to School Shootings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.14 A Comprehensive Approach is Needed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.15 Some of the Most Horrific School Shootings in United States History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.16 Some of the Most Shocking Foreign Shootings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.17 American School Attacks Initiated by Adults (Which is Not the Emphasis of This Book) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.18 Other Mass Shootings Not Covered in Detail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.19 Concluding Thoughts for This Chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3 3 3 4 6 7 7 7 8 9 11 11 12 13 14 16

What Are Some of the Commonalties of the School Shootings? . . . . 2.1 It Is Not Wise to Obersimplify the Commonalities . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1.1 Some of the Commonalities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1.2 Next to Coming from a Troubled Family Situation, Breaking Up with a Girlfriend Was Perhaps the Most Frequent Commonality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

23 23 23

17 18 20 20 21

24 ix

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2.1.3

2.2

2.3 2.4

2.5 Part II 3

Another Commonality: There Many Warning Signs That Went Unheeded . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1.4 The Contribution of Mental Illness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1.5 The Place of Evil and the Worship of Evil . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1.6 Bloody Video Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Society Must Not Delay Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2.1 Findings of the “Violence Project”: Family and Mental Illness Issues at the Forefront . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2.2 Three Profound Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2.3 Another Key Commonality: The Shooters Often Lacked Love, Compassion, and Character . . . . . . . . . . . . What Are the Commonalties of Possible Solutions to School Shootings? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Methods Used in the Meta-Analyses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4.1 Analytical Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4.2 Data Collection Method (Coding and Rater Reliability) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4.3 Statistical Methods and the Effect Size Statistic . . . . . . . 2.4.4 Study Quality Rating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4.5 Limitations of Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Concluding Thoughts for This Chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

25 26 27 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 33 34 35 36 36 37

Examining Factors That Could Contribute to Solutions

Gun Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1 Challenges Faced Regarding Gun Laws for School Shootings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2 Challenge #1—Most of the Adolescent Shooters Obtain Their Guns from Family or Friends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2.1 Needed: School Shooting Specific Gun Laws . . . . . . . . . 3.3 Challenge #2—If a Bill Is Going to Pass in the United States, Different Perspectives Need to Be Incorporated, or Else Gun Legislation Will not Pass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3.1 The Reason This Debate Is So Intense: Life and Death Experiences on Both Sides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3.2 Concerns of Second Amendment People . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.4 Challenge #3—More People and Politicians Need to Realize the Extent of the Gun Problem and Work Hard to Build Consensus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.4.1 The Difficulty of Building Political Consensus . . . . . . . . 3.5 Challenge #4—Is the Issue That New Gun Laws Are Needed or Do the Police Need to Do a Better Job of Enforcing Those Laws? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

41 42 42 44

45 46 47

48 49

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3.6

3.7

3.8 3.9 3.10 3.11 3.12

3.13

3.14 3.15 3.16 4

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Challenge #5—Although the People and the Lawmakers Emphasize Gun Control, the School Assailants Choose Other Weapons as Well, Such as Explosives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . What Is the Evidence Regarding Gun Laws? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.7.1 Overall Findings of the Statistical Analysis of Gun Laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.7.2 The Port Arthur, Australia Shooting and the National Firearms Agreement of 1996 . . . . . . . . 3.7.3 Parkland, Florida and Guns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . What Strategy Regarding Gun Laws Should Be Initiated? . . . . . . Solution #1—“Smart Guns” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Solution #2—Political Bickering Must Stop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Solution #3: An Assault Weapons Ban Should Be Part of the Firearms Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Solution #4—Background Checks May Not Help Much with School Shootings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.12.1 Are Educators, Parents, and Law Enforcement People Too Light on Adolescents? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Solution #5—Gun Control Laws and Conceal and Carry Laws Should Not Automatically Be Regarded as “Either Or” Propositions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.13.1 Is There at Least Future Potential for Background Checks? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . School Shootings Have Continued to Surge Even After the Passage of Many Gun Control Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Some Americans Are Concerned About the Rise of Statism . . . . Concluding Thoughts for This Chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Importance of Family Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1 The Good News About Families Being a Major Key . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2 Most Children Yearn for a Good Relationship with Their Parents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2.1 The Importance of Parents Spending Time with Their Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2.2 The Salience of Parental Involvement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3 Conducting Meta-Analysis to Address Family Factors . . . . . . . . . 4.4 Parental Involvement and Blacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.4.1 Effect Sizes for Parental Involvement Overall for Blacks (Research Question #1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.4.2 Effects of Parental Involvement by Student Age for Blacks (Research Question #2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.4.3 Parental Involvement Programs for Blacks (Research Question #3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.5 Parental Involvement and Latinos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

51 53 55 56 58 58 59 60 61 62 62

63 63 64 65 66 69 72 74 75 75 76 77 77 77 78 78

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4.5.1

4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 5

Effect Sizes for Parental Involvement Overall for Latinos (Research Question #1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.5.2 Effects of Parental Involvement by Student Age for Latinos (Research Question #2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.5.3 Parental Involvement Programs for Latinos (Research Question #3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Father Involvement Meta-Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Studies of the Effects of Family Structure on Student Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Other Family Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.8.1 Unawareness of Parents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Concluding Thoughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Character Education Including an Emphasis on Love and Anger Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1 Values That Almost Everyone Has in Common . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2 School Shootings Began Their Surge in the Early 1960s . . . . . . . 5.3 Shooters Were Generally Known for Their Lack of Character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.4 Childhood Trauma, Violence, and Character Education . . . . . . . . 5.5 Schools Need to Focus More on Character and Less on Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.5.1 Teaching Just the Opposite of Character? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.6 Character in the Lives of Students and Teachers Who Helped Stop or Lower the Carnage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.7 Meta-Analysis on Character Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8 Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8.1 Effect Sizes for Character Education Overall (Research Question #1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8.2 Effect Sizes for Character Education by Student Age (Research Question #2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8.3 Effect Sizes for Character Education for Minority Students (Research Question #3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8.4 Effects of Character Education on Specific Measures of Achievement and Behavior (Research Question #4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.9 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.9.1 Effect Sizes for Character Education Overall (Research Question #1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.9.2 Effect Sizes for Character Education by Student Age (Research Question #2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.9.3 Effect Sizes for Character Education for Minority Students (Research Question #3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

78 79 79 79 80 83 83 84 85 86 86 87 87 89 91 92 93 94 94 97 99

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5.9.4

Effects of Character Education on Specific Measures of Achievement and Behavior (Research Question #4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 5.10 Concluding Thoughts for This Chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 6

7

Social Media, the Entertainment Industry and the News Media . . . . 6.1 Human Beings Tend to Focus on Bad News Rather Than Good News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2 Is Society’s Emphasis on Blood and Violence Even Normal? . . . 6.3 Shooters Often Idolize One Another . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.4 Hollywood and the Entertainment Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.5 Solutions to the Problems Orginating with the Media, Social Media, and the Entertainment Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.5.1 Solution #1: The News Media Needs to Focus More on the Heroes Than the Shooters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.6 Solution #2 Hollywood Needs to Act Far More Responsibly Looking to the Interests of Humanity Rather with the Intention of Lining Its Own Pockets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.7 Solution #3—Those in Hollywood and the Entertainment Industry Need to Change Their Attitudes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.8 Why Hollywood and the Entertainment Industry Need to Cooperate in Solving the School Shooting Problem . . . . . . . . . 6.9 How the News Media Can Help Be Part of the Solution . . . . . . . . 6.10 Concluding Remarks for this Chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Issues of Mental of Mental Health and Student Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.1 The Troubling Mental Health Issues of Many of the Shooters Cannot Be Ignored . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.1.1 Three Issues That Make This Topic Complex . . . . . . . . . 7.2 A Long History of Threating and Frightening Behaviors . . . . . . . 7.2.1 Germany and Switzerland Have Strategies to Quickly Identify Mental Illness in Students . . . . . . . . . 7.3 Diagnosing Mental Illness When It Is Too Late . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.3.1 The Unique Aspects of School Shootings When Compared to Other Acts of Mass Aggression . . . . . . . . . 7.3.2 Why Are Rates of Mental Illness So High? . . . . . . . . . . . 7.3.3 President Bill Clinton: A “Changing Culture That Desensitizes Our Children to Violence” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.4 Drawing Lessons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.5 What Is Needed If There Is to Be Progress on Acting on the Relationship between Mental Illness and School Shootings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.5.1 More Testing of the Young for Mental Illness . . . . . . . . . 7.6 Mental Illness and Drug Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.7 Two Challenges in Ascertaining the Relationship Between Mental Health and Consuming Illegal Drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

105 105 106 107 108 110 110

114 115 116 117 120 123 123 123 126 128 128 129 130 131 133

134 135 136 138

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7.8 8

Concluding Remarks for This Chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

A Time of Student Reflection in the Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.1 The Advantages of a Time of Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.1.1 Sharing Thoughts That Need to Be Shared Through Prayer and Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.1.2 The Need to Respect Children of Faith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.1.3 Today’s Overemphasis on Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2 The Need for a Moment of Silence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.3 Teachers Often Fear Pupils Raising the Concept of the Spiritual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.4 A Moment of Silence and Helping Students to Stand . . . . . . . . . . 8.4.1 What If a Student Is Religious and Prayerful? . . . . . . . . . 8.4.2 The Possible Relationship Between Prayer and Mindfulness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.5 Concluding Thoughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

141 141 142 143 144 145 146 148 150 151 151

Part III Looking Towards Solutions 9

Beyond Simplistic and Narrow Proposals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.1 Putting Oneself in the Shoes of Others and Civil Dialogue . . . . . . 9.1.1 Civil Dialogue and Gun Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.1.2 An Even-Tempered Open-Minded Discussion About Guns and Three Schools of Thought . . . . . . . . . . . 9.2 All Parts of the Brain, Not Merely One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.3 Additional (Secondary) Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.3.1 Additional and Heightened School Security Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.3.2 Tensions Need to Be Substantially Reduced . . . . . . . . . . 9.4 Coronavirus and School Shootings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.5 Concluding Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

10 A Comprehensive Set of Solutions That Together Hold Much Promise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.1 The Need to Open One’s Mind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.2 The Need to Open One’s Heart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.3 Specific Steps that Need to Be Taken to Reduce School Shootings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.4 Concluding Thoughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

155 155 156 156 158 159 159 162 163 164 165 166 167 167 176

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

About the Author

William H. Jeynes is a Senior Fellow at Princeton’s Witherspoon’s Institute and a Professor of Education at California State University in Long Beach, California. He graduated first in his class from Harvard University and also graduated from the University of Chicago, where he received the Rosenberger Award for most outstanding student. Jeynes has spoken regularly and written for the White House, various government departments, and for three U.S. presidential administrations, as well as for former members of a fourth administration. He has also served as an advisor for various other politicians, including presidential candidates. He has been an advisor/consultant for the E.U., the U.N., and several G20 foreign governments. His 4 point plan presented to the Acting President of South Korea passed the Korean Parliament and became the core of the nation’s 1998 economic stimulus legislation. This 4 point plan helped South Korea emerge from the greatest economic crisis since World War II faster than any other Asian nation (22% over two years). He has 185 publications to his credit, including 16 books. He received the “Distinguished Scholar Award” from the California Senate and the California State Assembly. He received the “Distinguished Achievement Award” from an arm of the American Educational Research Association. His articles have appeared in journals by Columbia University, Harvard University, the University of Chicago, Cambridge University, Notre Dame University, the London School of Economics, and other prestigious academic journals. He has spoken for the White House, the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, the National Press Club, UN delegates, members of Congress, Vatican City, the Acting President of South Korea, Harvard University, Cambridge University, Oxford University, Columbia University, Peking University, and many other well-known universities. Dr. Jeynes has been interviewed or quoted by many of the world’s leading newspapers and media outlets (e.g. the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Aljazeera, the London Times, CNN, Newsweek Japan, the Associated Press, CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, U.S. News & World Report, USA Today, The Atlantic, etc.). His work has been cited and quoted numerous times by the U.S. Congress, the British Parliament, the E.U., and many State Supreme Courts across the United States. Dr. Jeynes wrote the #1 and #2 all-time most cited xv

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About the Author

articles in the over half century history of the journal Urban Education. He also wrote the #1 all-time most cited article in the 51-year history of the journal Education & Urban Society. He periodically writes columns in the Orange County Register, the United States’ 14th largest newspaper. His articles have been republished and highlighted in Yahoo News, Real Clear Politics, and in countless other publications. Dr. Jeynes also gained admission in Who’s Who in the World every year of its publication since 2007.

List of Tables

Table 4.1 Table 4.2 Table 4.3 Table 4.4

Table 4.5

Table 4.6

Table 5.1 Table 5.2 Table 5.3 Table 5.4 Table 5.5

Effect sizes for parent involvement with 95% confidence intervals in parentheses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Effect sizes for parent involvement with 95% confidence intervals in parentheses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Effect sizes for types of father involvement with 95% confidence intervals in parentheses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Effects of each of seven main family structures (in percentage differences in standardized scores) for G.P.A. Math Achievement Scores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Effects of each of seven main family structures (in percentage differences in standardized scores) for reading and science achievement test scores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Effects of each of seven main family structures (in percentage differences in standardized scores) for G.P. A. Math Achievement Scores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Effect sizes for character education with 95% confidence intervals in parentheses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Effect sizes for character education with 95% confidence intervals in parentheses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Effect sizes for character education with 95% confidence intervals in parentheses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Effect sizes for character education with 95% confidence intervals in parentheses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Effect sizes for character education with 95% confidence intervals in parentheses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

77 78 80

81

82

82 95 97 98 100 101

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Part I

The Historical and Personal Context of the School Shootings

Chapter 1

The History of School Shootings

1.1 Overview This chapter traces the history of school shootings from the first known case of students being shot in the late eighteenth century to the surge in school shootings, which started in the 1960s, and increased in the mid-1990s and again in the 2010s (Barton, 2020; Cohen, Azrael, & Miller, 2014). Although the United States has had the highest number of school shootings, these and similar incidents and are happening in various other places as well including Germany, China, Russia, Finland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the UK, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, Azerbaijan, etc. (Bockler, Seeger, Sitzer, & Heitmeyer, 2013a; Cartwright, 2013; Hoffmann & Roshdi, 2013; Infoplease, 2020; Oksanen, 2013). The chapter examines what happened, at whose hand, the results, and what actions were taken to prevent future incidents (Cornell, 2017).

1.2 The Number of School Shootings Has Skyrocketed Placing school shootings in a historical context is vital, because as Soule and Schonbek (2018, p. 1) declared, “There have been more mass shooting deaths in the last 18 years than in all of the 20th century.” Hirsh (2013, p. 86) similarly declared, “Mass shootings have become a common recurrence in modern American society.” An academic article in Injury Prevention also notes that the frequency of school shootings has surged in recent years. For example, the authors of the articles note that from 1966 to 2008 forty-four school shootings took place in the United States, approximately one per year (Cohen et al., 2014; Sheth, 2016). In contrast, from 2013 to 2015 there were one hundred and fifty-four school shootings or about one a week (Sheth, 2016).

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 W. H. Jeynes, Reducing School Shootings, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66549-4_1

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1.3 School Shootings on the Rise All Over the World Moreover, even though there are more school shootings in the United States than any country, increasingly they are happening in other countries as well. One wonders whether they are more preventable than is ostensible at first, because they are often a plethora of warning signs that not enough people sufficiently heed. For example, in 2002 Robert Steinhauser in Erfurt, Germany committed a heinous act of shooting. He murdered 13 staff members from his school, two students, and even a police officer (Bockler et al., 2013a; Heitmeyer, Bockler, & Seeger, 2013; Hoffmann & Roshdi, 2013). However, the incident did not come as too much of a surprise, because the school in Erfurt had expelled him some years before (Bockler et al., 2013a; Heitmeyer et al., 2013; Hoffmann & Roshdi, 2013). Robert Steinhauser ended up committing suicide (Bockler et al., 2013a; Heitmeyer et al., 2013; Hoffmann & Roshdi, 2013). It should be noted that this book will sometimes refer to other expressions of mass school killings. This is because as Bockler and his colleagues (2013b, p. 6) note, “Outside the United States in particular there are numerous cases where perpetrators resort to other weapons, such as explosives, swords, knives, and axes (especially in the absence of access to firearms).” Another infamous German shooting followed in Winnenden, Germany in 2009 (Bockler et al., 2013a; Heitmeyer et al., 2013; Hoffmann & Roshdi, 2013). The assailant was named Tim Kretschmer, a 17-year old, who was a very recent graduate of a secondary school there. After graduating with poor grades and being unable to get accepted into an apprenticeship, he bemoaned his lot and future prospects in life (Bockler et al., 2013a; Heitmeyer et al., 2013; Hoffmann & Roshdi, 2013). Kretschmer grabbed a gun from his parents’ bedroom and went on a shooting spree killing 15 others (and later himself) and injuring 9 (Bockler et al., 2013a; Heitmeyer et al., 2013; Hoffmann & Roshdi, 2013). A much higher percentage of his victims died than in most school shootings, largely because Tim Kretschmer aimed for the head (Bockler et al., 2013a; Heitmeyer et al., 2013; Hoffmann & Roshdi, 2013). Aiming for the head was a technique he had learned from playing violent video games, to which he was addicted and played constantly (Bockler et al., 2013a; Heitmeyer et al., 2013; Hoffmann & Roshdi, 2013). Some German politicians called for a ban on shooting and other violent video games, in the aftermath of the shooting. However, many people criticized the German Government for in the end doing little or nothing of the recommendations made by parents and these politicians. In spite of the gore that resulted, on the positive side, lives were almost surely saved, because Germany’s headmaster broadcast a coded announcement, using a strategy initiated by German in the aftermath of the Efurt shooting in 2002 (Bockler et al., 2013a; Heitmeyer et al., 2013; Hoffmann & Roshdi, 2013). Beginning in 1996, Americans across the country were alarmed to hear of many incidents of horrifying shootings initiated by youngsters in public schools in primarily suburban and rural areas across the country (Cohen et al., 2014; Coleman, 2004). Those in urban areas complained that such shootings had surged since the early 1960s,

1.3 School Shootings on the Rise All Over the World

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but had not received much attention, because people tend to respond differently to acts of violence committed in higher-crime citified areas than they do to lower-crime suburban and rural areas (Jeynes, 2007a). To be sure, there are a variety of sources to blame for this tendency. Clearly, the media should bear a good deal of the blame. The way that television, the internet, the radio, and the newspapers cover violence, especially juvenile aggression, is often remarkably different when it is in a major big city environment than when it is in the middle class suburbs (Jeynes, 2007a). When such events take place in a high crime urban area, the report is often along the lines of stating in a calm and non-emotional voice, “In the news today, eight died and fifteen were injured when an adolescent gunman opened fire at middle school.” In contrast, when such an event transpires in an American suburban or rural area, the report is more along the lines of, “This is a SPECIAL REPORT from CNN; SHOOTING IN THE HEARTLAND!” When such an event occurred during the 1996–2005 or so period, the major cable news networks would usually jettison their regularly scheduled programs and instead report virtually all day on the shooting rampage (Jeynes, 2007a). In the minds of many urbanites, this constituted a double standard. And in many respects, it surely is. However, not all of this difference in response to school shootings in the inner city versus those that take place in the suburbs and rural areas can solely be attributed to various proclivities and biases on the part of the media (Jeynes, 2007a). Part of the blame rests on the reactions of the people around the country and around the world. The reality is that human beings generally quite consistently respond differently to school shootings that take place in Mission Viejo, California, Scarsdale, New York, and Prospect Heights, Illinois than they do to those identical events in places like Detroit, Philadelphia, and Chicago. When people hear of school shootings in large urban cities, their reaction is often along the lines of, “Gee, that is too bad, but you know Philly, you know Detroit.” However, if they hear of much the same event in Mission Viejo or Prospect Heights, the reaction is more along the lines of, “What is this world coming to?” Well, it is coming to about the same place as it was when these school shootings were taking place in urban neighborhoods. There is a double standard even in society at large (Kopka, 1996). There were, of course, some shootings in urban areas during the mid-1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, and 1990s that received publicity, but in order to receive a copious amount of publicity, there had to be something unusual about the shooting (Fast, 2013; Jeynes, 2007a). In the case of a San Diego school shooting on January 29, 1979, the unique aspect that differentiated this school mass attack is that it was undertaken by a female (Fast, 2013). This was unusual then and remains so now. The murderous attack was undertaken by sixteen year-old Brenda Spencer (Fast, 2013). Her parents were separated and she lived with her father, who was an alcoholic. They slept on a single cheap mattress on the living room floor with empty alcohol bottles scattered all over the house (Fast, 2013). Spencer ended up using a semi-automatic rifle and killed two and injured nine (Fast, 2013). The two she killed were the principal and a custodian. In addition, she injured eight children and a police officer (Fast, 2013).

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1.4 British School Shootings Great Britain’s history of mass shootings, including a major school attack, has two notable similarities to the American experience, but other notable differences. One similarly is that for Great Britain, 1996 was also a pivotal year. A second similarity is that even though 1996 was a pivotal year, it was not the first major school shooting in Great Britain. A previous mass shooting that was partially, but not totally, a school event played a salient role in contextualizing the Dunblane shooting: The Hungerford shooting of 1987 (Fulton, 2016; Great Britain Parliament, 2007). In 1987, on August 19, Michael Robert Ryan launched a series of attacks in Hungerford, England that included a school, but was not entirely done at a school. Ryan committed the atrocity with one pistol and two semi-automatic rifles (Fulton, 2016; Great Britain Parliament, 2007). On March 13, 1996 in Dunblane, Scotland Great Britain had its greatest mass school shooting in history (Fulton, 2016; Great Britain Parliament, 2007). Thomas Hamilton entered Dunblane Primary School and shot dead 16 young children and 1 teacher. He then shot and killed himself. Although 1996 was a key turning point in school shootings for Great Britain, just like in the United States, the differences noted below should be considered. There were notable differences between the British and American experiences. First, Thomas Hamilton was forty-three years old and Ryan was in his late twenties when they committed the acts, i.e., they were adults. This clearly provided the British with some added options in dealing with the problem, given that for various reasons that will be addressed later in this book, troubled adolescents and very young adults often fly under the radar of law enforcement and school authorities. Second, both incidents caused the British to pass gun control laws. The 1987 Hungerford incident led to the Firearms (Amendment) Act of 1987 that was passed following the 1987 tragedy (Fulton, 2016). The 1996 Dunblane shooting led to two more gun bills passed. The first one was passed by the Conservative government of John Major, i.e., the Firearms (Amendment) Act of 1997. The second one was passed by the Labour government of Tony Blair, the Firearms (Amendment) (No. 2) Act of 1997. These second set of laws banned British citizens from owning most kinds of handguns (Fulton, 2016; Great Britain Parliament, 2007). Third, the main problems that Great Britain has had with mass slayings in recent years have been with terrorist attacks rather than school shootings. These terrorist attacks are not the primary focus of this book. However, in order to have a proper overall perspective of shootings specifically and mass attacks generally, one should keep in mind that this is true not only for Great Britain, but also much of Europe, the Middle East, much of Southern Asia, Africa, and a good portion of the world. Otherwise, to whatever extent that in recent years there have been more school shootings in the United States than any other locale, it would be easy to ask the following question. What is wrong with the United States? However, before one asks this question, one should consider: (1) school shootings are becoming a world problem, going well beyond the borders of the United States. (2) Every nation has its differing problems. In the Netherlands, for example, school violence against teachers,

1.4 British School Shootings

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in particular, is skyrocketing (BBC, 1999). According to the BBC, for many years students regularly have threatened Dutch teachers, so that in any given year about 50% of Dutch teachers were threatened with physical violence from their pupils (BBC, 2004). Two percent of those teachers were actually physically assaulted by a student (BBC, 2004). Those are phenomenal numbers.

1.5 An Increasing Number of School Shootings 1.5.1 In the United States Beginning in the Early 1960s In recent years, however, school shootings have become so common that Americans no longer express shock at the shootings in the heartland or in the suburbs. Joan Cook is a psychologist and Associate Professor at Yale University. She addressed this issue by stating, “Becoming numb to school shootings won’t save anyone (Cook, 2018).” She continued by sharing, “We miss valuable lessons when we only become outraged or shocked by school shootings with large casualty counts (Cook, 2018).” Since 1962 or 1963, it truly seems that the problem of school shootings has been growing exponentially. Before 1962, it was almost unheard of to witness the report of a school shooting. Then in the remainder of the1960s and 1970s, school shootings began to become more common in urban areas, but not so much in suburban vicinities (Allen, 2019; Jeynes, 2007a). Then beginning in 1996 school shootings came to America’s heartland and suburbs. During the 1990s and early 2000s these egregious events became much more common (Allen, 2019). The exponential growth continued until February 15, 2018 the day after the Parkland, Florida shooting. Then the grim truth hit the citizenry in the United States that in just the first month and half of the year 18 school shootings had taken place in the United States (Beckwith, 2018).

1.6 School Shootings Surge in the 1990s Although 1996 was not the first year of the school shootings, it was the time when these events came to suburban and rural America. On February 2, 1996 Barry Loukaitis, a 14- year- old from Moses Lake, Washington, killed two students and a math teacher. Loukaitis claimed he was greatly influenced by the Stephen King novel entitled, Rage, which was about a school killing (Coleman, 2004). Loukaitis even quoted the book at the time of the killing saying, “It sure beats algebra, doesn’t it?” Loukaiti’s also stated that he was influenced by Pearl Jam’s video Jeremy, as well as the movies Natural Born Killers, by Oliver Stone and Basketball Diaries (Coleman, 2004). Coleman (2004, p. 4) notes that, “Today, Stephen King says he wishes that he had never written Rage.”

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In early 1997 in Beth, Alaska, Evan Ramsey said he thought it would be “cool” to gun down people and then proceeded to shoot his principal and a classmate (Matera, 2001). “In the late 1990s, a string of six incidents created a sense that an epidemic was under way (Newman et al., 2004, p. 47).” In October of 1997 in Pearl, Mississippi a boy (Luke Woodham), who was a Satan-worshipper and was enraged at his former girlfriend, stabbed his bother to death and killed the ex-girlfriend and another student (Matera, 2001). He also killed his mother. He was a member of a gang called the Kroth (Matera, 2001). The second incident was in late 1997. The school rampages continued. In West Paducah, Kentucky on December 1, Michael Carneal barged in on a prayer meeting of 40 students before school and shot 8 students, killing 3 (McCloskey, 2017; Metera, 2001). Michael Carneal arrived at school with his sister, Kelly. Newman and her colleagues describe what then happened. Completely unaware of Michael’s lethal preparations, the Heath High School prayer group, an unofficial gathering of twenty or thirty Christian students, joined hands in a circle and waited for their leader, Luke Fallon, to call them to prayer. Athletes, band members, ‘brainy’ students bound for college, and the less academically inclined, bowed their heads to thank the Lord and ask for a good day in the name of Jesus. The last ‘Amens’ echoed around the circle as Michael assumed a firing stance. (Newman et al., 2004, p. 4)

Newman (2004, p. 5) and her colleagues continued by stating: Jessica James, a senior who played flute in the school band, a devoted member of Agape (a Christian fellowship group), and a strong student, died on the lobby floor, despite the frantic efforts of teachers to administer CPR to her for over an hour. Kayce Steger, a fifteenyear-old softball enthusiast, an active participant in the Twelfth Street Baptist Church, and a future police officer, died in the emergency room. She had refused a date with Michael only a month before. Nicole Hadley, a fourteen-year-old member of the school band and the freshman basketball team, was kept on life support for the rest of the day as her distraught family waited…. Nicole had become a good friend of Michael’s and a frequent visitor to the Carneal family home. Nicole’s doctors turned the ventilators off shortly after 10 p.m.; she died almost immediately. (Newman et al., 2004, p. 5)

Third, 14 year-old Joseph Todd shot two students in Stamps, Arkansas just two weeks after the West Paducah, Kentucky shooting.

1.7 The Jonesboro School Shooting Fourth, one of the most publicized shootings before Columbine was in March, 1998 in Jonesboro (Stamps), Arkansas (Matera, 2001). At this locale two boys, ages 11 and 14, opened fire on the school students killing four classmates and a teacher and wounding ten other students (Matera, 2001). The boys stated that their motive was that they wanted to scare people (Matera, 2001). This incident received a tremendous amount of publicity for a number of reasons that include: it took place in the open air

1.7 The Jonesboro School Shooting

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where the carnage could easily be televised, the disturbing nature of the children’s motives, and the extent of the injuries. The morning of the school shooting Mitchell Johnson and Andrew Golden “skipped school” (Newman et al., 2004, p. 11). “Mitchell missed the school bus and told his mother that his stepfather, Terry Woodard, who had actually already left for work, would give him a ride to Westside (p. 11).” Mitchell stole his father’s van and, since he was underaged, drove with great difficulty to Andrew Golden’s house. They then stole guns belonging to Andrew’s father. As Newman (Newman et al., 2004, p. 5) and her colleagues note: Within minutes of the alarm bell sounding, the boys unleashed thirty shots and hit fifteen people. Stephanie Johnson, age twelve, a math whiz and a devoted member of the Full Gospel Pentecostal Church, was pronounced dead on the scene. Eleven-year-old Natalie Brooks, a straight-A student who planned to become an astronomer, died at St. Bernard’s Hospital. So did Paige Ann Herring, a hazel-eyed sixth grader whom teachers and fellow students called ‘the peace-maker,’ and Brittney Varner, described by her family as dainty, fragile, and wildly in love with her eight-month-old baby brother.

Some social scientists hypothesize that the extent that the media covered the Jonesboro massacre resulted in copy-cat effect (Coleman, 2004). The day after this incident a student shot himself in Coldwater, Michigan and six days after the Jonesboro incident a female student in Chapel Hill, North Carolina shot herself (Coleman, 2004). Furthermore, within two months after the Jonesboro shooting three major shootings took place. For example, on April 24, 1998 a boy shot his teacher (Coleman, 2004) and on May 19th, in Fayetteville, Tennessee a boy shot another boy who dated his ex-girlfriend (Coleman, 2004). Fifth, 14 year-old Andrew Wurst of Edinboro, Pennsylvania, killed a teacher and wounded three students at a school dance (Newman et al., 2004). The killing season of 1997–1998 concluded temporarily on May 21, when the 15 year-old Kip Kinkel killed his parents and then continued onto school and went on a “shooting spree” in the cafeteria in his Springfield, Oregon school. Two were killed and twenty-five were wounded (Coleman, 2004). Other school shootings occurred in Conyers, Georgia, Deming, New Mexico, Fort Gibson, Oklahoma, Mount Morris Township, Michigan, El Cajon, California, Santee, California, and Lake Worth, Florida (Matera, 2001).

1.8 The Columbine School Shooting Sixth, the most infamous school shooting episode occurred at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado (Brown & Merritt, 2002; Carlston, 2004; Scott & Nimmo, 2000; Zoba, 2000). In April, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold exploded 30 bombs and blasted 188 shots resulting in the death of 15 students and the wounding of 14 others (Matera, 2001). Their hideous acts actually fell well short of their goal because two massive 20-pound propane bombs in the cafeteria failed to detonate (Matera, 2001). Had they succeeded, “authorities believe that 488 people in the

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bustling lunchroom would have perished, as well as 56 who were quietly studying in the library one floor above” (Matera, 2001, p. 2). Harris and Klebold had 76 handmade pipe bombs and a vast array of semi-automatic guns and shotguns (Matera, 2001). Perhaps the most amazing aspect of the Columbine’s massacre is that there were so many warning signs to which people should have responded. Harris had a website that declared his beliefs and intentions. On his website Harris stated, “My belief is that if I say something, it goes. I am the law, if you don’t like it you die. If I don’t like you or I don’t like what you want me to do, you die” (Brown & Merritt, 2002, p. 84). He also stated, “I will rig up explosives all over a town and detonate each of them at will after I mow down the whole (expletive) area (Scott & Nimmo, 2000, p. 150). Harris wrote in Dylan’s handbook, “God I can’t wait until they die. I can taste the blood now… You know what I hate? MANKIND! Kill everything… Kill everything” (Brown & Merritt, 2002, p. 94).” Like many of the students involved in school shootings, Harris and Klebold loved the music of Marilyn Manson and played violent video games (Brown & Merritt, 2002). Football players also bullied them (Brown & Merritt, 2002). In addition, Eric was hurt by a girl he had once dated, and he sought revenge against her (Brown & Merritt, 2002). One student said, “Eric held grudges and never let them go” (Brown & Merritt, 2002, p. 75). Dr. Hervey Cleckley wrote the book, The Mask of Sanity, which is one of the all-time most popular books on the topic of the sociopathic personality. Cleckley declares very appropriately that for a narcissistic boy, an ordinary case of rejection or frustration can generate terribly violent responses, especially by killing those closest to him (Cleckley, 2016; Lieberman, 2006). Since Columbine, there has been an increase in the number of school shootings planned but a decrease in the percentage of those succeeding (Matera, 2001; Copeland, 2004). The failure of several of planned attacks is due largely to increased vigilance by school authorities, the FBI, international- police or -intelligence organizations, and the police. Some of the plans, if successful, would have made the Columbine shootings seem meager (Newman et al., 2004). For example, officers of the law intercepted an e-mail the day before a planned series of multiple explosions and shootings that, if successful, would have blown up an entire school in New Bedford, Massachusetts in 2001 (Newman et al., 2004). In addition to these actions, the U.S. Congress reacted in a responsible, albeit perhaps insufficient way (Newman et al., 2004). Newman and her colleagues (2004, p. ix) note, “In 1999 the House of Representatives added a provision to the ‘Missing, Runaway, and Exploited Children’s Act’ requiring the U.S. Department of Education to study rampage shootings in schools. Representative James Greenwood, a Republican from eastern Pennsylvania who had previously been a social worker, asked the department for research that would explain why such tragedies were occurring in American communities that appeared to be safe.”

1.9 The School Shootings Continue

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1.9 The School Shootings Continue In spite of these actions to reduce the school shootings, it was apparent that politicians were not penetrating the root causes, because the school gun attacks continued. Santee, California- March 5, 2001- Charles Andrew “Andy” Williams, age 15, shot to death two students and wounded 13, “in and around a restroom at Santana High School (McCloskey, 2017, p. 7).” Red Lake, Minnesota, March 21, 2005- “Jeffrey Weise, age 16, shot to death five students and two adults, and injured seven, at Red Lake Senior High School. He later killed himself. Earlier the boy killed his grandfather and his grandfather’s girlfriend (McCloskey, 2017, p. 7; O’Toole, 2013).” Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, October 2, 2006- “Charles Roberts kept 10 girls hostage at an Amish school, then killed 5 girls, before committing suicide.” Chardon, Ohio, February 27, 2012- Thomas Lane, age 17, went into the cafeteria at Chardon High School shooting randomly, killing 3 students and wounding 2 others (McCloskey, 2017). Newtown, Connecticut, December, 14, 2012, Adam Peter Lanza, 20, went into Sandy Hook Elementary School, shot and killed 20 first graders and 6 adults, then killed himself. “Prior to the school shooting, he shot and killed his mother in her home (McCloskey, 2017, p. 7).”

1.10 More Recent Shootings The 2010s only increased the frequency with which these shootings took place (Allen, 2019). Among the places where school shootings took place was the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (April 30, 2019). In Suzano, Brazil (March 13, 2019) two former students at the Professor Raul Brasil State School, Guilherme Taucci Monteiro and Luiz Henrique de Castro, went to the school and started firing on the students. They killed 5 students, 2 teachers, themselves, and wounded 11. They killed Monteiro’s uncle, just before coming to school. In Kerch of the Crimea a student at Kerch Polytechnic, Vladislav Rosly was the assailant (October 17, 2018). He brought a shotgun with 150 rounds of ammunition. He killed 20 students and staff and wounded 70 others. He was a big fan of the Columbine killers Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris (Nemtsova, 2018). The state of Texas had a very rough year when in the same year (2018) that Hurricane Harvey occurred on May 18th in Sante Fe, Texas, a student at Sante Fe High School, Dimitrius Pagourtzis, killed 10 and wounded 13. Pagourtzis also planned to use explosives, which likely would have made the attack considerably more devastating, but fortunately they did not detonate. This was especially shocking to Texans, because for quite a number of years, Texas had not had a major shooting. With this in mind, it was especially shocking to the state’s residents to have this shooting in May, when they had just had a huge church shooting in Sutherland

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Springs (November 5, 2017). In that Sutherland Springs attack, Devin Kelley killed 26 and wounded 20 others. He was killed by a civilian gunman on the scene. He then crashed his car and then committed suicide. Due to the fact that he was courtmartialed from the Airforce, Kelley was barred from being able to obtain firearms. However, even with that in place, he was still able to obtain guns. On October 20, 2017 an unnamed student brought a pistol to class in Goiania Goias, Brazil. He killed two and injured four. The aggressor attempted suicide but a teacher brought him down. He said that he was “inspired” by other school shootings in the U.S. and Brazil (New York Times, 2017). On January 15, 2017 a student at Colegio Americano del Noreste in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico brought a handgun to class and shot a number of classmates and then himself. Three weeks before the Parkland, Florida shooting on January 23, 2018 Gabe Parker, a sophomore student at Marshall County High School in Kentucky attended school and started shooting in the school lobby (Chalmers, 2009; Wikipedia, 2019e). He killed two students, wounded 16 by gunfire and 4 more by other means. An unidentified student informed a teacher who called law enforcement. After the shooting Parker was asked why he launched the shooting. He said “he was an atheist and had his life had no purpose and that other people’s lives also had no purpose (Wikipedia, 2019e).” Parker also enjoyed reading extreme political literature. After his arrest, in his bag was found the Communist Manifesto and at home he had a copy of Mein Kampf (Wikipedia, 2019e). Four students waited in the parking lot of June Jordan’s School for Equity and City Arts and Technology High School in San Francisco. When the end of the school day came they fired on the youth coming out of their classrooms, injuring 4 students. (October 16, 2016). June 1 in Los Angeles, on UCLA, a week before finals a gunman killed Professor Klug, who had two children. October 1, 2015 at Umpqua Community College, a gunman opened fire killing 9 and wounding 7 in Roseburg, Oregon. On October 24, 2014 Jaylen Ray Fryberg, a popular freshman at Marysville-Pilchuck High School, rattled off bullets from his gun in the school cafeteria, killing two students and wounding 3 others, before committing suicide. In Sparks, Nevada on October 21, 2013 a middle-school student shot and killed a math teacher at the middle school. Then, in the presence of the other students, he shot and killed himself (Infoplease, 2020). In Toulouse, France on March 19, 2012 Mohammed Merah, a France man of Algerian descent, shot and killed a rabbi, two of his children, and another child at a Jewish school (Infoplease, 2020).

1.11 Reasons for the Shootings Those who instigated these crimes were clearly disturbed and angry people. Nevertheless, the causes of them being disturbed and angry varied (Newman, 2004). Many of the students were infatuated with guns and violence (Coleman, 2004; Mantera, 2001). Some were bullied or teased (Newman, 2004). Others recently had their

1.11 Reasons for the Shootings

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girlfriends break up with them (Coleman, 2004; Matera, 2001; Brown & Merritt, 2002). Others received a failing grade at school (Newman, 2004). Some of the students just simply wanted to scare people and get reactions (Newman, 2004). Generally speaking, the habits of the shooters had more commonalities than differences (Newman, 2004). The students tended to idolize guns, and listened to and watched media that condoned violence (Brown & Merritt, 2002; Newman, 2004). However, Newman (2004) notes that all the students tended to be low on the totem pole of the student hierarchy.

1.12 How Widespread is Juvenile Violence and Crime The school shootings that have gained so much publicity since 1996 have caused Americans, Europeans, Asians, South Americans, and Africans to take a closer look at the extent of juvenile violence and crime. As was mentioned earlier, it is unfortunate that it took these rural and suburban massacres to inform parents of the problem. In reality, the increase in school and teenage violence really began to surge in the 1960s, but then the incidents were in urban areas almost exclusively (Kopka, 1997). Consequently, many Americans shrugged off the significance of such incidents by stating that events like this happened only in “bad” areas and then often proceeded to move to the suburbs (Kopka, 1997). Teenagers are generally not as malicious as they are portrayed to be on the evening news nor are most schools as hazardous as they are sometimes depicted. Nevertheless, there are some troubling statistics. First, there are generally over 400,000 incidents of crime per year on America’s school campuses (Burns et al., 1998; Shepherd, 2018). Research studies differ on whether schools are safer than home and communities or not (Center for Disease Control and Prevention; Snyder & Sickmund, 1995). Nevertheless, the debate about whether schools are safer than other places is largely irrelevant because many conflicts that begin on campus, are resolved off school grounds. Juvenile crime has considerable deleterious effects whether they start in the classroom or both begin and conclude in the school. Each year school campuses report about 200,000–253,000 serious violent crimes against students (Kaufman et al., 2000; Shepherd, 2018). Serious violent crimes are defined as aggravated assault (Kaufman et al., 2000; Shepherd, 2018). The National Education Association estimates that each school day, 160,000 miss school in order to avoid students who wish to do physical harm to them at school (Lal, Lal, & Achilles, 1993; Shepherd, 2018). Evidence suggests that the greater predictors of whether it is likely that there will be violence on a school campus are the presence of gangs in the school and whether drug pushers disseminate drugs in school (Kaufman et al., 2000; Lal et al., 1993; Shepherd, 2018). This is especially troubling because as early as the 8th grade 11% of American school children admit they are in a gang and that percentage is much higher if one examines just boys in the sample (Esbensen & Deschenes, 1998; Shepherd, 2018). In addition, about one-third of American students state that drug pushers have either sold or offered them illegal drugs on campus (Kaufman et al.,

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2000; Shepherd, 2018). Although school shootings are rare, violence in the schools and disciplinary problems are common. President Clinton’s Gun Free Schools Act, was designed to inaugurate a Zero Tolerance Policy toward student possession of guns and other weapons (Clinton, 1995; Coleman, 2004). Schools became much more aggressive in implementing this policy once the school shootings became more common in the suburbs in 1996 (Casella, 2003; Coleman, 2004). However, social scientists are mixed in their assessment of this Zero Tolerance Policy. Some of them claim that it reduces school violence, but others assert that it indiscriminately results in the expulsion of countless youth whose parents accidentally drop a kitchen knife in the car and so forth (Casella, 2003).

1.13 Possible Solutions to School Shootings The remaining chapters will spend a good deal of time discussing solutions, but it is helpful to at least address some of the most common ones propounded. Two of the most common solutions to school shootings that social scientists and national leaders propose are gun control and character education. There is no question that there are a lot of guns in the United States. In fact, although estimates vary, there are about as many guns as people in the nation (Egendorf, 2002; Gahr, 2002). Guns are relatively easy to obtain and on this basis, many people argue that the nation needs stricter gun control laws (Gahr, 2002). However, others argue that there are already laws on the books that should have prevented these adolescents from procuring guns (Armstrong, 2002). In spite of this fact, each of these students obtained guns. In fact, Eric Harris even made a video in which he proclaimed that gun laws could not have stopped him from obtaining guns (Scott & Nimmo, 2000). Gun control might well curb adult crime, but it is less certain whether gun control would reduce adolescent crime. Another suggestion is to reintroduce character education in the schools. When character instruction had a much more prominent role in American education, teachers taught more actively about love, the golden rule, forgiveness, managing anger, and not picking on anyone who is different for any reason (Coleman, 2004). Those who advocate this position believe that increasing the number of metal detectors, zero-tolerance programs, and other initiatives only deal with the symptoms of the problem, when it is the condition of the human heart that must be addressed. A third suggestion that some educators favor is reducing school size. Virtually all the school shootings occurred at large schools. For example, Columbine High School was greatly expanded to become a school of 2000 shortly before the shootings (Carlston, 2004). As is discussed in Chapter 7, there are also some academic reasons why some educators argue that the nation should reduce school size. The issue of how to reduce the school shootings has become a key educational debate as a result of the school violence. It is extremely rare for school shootings to take place at small schools. Pupils are far more likely to feel alienated, isolated, and alone at large

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schools (Jeynes, 2007a; Royer & Debarbieux, 2003). These frustrated students are also more likely to perceive their fellow students as mere cogs in a giant societal machine that is too much for the troubled students to handle. In such a twisted mental rubric, the students at the prodigious school are more likely to be perceived by the troubled student as numbers more than the individuals with hearts and feelings that they really are. McCluskey (2017, p. 143) notes that “affiliations and alienation were widely mentioned as connected to school violence.” Large schools create an impersonal atmosphere that may lead to a student feeling lost (Cho, 2001). Unfortunately, there are a lot of large schools, especially at the high school level, with an incredible amount of square footage, colossal athletic facilities, and many students attending. From the exterior, these schools look like impressive architectural accomplishments. Many of them now rest in areas that are now called the inner cities and suburbs. Many of them were built in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s when the thinking was “bigger is better” in education. The belief was that if a city had architectural masterpieces with large students bodies that could produce substantial student demand for classes, that could make it possible for a wide range of elective classes to be offered. This impressive assortment of electives was the ideal, according to education reformers such as John Dewey, James Conant (the President of Harvard University), and their followers (Jeynes, 2007a). These reformers meant well, but by focusing on large schools, however, they operated on the “industrial model” of education that emphasized that industrialization, especially via the assembly line, had changed Western society (Bagley, 1915; Dupuis, 1966; Lawson & Lean, 1964; Martin, 2002; Strauss, 1968). Now, in order to function efficiently, according to Dewey, in order for most aspects of society to work most effectively, there had to be an understanding that everyone was now a specialist. Regarding education, the teacher was now the instructional specialist (Bagley, 1915; Dupuis, 1966; Lawson & Lean, 1964; Martin, 2002; Strauss, 1968). This approach, advocated by Dewey and Conant, may have worked for a time and had good intentions. However, as many large schools were erected in the America’s most urbanized areas in the 1950s and 1960s, many students felt alienated. By around 1963 urban school shootings soared. To many, it was heartbreaking because the shootings often occurred at what were high schools with gorgeous architecture, but unfortunately were not fully appreciated by the students who were feeling increasingly isolated, frustrated, and like cogs in a large industrial machine (Crews, 1998; Doinick, 1998; Egan, 2002). Today many of the largest school buildings in the United States were built during that era, which clearly were architectural works of art in their heyday of the 1950s and 1960s, but did not create the atmosphere of intimacy, connection, and personal access that students so desperately need. As a result, these beautiful campuses decayed from neglect. Increasingly, they became the locale of school shootings. In the 1960s and 1970s large school buildings were in vogue in the suburbs. Again, while the reformers had fine intentions in promoting the construction of large schools especially to enhance the offerings of electives, a feeling of student alienation and isolation ensued. By the mid-1990s, school shootings in America’s suburbs and heartland were commonplace (Allen, 2019; Chalmers, 2009).

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Large schools are not the foremost part of the problem, but the data indicate that they are a component of the problem (Allen, 2019; Chalmers, 2009). It is ironic that so many people are aware of the fact that being in small class sizes is good for student academic and behavioral outcomes, but they are not cognizant of the fact that small school sizes have such a prodigious impact. One of the reasons why people are often not aware of the difference is because the same schools that have small class sizes also tend to be small overall. Many religious private schools, in particular, emphasize having small class sizes and low enrollment overall (Chalmers, 2009; Jeynes, 2012a). They often attract students on the basis of emphasizing individual attention (Jeynes, 2008b; 2012a). Although these faith-based schools maintain this emphasis, because of its academic value, the advantages appear to be at least just as great for violent pupil behavior as they are for the scholastic benefits (Jeynes, 2012a). The extent of these advantages appear to have worked well for Christian and other faith-based schools, because one of the primary reasons why families send their children to these schools is because they want to get their children away from the violence, the gangs, the racism, and the drugs (Jeynes, 2002g). Naturally, if large schools already exist, it certainly is not a wise use of funds to demolish portions of existing schools. Therefore, one of the actions that schools and law enforcement have taken is that U.S. schools now spend close to three billion dollars a year on security (Schentrup, 2020). It is possible that more school security and a greater police presence could reduce school shootings, but it is disappointing that school shootings have continued to rise, even though for the last twenty or more years, efforts to increase school security have surged.

1.14 A Comprehensive Approach is Needed In the following chapters other solutions will be examined. However, the readers should keep in mind that the goal of this book is to point out that it is a comprehensive approach to the school shooting problem that is needed. That just like with an old V8 automobile, all the spark plugs and cylinders need to be pumping in order to have the maximum impact. Just how many mass school shootings there have been is difficult to determine, because there is no one universally accepted definition of a mass shooting. Some say it is 4 dead, but then again should people overlook the injured or the near misses in any given definition? School shootings are often defined by a shooting being on school grounds only during school hours or plus or minus 15 minutes, when classes are in session. However, (1) events at school often cause later shootings. Then what aggressive students do, to minimize their chances of being apprehended, is they often commit heinous acts just off school grounds. Should those events not be counted? Also should not major injuries count and near misses in school shootings? However, if there are no deaths, school shootings are not counted as school shootings. One conclusion from all of this is certain, there are scores upon scores of school shootings that most any individual with any degree of objectivity would count as a

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school shooting. Nevertheless, because either no one was killed, the culprits planned it to be just barely off school grounds in order to enhance the chances of success, or it took place at the school but was more than 15 minutes before or after classes, are not included as a school shooting. What, of course, this means is that the school shooting problem is considerably worse than what it appears.

1.15 Some of the Most Horrific School Shootings in United States History Aside from the overview of the timeline of shootings given earlier, it is helpful to focus on the United States in this particular section. The United States has had the largest number of school shootings or attacks and one of the most, even on a per capita basis. Going over this list will include a number of the most horrific school attacks, most of which will be examined from different angles a number of times in this book and will help establish a proper context for the remaining chapters of this book. This list and summary of each U.S. event will be followed a list and summary of the most shocking school attacks outside the U.S. Once again, this will also help establish context and understanding. 1. Virginia Tech University Shooting- April 16, 2007- Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people and injured 17 more in two separate attacks, one in a co-ed dormitory and the other in the Engineering Science and Mechanics Building. He was previously diagnosed with severe anxiety disorder. Cho eventually committed suicide after the shooting (Roy, 2009). 2. Sandy Hook Shooting- 20 twenty-year-old Adam Peter Lanza was guilty of perhaps the largest senseless school shooting in American history on December 14, 2012. It took place in Newtown, Connecticut. Lanza killed his mother and then went to the school and killed 26 and injured 2 others. The majority of the victims were between 5 and 10 years old. He committed suicide upon the completion of the attack. There was no motive given nor uncovered from the shooting (Finley, 2014; Steinkoler, 2017; Weatherby, 2018). 3. Parkland Shooting- Nikolas Cruz on February 14, 2018 used a semi-automatic rifle to go on a shooting spree at Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. He killed 17 and wounded 17 others. It is the deadliest high school shooting in American history. In spite of the fact that the police were called out to his home 45 times, Cruz threatened the lives of many, and Cruz introduced himself as the next school shooter, no real preventative action was taken (Pollack & Eden, 2019). 4. Columbine High School Shooting- Eric Harris (age 18) and Dylan Klebold (age 17)- It created debate about violent video games, anti-depressant drugs, etc. They practiced a long time for the attacks, as is documented in their “basement tapes.” They used their illegally obtained guns to do target practice in preparation. They taunted people for their belief in Christianity and cracked jokes, while they

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were doing the shooting. They killed 13 and injured 24. The committed suicide in the library together (Langman, 2010). Enoch Brown School Shooting- One of the first documented schools shootings in America. On July 26, 1764 four Lenape Native Americans entered a settler’s schoolhouse in Delaware where they massacred the schoolmaster Enoch Brown and 9 school children. The victims were shot and scalped. Two children survived the attack and 4 others were kidnapped and taken as prisoners (McClusky, 2017; Wikipedia, 2018). Christopher Harper-Mercer on October 1, 2015 committed a shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon. He was anti-religious and had longterm mental health issues. Some hypothesize that it was his falling grades, below a C average, which put him at risk for suspension, that affected his behavior. He killed eight students and one professor. He committed suicide afterward (McCluskey, 2017). Red Lake Shootings- At Red Lake Indian Reservation- March 21, 2005. Jeffrey Weise killed his grandfather (a tribal police officer) and his girlfriend. He stole his grandfather’s police weapons and bullet proof vest. He killed 7 and wounded 5, afterward. Counting his suicide, 10 lives were taken that day. Witnesses indicated that Weise smiled while shooting and asked people about their faith, before he shot them (McCluskey, 2017). West Nickel Mines Shootings- October 2, 2006- Charles Carl Roberts was a milk-tank truck driver opened fire on an Amish schoolhouse in Bart Township, Pennsylvania. He asked all the boys and parents to leave. There remained 10 girls and he held them hostage. Sisters Mariah and Barbara Fisher, ages 13 and 11, courageously asked to be shot first in exchange for the lives of the other young girls. Some of the other girls were as young as six. Roberts killed Mariah and wounded Barbara. In addition, he shot 8 of the 10 girls remaining, killing 5 (McCluskey, 2017).

1.16 Some of the Most Shocking Foreign Shootings 1. Dunblane School Massacre, UK- March 13, 1996, 16 killed, Thomas Hamilton killed 15 children and 1 adult, before killing himself. This incident led to a ban on the private ownership of handguns in the UK. Hamilton was a former shopkeeper. He entered Dunblane Primary School (Fulton, 2016; Great Britain Parliament, 2007). 2. Cologne School Massacre, Germany- June 11, 1964, Walter Seifert, attacked at an elementary school. Result: 8 students and 2 teachers were killed. Seifert used a homemade flamethrower. He also had a lance. Twenty-two injured were injured (Hoffmann & Roshdi, 2013). Seifert then poisoned himself and died. He had received psychiatric help, but the doctor who tended to him reported that he had no desire to become normal. His doctor diagnosed him as a “paranoid schizophrenic” and shared that he was a scheming individual (Hoffmann & Roshdi, 2013). Seifert

1.16 Some of the Most Shocking Foreign Shootings

3.

4.

5.

6.

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both told his brother and drew pictures of his ultimate plans, i.e., to kidnap girls and hold them captive in a cellar and use them whenever he pleased. With this in mind, it is no surprise that Seifert chose an all girl’s school to do his attack and that all the victims were female (Hoffmann & Roshdi, 2013). At Gutenburg Gymnasium in Erfurt, Germany- Robert Steinhauser committed his murders on April 26, 2002. The casualties were very similar to Columbine’s, which had taken place just a few years before. The results of the shooting were 16 dead, including 13 faculty, 2 students, and 1 police officer killed (Bockler et al., 2013a; Heitmeyer et al., 2013; Hoffmann & Roshdi, 2013; Noack, 2018; Roy, 2009). One teacher named Reiner Heise, pushed him into a room and is considered a hero, because it was there that Steinhauser’s killing spree ended and he committed suicide (Bockler et al., 2013a; Heitmeyer et al., 2013; Hoffmann & Roshdi, 2013). There were twin School shootings in Finland- which together killed 19 and injured 20. The attacks occurred November 7, 2007 and September 23, 2008. The schools were at Jokela High School and Seinajoki University of Applied Sciences. At the former, 19 year old Pekka-Eric Auvinen posted his intentions on YouTube (Oksanen et al., 2013). Matti Juhani Saari committed the university shooting. They both committed suicide (Bockler et al., 2013a; Oksanen et al., 2013). Neither of these two shootings was the first such shooting in Finland. That was in 1989 when a fourteen year old at Raumanmeri Secondary School in Rauma, Finland, shot and killed two students, using a gun from his father (Oksanen et al., 2013). Another horrific shooting took place at Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal, Canada. On December 6, 1989 Marc Lepine shot about 28 people before killing himself. He focused on killing women, since he felt that feminists had ruined his life. He killed 14 (Bockler et al., 2013a). Other shootings in Canada include a fourteen year old killing one and injuring one in Taber, Alberta in 1999. In addition, Kimveer Gill used a semi-automatic weapon to open fire on students at Dawson College in Montreal. In the latter attack, one was killed and over a dozen were wounded (Bockler et al., 2013a; Infoplease, 2020). In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on April 7, 2011- Wellington Oliveira entered into Tassa de Sileira Municipal Elementary School and killed a bunch of 12–14 year olds (Bockler et al., 2013a). He shot the boys only to immobilize them, but shot the girls to kill them. Twelve people died. He was a 23 year old, who was a former member of the school (Bockler et al., 2013a). In January of 2017 in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico- a student named Federico Guevara Elzondo went on a shooting spree killing one teacher and three students. He also later killed himself (Wikipedia, 2019b).

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1.17 American School Attacks Initiated by Adults (Which is Not the Emphasis of This Book) 1. Bath School- A school board treasurer, Andrew Kehoe- on May 18, 1927 killed 38 elementary school students and 6 adults, when he set off an explosion at Bath Township Elementary School in Michigan (Barton, 2020). Kenoe killed his wife and firebombed the school, and then killed himself by detonating a device at his school (Barton, 2020). 2. A 43 year old adult opened fire on students at the Korean Christian College called Oikos University in Oakland, California. He killed 7 and injured 3 on April 2, 2012. 3. At California State University, Fullerton on July 12, 1976 a custodian, Edward Charles Allaway, opened fire, killing 6.

1.18 Other Mass Shootings Not Covered in Detail 1. An apparent lone gunman, Stephen Paddock fired on a crowd of 22,000 killing 58 and injuring nearly 700. Witnesses say that the gunshots lasted for between ten to fifteen minutes. 2. In a likely act of terrorism, Omar Saddiqui Mateen opened fire at Pulse, a gay nightclub. 49 were killed and more than 50 injured. 3. Additionally, in San Bernardino, California, Syed Rizwan and Tashfeen Malik killed 14 after launching an attack on an employee gathering at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California, in another terrorist shooting (Clarke & Serena, 2017). 4. Probably the most brutal and horrendous school massacre in history took place in Beslan Massacre, Russia. It was a terrorist attack and hostage crisis. It resulted in 385 dead and 783 injured on September 1, 2004. On September 1, 2004 terrorists took control of School One. For 3 days they took 1100 people hostage, including 777 children under the age of 18. They mined the school with explosives. The terrorists did not allow the hostages to have any food or water nor any medicine for their wounds, if they were injured. 5. In the Ma’alot Massacre in Israel, Palestine Liberation Terrorists, on May 15, 1974, went to Netiv Meir Elementary School and took 115 schoolchildren hostage, which included 105 children on a 3-day field trip. The students were forced to sit on the floor at gunpoint, with explosive charges between them. The hostage situation continued for 2 days. 22 of the children died and 68 were injured, with grenades and automatic weapons. Overall, 25 died.

1.19 Concluding Thoughts for This Chapter

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1.19 Concluding Thoughts for This Chapter The school shooting problem is global and is heartbreaking. It is especially emotionally draining for the families, friends, and communities, as well as for the nation, as a whole, because the children are so young and just beginning life. The good news is that by applying a comprehensive strategy to address this issue, there is hope that there can be a major decline in these shootings. In order to uncover these solutions, a good place to look is to examine the commonalities among these shooters.

Chapter 2

What Are Some of the Commonalties of the School Shootings?

This chapter examines the primary commonalities that often exist among the shooters, which is essential, because knowing these commonalities can save lives. It is this fact that the reader needs to remember. The societies of the world need to wrestle in earnest, with no guile, with these commonalties. If this is done faithfully, it will save lives. According to Hobbs and Dapena (2018), even excluding college shootings, since 1990 in the United States there has been an average of more than one shooting a year that has involved the death of more than three people. This does not even include shooting with one or two deaths and a dozen or more injuries (Hobbs & Dapena, 2018). Moreover, increasingly school shootings are becoming much more common in most continents around the world (Allen, 2019).

2.1 It Is Not Wise to Obersimplify the Commonalities 2.1.1 Some of the Commonalities It should be noted that this chapter will not oversimplify the commonalties. That is, there is no one commonality that emerges in every case (Newman et al., 2004). However, those students committing these acts of violence often have family problems, a fascination with guns and violence, anger management issues, have had a recent major setback, e.g., a breakup with a girlfriend or receiving a failing grade at school, and have been influenced by others committing acts of violence (Brown & Merritt, 2002; Coleman, 2004; Matera, 2001; Newman et al., 2004; Yuko, 2019). Issues such as bullying, inaction by school administrators in spite of warning signs, and violent video games will also be examined (Hakala, 2019). Admittedly, to the extent that identifying commonalties for the reasons just mentioned is important, it is also true that one must careful from who one obtains the information, because there are some who are not especially objective and have an agenda to highlight an extremely narrow interpretation of the school shootings © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 W. H. Jeynes, Reducing School Shootings, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66549-4_2

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themselves, with only one solution highlighted (Horowitz, 2015; Muschert, 2013; Muschert & Sumiala, 2015). They claim that they are especially intrigued and putting much effort into determining causes and solutions, but in the end they emphasize one cause and solution as gargantuan but conveniently dismiss any other solution as diminutive (Chalmers, 2009; Horowitz, 2015; Muschert, 2013; Muschert & Sumiala, 2015). For example, some may emphasize one particular problem such as how Hollywood values undermine right thinking and civilized behavior (Chalmers, 2009; Horowitz, 2015; Medved, 1992). They then go on to say that it is the only solution. To be sure, this is a large factor, but it is not the only one (Chalmers, 2009; Horowitz, 2015; Muschert, 2013; Muschert & Sumiala, 2015). Then, these people will add that the shooters generally did not suffer from mental illness (Shamus, 2019). However, the problem with this assertion is that few mentally ill youth are diagnosed as such when they are pre-adolescents or adolescents. Such a diagnosis is usually reserved for adults and is a last resort for teens (Chalmers, 2009; Pollack & Eden, 2019). Almost always, counselors, parents, and educators look for every other possible explanation to help understand pre-adolescent and adolescent behavior, before they conclude that a teen should be diagnosed as mentally ill (Chalmers, 2009; Pollack & Eden, 2019). Moreover, traditionally, most people would agree that individuals who engage in the behavior of mercilessly gunning down people, killing large numbers of people, is almost by definition an act done by someone who is mentally ill. To somehow pretend it is somehow in the realm of mental normality would appear to most Americans as disingenuous and extremely insensitive to the victims.

2.1.2 Next to Coming from a Troubled Family Situation, Breaking Up with a Girlfriend Was Perhaps the Most Frequent Commonality Outside of coming from a troubled family situation, often from a non-traditional family structure, breaking up with a girlfriend was perhaps most frequent commonality that existed among the shooters (Brown & Merritt, 2002; Coleman, 2004; Matera, 2001; Newman et al., 2004). For example, Mitchell Johnson, of the Jonesboro shooting, had been dating eleven year-old Candace Porter. Newman and her co-writers (2004) state, “When Candace Porter…who was wounded in the shooting, broke up with Mitchell only a few weeks before the rampage, he took it very hard, moping around and denouncing her. He was apprehensive about the impact of this breakup on his reputation, worried that Candace would tell other girls that she had dumped him (p. 37).” Mitchell Johnson’s foremost difficulty with girls is that he expected too much from them in the relationship, given that they tended to be of such a tender age usually about thirteen. He wanted to “go steady” with each of them and talk about marriage (p. 37). He even wanted them to wear his ring. Chris Johnson recalled

2.1 It Is Not Wise to Obersimplify the Commonalities

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that, “two of the girls that were shot would not go out with [Mitchell] (p. 37).” The sense of rejection from girls that Mitchell felt may have gone quite deep and this may be evident in the fact that “all the of dead students were girls (p. 37).” Some psychiatrists have hypothesized that the fact that Mitchell Johnson was raped by an older boy, when he was young may have caused him to question whether he could attract girls. Adding to the sense that Mitchell likely could have been affected by the rape is that he was charged with molesting a two year old girl.

2.1.3 Another Commonality: There Many Warning Signs That Went Unheeded Another of the greatest commonalties in the shootings is that there were signs or there would have been signs had people chosen to open their eyes that something very violent was about to happen. To elaborate, what is meant by this statement is that the signs were there and clearly visible or the signs were there and, in general, people or society chose not to investigate, when investigation was clearly warranted. What is especially of concern is that the most infamous school shootings, which are generally the largest, were the ones with the greatest number of signs. In the case of Columbine, there was actually a website sharing about the shooters’ (Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold) hatred of humanity, their desire for blood to be flowing in the streets, and warning that anyone who dared oppose them would pay with their lives (Andone, 2018; Ashford, 2019; Brown & Merritt, 2002; Chalmers, 2009). How authorities could not take action in the midst of such threats is absolutely mindboggling. Countless students had been complaining for a year and a half prior to the shooting that they were being bullied and threatened by the future shooters, i.e., the trench-coat mafia, and these students believed they were in danger. Prior run-ins with the police by the shooters were quickly and lightly dealt with by the police (Andone, 2018; Ashford, 2019; Brown & Merritt, 2002; Chalmers, 2009; Langman, 2010; Pollack & Eden, 2019). In a Barcelona, Spain school massacre, although a gun was not used, Porta, a thirteen year old pupil, killed a teacher and four students with a crossbow and machete (BBC, 2015). There were countless signs that Porta was going to conduct this attack, because he shared countless times that he was going to kill a “blacklist” of about twenty people; and Porta became well known for threatening, bullying, and verbally attacking these twenty people (BBC, 2015). Another commonality emerged in that some of the shooters enjoyed drawing attention to themselves and the atrocity they were planning to commit. For example, Nikolas Cruz, of the Parkland, Florida High School shooting, would introduce himself as being a school shooter (Andone, 2018). Andrew Pollack, the primary author of Why Meadow Died, and father of Meadow, who died in the shooting, believes that various unfathomable school activities seek to protect the pupils who engage in frighteningly loathsome behavior and overlook the needs of victims, bear

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a large amount of the responsibility (Pollack & Eden, 2019). Pollack declared, “In ways I never could have imagined, what happened here matters far beyond the city limits of Parkland, Florida. That is because of the Broward County school district was ground zero for a dangerous new approach to school safety that has taken root nationwide (p. xiv).” The school policy, as Pollack described it, was to go very light in disciplining particular who were frequently threatening students and causing trouble. Pollack and Eden (2019) assert that this policy essentially established a strategy to overlook threats and warmings. Unfortunately, this approach caused many people to lose their lives unnecessarily. The killer at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012, Adam Lanza, also gave many indications something was terribly wrong. One woman overhead Lanza say that he was going to kill his mother and countless children at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown (Finley, 2014; Steinkoler, 2017; Weatherby, 2018). She added that Adam Lanza’s mother was scared to death of him, because he had an assault weapon and would threaten to kill (Finley, 2014; Steinkoler, 2017; Weatherby, 2018). The woman called the police to inform them about the threats, but they would not take action. The person told the FBI that Adam Lanza never accepted the fact that he had Asperger’s Syndrome, and never took the medicine he was prescribed. An acquaintance of his told investigators that Adam kept a huge spreadsheet recording the intricate details of hundreds of mass shootings. The warnings were numerous. If only someone had listened and acted accordingly. Then the lives of twenty-six students and teachers could have been saved (Finley, 2014; Steinkoler, 2017; Weatherby, 2018).

2.1.4 The Contribution of Mental Illness Hunter Pollack, the brother of Meadow (Pollack & Eden, 2019), made a speech in a March For Our Lives rally in March of 2018. He stated: The hatred and sickness that fuels a killer to kill innocent students is something most of us will never understand. But that doesn’t mean that it is something we can ignore. We need to be on a mission to stop these monsters before they take action inside our school. We must demand our leaders to help those who are sick. But we must also demand that they protect those of us who are not. (Pollack & Eden, 2019, p. xviii)

Dimitrious Pagourtzis, the school shooter at Sante Fe High School in Sante Fe, Texas, posted a picture of a Black T-shirt with the words “Born to Kill.” Just like the Columbine assailants loved trenchcoats and were known as the “trenchcoat mafia”, Dimitrious Pagourtzis wore trenchcoats. Sadly, it is often that parents, school officials, and law enforcement are much too docile when it comes to taking action based on a conglomeration of early signs that are not heeded including mental illness. However, mental illness often flies under the radar at such a young age (Chalmers, 2009). People are so hesitant about “judging youth” that they put students and teachers, etc. at risk (Chalmers, 2009; Pollack & Eden, 2019).

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2.1.5 The Place of Evil and the Worship of Evil A number of the attackers enjoyed using symbols that represented rebellion, evil, and death (Cassidy, 2018; Chalmers, 2009; Kennedy, 1997). The assailant at Pearl, Mississippi was a Satan worshipper and was involved in occult practices (Chalmers, 2009; Kennedy, 1997). “Michael Carneal of the West Paducah, Kentucky pupil prayer group shooting was fascinated with the occult” (Bowles, 1997, p. A1). Rafael Solich of the Argentina shooting wore Satanic images and clothes on his body and listened to music consistent with that belief system (Wikipedia, 2019a). Dimitrious Pagourtzis wore or used “hammer and sickle” symbols to recommend rebellion to further certain causes, a Baphomet which is an old ancient idol, but is also a modern day occultic figure (Cassidy, 2018) Dimitrious Pagourtzis also used a symbol of “the Rising Sun” to represent Japanese practices of Kamikaze and oppressing other nations, and Japanese colonialism/imperialism. The scenario surrounding the Pearl, Mississippi gun attack had some similarities to the West Paducah, Kentucky school shooting and the Dayton, Ohio shooting. The Dayton, Ohio shooting was committed by Conner Betts, who had finished school a few years earlier and he was a gunman who opened fire at a bar (Ashford, 2019). Nine died and twenty-seven were wounded, ranking it high on the list of shootings producing the most human physical pain. Betts was a pro-Satanist, an extreme leftist, and was a strong supporter of ANTIFA (Ashford, 2019). The fact that Betts kept a notebook, which detailed his beliefs including the statement “hail Lucifer” and entries sharing that he took methamphetamine were deeply disturbing (Ashford, 2019). Conner Betts also fantasized about massacres of people and called himself a sociopath (Ashford, 2019). In the notebook Betts states: “I am the servant of serpent evil incarnate, flesh consumer, light destroyer, fueled by hate, rage my strength, distrust my shield” (Ashford, 2019). A number of the school shootings, most infamously Columbine, were associated with what many would regard as morally destructive music such as Marilyn Manson (Guadette, 2017). Interestingly enough, the fascination that a number of the shooters had with Marilyn Manson, those that played with him, and those who played hard metal rock, horror punk, and similar forms of music went well beyond American borders, e.g., Rafael Solich (age 15) of Argentina and Morne Harmse of South Africa (Cartwright, 2013; CBS, 2004; Wikipedia, 2019a).

2.1.6 Bloody Video Games Another commonality is that a good number of shooters were addicted to bloody video games. Most U.S. Presidents who have been in office during a school shootings have asserted that they believe there is a connection between regularly viewing violent video games and initiating school shootings (Horton, 2019; Molina, 2013). Presidents Obama and Trump have been the most recent American leaders to call for more

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research examining the effects and also advocated that greater responsibility be taken by the makers of these games (Horton, 2019; Molina, 2013). The Virginia Tech shooting massacre by Seung-Hui Cho, killed 32 was in two locations and involved firing over 100 bullets. There were also so many people that were wounded that it is not clear just how many suffered in this way. For over a year and a half prior to the shooting Cho had a frequent history of threatening people, psychiatric counseling, suicidal tendencies, and frightening others (Roy, 2009). It is fitting that Lucinda Roy’s book on the Virginia Tech massacre is entitled, No Right to Remain Silent (2009), because the wisdom that is evident in the title really applies to all the shootings. Devin Kelley, although he attacked a church, in Texas, rather than a school, also had a history of both domestic issues and mental illness. An anonymous source shared that a month before the Sandy Hook shooting, Adam Lanza’s mother was concerned about him, because he would shut himself up in the house playing video games (Finley, 2014; Steinkoler, 2017; Weatherby, 2018). A large number of people communicated that Adam Lanzer was a loner and really did not have any friends (Finley, 2014; Steinkoler, 2017; Weatherby, 2018). One acquaintance of Lanza said that she played video games with him on a site dedicated to the 1999 Columbine shooting.

2.2 Society Must Not Delay Solutions When one hears of the horrific acts and attitudes of other human beings, there is unquestionably a natural tendency for human beings to resist the notion that people, especially pre-adolescents and adolescents could be capable of something so devilish (Shamus, 2019; Squires, 2012). On the one hand, this is a normal human response, at least initially. However, as one investigates the lives of these aggressors, one discovers that often the more recent school shooters many times looked up to and sometimes even idolized the shooters of the past (Peterson & Densley, 2019; Yuko, 2019). This reality is a reminder that although it is a human tendency to sweep the extent of the hatred, evil, and anger of these assailants under the carpet and look for ways to excuse their actions, it ends up delaying solutions. Making excuses for the behavior only delays solutions and ultimately unnecessarily costs the lives of more children. Society needs to do better. It is time to face reality. There are many evil people in the world and the children deserve protection from them. Often people can measure how civilized a culture is by the extent to which it protects the defenseless (George, 2014). Often, this means children. Moreover, the younger they are, the more defenseless they are (George, 2014).

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2.2.1 Findings of the “Violence Project”: Family and Mental Illness Issues at the Forefront Two of the leading researchers examining the commonalities of school shooters are Jillian Peterson and James Densley (Peterson & Densley, 2019). They jointly run the Violence Project, which is a think tank designed to reduce violence. The U.S. Department of Justice funded Peterson and Densley’s desire to identify commonalities (Peterson & Densley, 2019; Yuko, 2019). Of the commonalties that the school shooters have with one another, mental illness and coming from a non-intact family may be the two most prominent (Malcolm & Swearer, 2018). As John Malcolm and Amy Swearer (2018, p. 1) declare, “In addition to often exhibiting signs of increasingly violent and dysfunctional behavior, they are significantly more likely than the average population to suffer from undiagnosed or untreated mental illness, they often come from broken homes.” Regarding mental illness, there are some who claim that few of the shooters are diagnosed as being such before the school shooting (Shamus, 2019). However, such logic appears quixotic at best, because the overwhelming majority of diagnoses of mental illness occur when people are adults. It is highly unusual to reach such a strong conclusion during the pre-adolescent and adolescent years. Instead, even if there are problems, the parents, educators, and counselors examine every possible explanation before even considering anything that serious (Chalmers, 2009; Peterson & Densley, 2019; Pollack & Eden, 2019). The reality is, most Europeans, Americans, Asians, Africans, etc. would agree that if a youth commits that heinous and malicious an act of violence and even appears to enjoy it, there is something terribly wrong mentally (Chalmers, 2009; George, 2014). Dr. Peter Langman examined the lives of ten of the school shooters in some detail and found that the ten shooters fell into one of the three categories, with the idea that these three categories generally apply to the other shooters as well. The three categories are: (1) traumatized, (2) psychotic, and (3) psychopathic (Langman, 2009). 1. Traumatized—Three of the ten student shooters came from broken homes, where there was drug and/or alcohol abuse, and criminal behavior often including physical and psychological abuse against the child. There was also often sexual abuse against the child. 2. Psychotic—Half of the ten shooters examined were schizophrenic (Langman, 2009, 2010). 3. Psychopathic—Some of the shooters were extremely cold with no compassion. They were narcissistic, sadistic, and had no remorse over their behavior (Langman, 2009, 2010). In the case of the Parkland, Florida High School shooting by Nikolas Cruz, there were many warnings about Nikolas Cruz (Andone, 2018). Nikolas Cruz would introduce himself as being a school shooter and was extremely cruel to small animals (Andone, 2018). People complained to the Broward County Sheriff’s Department on numerous occasions about Cruz’s behavior, but there was almost no action taken

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(Andone, 2018). The FBI also received two reports about threats he made to the school, but there was clearly not a sufficient degree of information (Andone, 2018). Students at the school shared that they had complained about Cruz’s abnormal and aggressive behavior to school authorities since middle school, but virtually nothing was done (Andone, 2018). Dakin Andone (2018) of CNN wrote a piece entitled, “The warning signs almost everyone missed.” After reading about Cruz’s many acts of cruelty and threatening behavior, it is hard to imagine anyone could miss the red flags indicating a lack of love and character, but they did (Pollack & Eden, 2019). In addition, there are examples of shooters who had deep serious problems of one type or another. However, these suspicions were not investigated largely because many people think (1) children and teens are simply too young to investigate either because these people wrongly think that whatever plagues youth cannot be very serious or (2) children or adolescents are too young to be labeled as having deep problems of one type or another; therefore, one does not want to label them. However, regarding the first point, the reality is that some pre-adolescents and teenagers can be very dangerous. One is not wise nor logical, if one does not realize this fact. Most acts of crime are committed by those 15–25 years of age (Caulkins & Kleiman, 2014; Shepherd, 2018; Yaffe, 2018). If one does not acknowledge this fact, he or she runs the risk of being taken advantage of countless times. In addition, many pre-adolescents and adolescents are well aware of the fact that the court systems of many nations around the world tend to be lenient toward young people (Hogeveen, 2005; Yaffe, 2018). They are well aware of this fact and some of them take advantage of the legal leniency. Unfortunately, those who take advantage the most are some of the more violent individuals, such as gang members and school shooters.

2.2.2 Three Profound Questions The frequency and severity of the school shootings may cause many societies to rethink how one perceives 15–18 year-olds, in particular. Should societies continue to “call a spade a spade” only for those who are 18- or 21-years of age and higher? Are not 15–18 year-olds able to understand the difference between right and wrong and good and evil? Is there an inadvertent inconsistency when societies hand a 15 year old a driver’s permit and a set of car keys in order to learn to drive, but wink an at a person of the same age who commits a felony? Cultures around much of the world give learner’s permits to 15 year-olds with the understanding that these youth understand know that a car is a vehicle and that it is not to be driven as a weapon. That being the case, myriad lives would be spared if people were more willing to call dangerous and threatening behavior just that, whether it is done by a 15–18 year old or someone a good deal older (Pollack & Eden, 2019; Roy, 2009). In almost every case, the school shooters know full well what they are doing (Pollack & Eden, 2019; Roy, 2009). If educators, leaders of community institutions, and parents would be more willing to assess the psychological-, emotional-, spiritual, and mental-states of adolescents in school, the potential for perilous behavior could

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be identified earlier (Pollack & Eden, 2019; Roy, 2009). In so doing many lives would be spared, including those of the would be shooter, who in the act of aggression often commits suicide (Lieberman, 2006). In addition, it will reduce by countless thousands the number of students and parents who go through a traumatic experience in the community (Hogeveen, 2005; Pollack & Eden, 2019; Roy, 2009; Yaffe, 2018). There have now been enough school shootings, so that analysts can now see clear commonalities between the shooters (Allen, 2019). It would be wise for people to make note of these commonalties for the purpose of: (1) identifying likely aggressors in the future, (2) to reduce the likelihood of these horrific events taking place; and (3) to help both families who are have an increased likelihood of having a shooter come out of their home and children who are at risk of being such an assailant (Pollack & Eden, 2019; Roy, 2009). Clearly one cannot maintain a policy of arresting or sending to a mental hospital each person who exhibits some of the warning signs addressed in the paragraphs above, but what is clear is that when there are many concurrent commonalities, there needs to be more specific actions are taken. Otherwise, the reality is that lives will be lost and traumatized because of inaction (Pollack & Eden, 2019; Roy, 2009). The fact that there were so many major signs in advance that something devastating was going to happen via these aggressive children and little or nothing was done to act on these commonalities is truly an embarrassment (Pollack & Eden, 2019; Roy, 2009).

2.2.3 Another Key Commonality: The Shooters Often Lacked Love, Compassion, and Character Another commonality among the shooters is that they were not previously known to be loving, kind, or compassionate individuals (Peterson and Densley, 2019; Weatherby, 2018). Some may have called them more neutral terms, indicating some degree of surprise that they became terrible aggressors (Weatherby, 2018). However, the shooters were not known for their care and concern for others. Rather, they were almost always well known for being very self-centered, in many cases cruel and threatening (i.e., exhibiting the very worst kind of bullying and menacing behavior), and having a penchant for gun violence (Chalmers, 2009; Weatherby, 2018). In other words, about the highest compliment witnesses would utter is that the shooters were somewhat normal (Chalmers, 2009; Weatherby, 2018). These youngsters generally lacked character and that was evident to many in some shape or form. The pre-adolescents and adolescents generally lived in homes in which character and morality were not central themes of life (Chalmers, 2009). To whatever extent that this was the situation in the home, the need for these children to at least have these principles taught in the schools is axiomatic (Duckworth, 2018; Ryan & Lickona, 1992). However, in series of decisions in 1962 and 1963, the U.S. Supreme Court removed Bible reading and prayer from the public schools (Blanshard, 1963; Murray, 1982; Sikorski, 1993). As significant as these individual decisions were in and of

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themselves, what is commensurate in its impact is the reality that these decisions also removed character education from the public schools (Bennett, 2010, 2013; Jeynes, 2019a). Previous to these court decisions, character instruction that was given was based on Judean Christian principles. Some of the main character traits emphasized in this teaching included love, compassion, joy, faithfulness, loyalty, hope, and forgiveness (Duckworth, 2018; Ryan & Lickona, 1992). However, what would happen is that if a give n school taught on “forgiveness” or love, all it would take is one parent at a given school complaining that instruction on “forgiveness” or “love” was teaching Christianity, and the school would frequently retreat from sharing any material on “love” and “forgiveness” at all. Admittedly, “love” and “forgiveness” are two of the foremost messages of the Bible. Nevertheless, there is no law or guideline that states that one can “love” or “forgive” someone only if one is a Christian. Nevertheless, often intimidated by the voice of just one lone parent, the U.S. public schools fled from their convictions of right and wrong and retreated removing virtually all vestiges of character education from the public schools. When the U.S, Supreme Court arrived at these decisions in 1962 and 1963, it had no intention of eliminating character instruction from the classroom (Bennett, 2008, 2010; Jeynes, 2019a). However, atheists and agnostics saw an opportunity to remove all vestiges of the teaching and right and wrong. Given that the schools wanted to eschew all levels of friction, once a parent complained, the schools acquiesced (Duckworth, 2018; Jeynes, 2019a). There is a movement in the United States to restore character education in the public schools via emphasizing qualities that virtually everyone in society agrees upon, no matter what one’s background is, unless one is a prisoner or sociopath. This perspective will be addressed further in Chapter 5. At this junction, however, suffice it to say that one commonality that was evident among the shooters, by many around them, before the tragedy, is that they lacked character traits such as love, compassion, and kindness (Chalmers, 2009; Pollack & Eden, 2019; Weatherby, 2018). As shared toward the beginning of the chapter, although there are clearly commonalities, in this book and chapter, this author is not going to oversimplify. There are cases of school attacks that are clearly outliers. For example, in the Netherlands in 1999 there was a school shooting that apparently was a result of a feud between two Turkish families (Infoplease, 2020).

2.3 What Are the Commonalties of Possible Solutions to School Shootings? To whatever extent it is true that there are certain commonalities in the shootings themselves, it is also true that there are potentially common solutions that can lower the incidence of school shootings and that can lower the damage that they do to society overall.

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In order to arrive at certain common solutions, this book will periodically rely on meta-analyses that have been done in order to see how some of the factors, i.e., possible solutions to reduce school shootings, tend to influence student behavior in a positive way. A meta-analysis statistically combines all the relevant existing studies on a given subject in order to determine the aggregated results of said research. Metaanalyses are probably the single most popular type of academic article, because they enable people to grasp what the overall body of research on a given topic indicates. A meta-analysis would enable social scientists to conclude whether various variables are associated with positive outcomes and which expressions of those variables are highest in efficacy. Given that meta-analyses will be used periodically in this book, at this point the methods utilized in these meta-analyses will be shared.

2.4 Methods Used in the Meta-Analyses 2.4.1 Analytical Approach 2.4.1.1

Research Methods and Data Analysis Plan for the Meta-Analyses on Father Involvement. Parental Involvement, Parental Family Structure, Character Education, and the Consumption of Various Illicit Drugs

The meta-analysis examined the relationship between father involvement, parental involvement, parental family structure, character education, and the consumption of illicit drugs on pre-kindergarten to college student behavior and, in some cases, academic achievement. This meta-analysis first (research question #1) addressed whether there is a statistically significant relationship between the primary variable(s) under study in a given chapter and student behavioral outcomes. These behavioral outcomes include anti-social behavior, aggression, and academic achievement. The idea in doing the meta-analyses is to see if the given variables under study are related to outcomes that are often tied to school shootings. If they are, it is very possible that these variables under study are part of the solution in attempting to reduce these K-12 and college campus shootings. The second analysis (research question #2) determined whether this relationship held for youth of different age groups of various races, if applicable. The third analysis (research question #3) determined what specific types of the variables under study will help those students the most. The procedures employed to conduct the meta-analyses are outlined under this heading (Analytical Approach), and the following headings are listed below: Data Collection Method, Statistical Methods, Study Quality Rating, and Effect Size Statistics, and Defining of Variables. Each study included in this meta-analysis met the following criteria:

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1. It needed to examine each primary variable under study in a way that could be conceptually and statistically distinguished from other primary variables under consideration. For example, if a study involved nine key features, including father involvement, and the influence of father involvement could not be statistically isolated from the other features, the study was not included in the analysis. 2. It needed to include a sufficient amount of statistical information to determine effect sizes. 3. If the study used a control group, it had to qualify as a true control group and therefore be a fair and accurate means of comparison. Moreover, if the research utilized a control group at some times but not others, only the former comparisons were included in the meta-analysis. 4. The study could be a published or unpublished study. This was to reduce the likelihood of publication bias. Due to the nature of the criteria listed above, qualitative studies were not included in the analysis. Although qualitative studies are definitely valuable, they are difficult to code for quantitative purposes, and any attempt to do so might bias the results of the meta-analyses.

2.4.2 Data Collection Method (Coding and Rater Reliability) In order to obtain the studies used in the meta-analyses, a search was performed using every major social science research database (e.g., Psych Info, ERIC, Dissertation Abstracts International, Sociological Abstracts, and so forth), totaling 60 databases, to find studies examining the relationship between the given variable under study and student behavior from grades pre-kindergarten through college. Virtually every possible key word with reference to the variables under study was included in the meta-analytic search. Reference sections from journal articles on the relevant topics were also examined to find additional research articles. E-mails were also sent to each of the Education department chairs of the over 100 Research 1 universities in the United States, asking them if there were any faculty in their department who had either recently completed or was just about to complete a study examining the effects the variables under study. Although this comprehensive search yielded hundreds of articles and papers on the topics under study, nearly all of these articles were not quantitative in nature. The research team obtained a total of hundreds of studies that addressed the relationships under study. A number of different characteristics of each study were included for use in this study. These characteristics included: (a) report characteristics, (b) sample characteristics, (c) intervention type, (d) the research design, (e) the grade level or age of the students, (f) the outcome and predictor variables, (g) the length (in weeks) of the study, (h) the attrition rate, and (i) the estimate of the relationship between the variables under study and student behavioral outcomes (and sometimes academic ones). Two coders, who had been coding for at least 10 years, coded the studies on these characteristics and had 95% agreement on their coding.

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2.4.3 Statistical Methods and the Effect Size Statistic Effect sizes were computed from data in such forms as t tests, F tests, p levels, frequencies, and r-values via conversion formulas provided by Glass and his colleagues (Glass, McGaw, & Smith, 1981). When results were not significant, studies sometimes reported only a significance level. In the unusual case that the direction of these not significant results was not available, the effect size was calculated to be zero. For studies with manipulations the standardized mean difference was used to estimate the primary variable being examined (parental involvement, father involvement, character education, etc.). The d-index (Cohen, 1988) is a scale-free measure of the separation between two group means. Calculating the d-index for any comparison involved dividing the difference between the two group means by either their average standard deviation or by the standard deviation of the control group. In the meta-analysis, experimental group mean was subtracted from the control group mean and divided the difference by their average standard deviation. As a supplement to these analyses, the Hedges’ “g” measure of effect size was used (Hedges & Vevea, 1998). Since it employed the pooled standard deviation in the denominator, it customarily provided a more conservative estimate of effect size. Hedges also provided a correction factor that helped to adjust for the impact of small samples. For studies that involved cross-sectional measures of the relationship between the primary variable(s) under study and the outcome variables, the following procedures were undertaken. For those studies that attempted to statistically equate students on other variables, the preferred measure of relationship strength was the standardized beta-weight, b These parameters were determined from the output of multiple regression analyses. If beta-weights could not be obtained from study reports, the most similar measures of effect (e.g., unstandardized regression weights) were retrieved. For studies that involved cross-sectional measures but included no attempt to statistically equate students on third variables, the results from the t-tests, F-tests, and correlation studies provided by the researchers in the study were used. Probability values were used as a basis for computation only if the researchers did not supply any of information on the test statistics just mentioned. Calculating average effect sizes. Two sets of statistical procedures were also used to distinguish between those analyses that included sophisticated controls (socioeconomic status, race, gender, or previous achievement) and those studies that did not. The results of these procedures are listed in different columns in the Results section of the relevant chapters, with the degree of statistical significance and 95% confidence intervals listed for each. An overall effect size was then determined, combining the studies that did and did not use sophisticated controls. No analyses of statistical significance were completed on the combined effect sizes, given the different structure of the studies involved. A weighting procedure was used to calculate average effect sizes across all the comparisons. First, each independent effect size was first multiplied by the inverse of its variance. The sum of these products was

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then divided by the sum of the inverses. Then, 95% confidence intervals were calculated. As Hedges and Vevea (1998) recommend, all the analyses were conducted using fixed-error assumptions in one analysis and applied random-error assumptions in the other. However, the effect sizes are listed using random-error assumptions, because it yields the more conservative effect sizes. If there was more than one effect size presented in the results section, the effect size that was chosen was based on that which referred to: (a) the overall sample and (b) the purest measure of the primary variable under study. In the case of results that included clear statistical outliers, the presence of these outliers was acknowledged, and then supplemental analyses were run without such an outlier in order to estimate the degree to which the presence of an outlier might have affected the results. Tests of homogeneity were completed on the primary variable examined in the studies to gain a sense of the consistency of specific measures across studies.

2.4.4 Study Quality Rating Two researchers coded the studies independently for quality, the presence of randomization, and whether both the definitional criteria for the primary variables examined were met. Study quality and the use of random samples were graded on a 0 (lowest) to 3 (highest) scale. Quality was determined using the following: (1) Did it use randomization of assignment? (2) Did it avoid mono-method bias? (3) Did it avoid mono-operation bias? (4) Did it avoid selection bias? (5) Did it use a specific definition of the primary variables under study? We calculated inter-rater reliability by computing percentage of agreement on: the definition of the primary variables under study, the specific components examined in each study, issues of randomization, and quality of the study. Inter-rater reliability for all the primary variables under study were 96–98% on whether a study examined the primary variables being examined, 93–97% for the specific components of each primary variable examined in a given study, and 91–94% for the quality of the study. Two supplementary analyses were done to include first, only those studies with a quality rating of 3 and second, only those studies with quality ratings of 2–3.

2.4.5 Limitations of Study Any time one conducts a study of any type, there are particular kinds of limitations. The primary limitation of this meta-analysis, or any meta-analysis, is that it is restricted to analyzing the existing body of literature. Therefore, even if the researcher conducting the quantitative integrations sees ways the studies included could have been improved, there is no way to implement those changes. A second limitation of a meta-analysis is that the social scientist is limited to addressing the same research questions addressed in the aggregated studies. For example, it would be advisable to

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have parental expectations measures from all the studies included, but one can only aggregate the existing results.

2.5 Concluding Thoughts for This Chapter Strongly reducing the number of school shootings worldwide is a huge goal of this book. Understanding the primary commonalities of the shooters and objectively examining the data with the help of meta-analyses, in a number of cases, will clearly help accomplish this goal and save many lives and much pain, as a result.

Part II

Examining Factors That Could Contribute to Solutions

Chapter 3

Gun Control

School shooting-specific gun laws are greatly needed (Scott & Nimmo, 2000). It should be noted, however, that these gun control laws should be focused on reducing youth gun violence. General anti-gun laws among youth are already widespread throughout the country (Squires, 2012). Gary Kleck (2009) makes one of the most persuasive arguments for the need for “intelligent gun laws.” He argues that it is a titanic mistake to confuse and interchange the gun control strategies necessary for school shootings and those that are needed for broader society overall. Kleck asserts that if one pursues gun laws for one and attempts to also apply it to the other, effective gun control laws overall will be unduly harmed (Kleck, 2009). Kleck (p. 1447) makes the profound conclusion, “The specific gun control measures proposed in their aftermath were largely irrelevant and almost certainly could not have prevented the incidents or reduced their death tolls.” Kleck (p. 1447) continues by stating, “Ironically, exploitation of school shootings for the advocacy of irrelevant gun controls may have obscured the genuine merits of various gun control measures for reducing ‘ordinary’ gun violence. Thus mass school shootings provided the worst possible basis for supporting gun control.” Kleck, in essence, declares that what is a good fit for gun policies in the cases of school shootings and overall gun violence are not the same. Moreover, Kleck’s wisdom is revealed not only in his making of this assertion, but also going so far as to say what may be totally fitting for one situation is totally “irrelevant” (Kleck, 2009, p. 1447) for the other. Kleck’s conclusion is especially significant, because it is clear that he did some deep thinking about the issue rather than merely parrot the views he heard on his favorite evening news channel. The reality is gun laws to address school shootings and gun laws to reduce firearm violence overall are overlapping-, but also distinct-issues. Simply regurgitating the typical lines one hears regarding gun control overall will not yield the best policies for reducing school shootings. Kleck (2009) even avers that unless one is wise enough to distinguish the best policies for each, one can to a disservice to the hopes for intelligent gun control policy for both school shootings and overall gun violence.

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3 Gun Control

There is no question that the United States, in particular, has a gun problem. There are far too many gun killings and simply too many guns. However, it is one thing to advance a gun control proposal that seems reasonable to address the issue of shootings by adults, it is likely almost entirely a different matter to reduce shootings by youth (Jeynes, 2018b; Merino, 2015; Shapiro, 2018; Squires, 2012). It is important that the reader remember that the purpose of this chapter is to examine what gun laws most likely will reduce school shootings. It is not the focus of this chapter to examine the issue of gun violence overall. As Kleck (2009) points out, they are two overlapping, but also very distinct, issues. Additionally, this chapter highlights the laws and guidelines most likely to gain legislative approval, especially because among some, this issue is so divisive.

3.1 Challenges Faced Regarding Gun Laws for School Shootings There are a number of challenges evident in passing gun legislation. Some are very unique to school shootings by adolescents and some are not.

3.2 Challenge #1—Most of the Adolescent Shooters Obtain Their Guns from Family or Friends The first challenge regarding gun laws for school shootings is that they are often procured by adolescents from their family and friends, often by stealing them. In addition to stealing these guns, there are straw purchases of guns which involve having others purchase guns, so that one’s name does have to be associated with the purchases (Hemenway, 2020). This is in vivid contrast to gun violence that generally involves adults. As Kleck (2009) and others have noted, unless one realizes this unique situation, one cannot really hope to add much to the gun law debate, as it pertains to school shootings. This is important to note, because often the first thought that enters people’s minds to reduce school shootings is that more “background checks” are needed. That is a fair and simple statement if one is talking about adult gun violence. However, what if, as in the vast majority of cases, there is no recorded background? This question is vital and it will not only appear in this chapter. Suddenly, there is an understanding that school shootings have an extra layer of complexity. They are not so simple. Moreover, if one’s response is to think, “Well, then we need to rethink the extent to which we record adolescent behavior,” an individual comes to realize that perhaps a debate is needed regarding rethinking common contemporary practices as they pertains to officially recording adolescent misdeeds.

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Yes, one reason why school shootings have remained stubbornly pretty frequent and have generally risen in number, over the last sixty years, is because the solutions are probably more complex in a number of cases than in the case of adult crimes. Of course, some school shootings are done by adults, but a majority are done by students and recent graduates (Cohen, Azrael, & Miller, 2014). The problem is that the vast majority of the attackers procure their guns either from older friends or parents. Hence, if one wants to curb the flow of guns to youth, then the key is to pass gun control laws that target those who willingly give or sell guns to youth and those who show negligence in their care of guns, so that it is clear that youth can easily gain access and load them (Armstrong, 2002; Friedman, 2010; Gahr, 2002). In addition, given that some youth may pretend that they are older than they are when they purchase guns (Hunnicutt, 2010), gun sellers are less likely to be fooled by these pretenders, if the minimum age for gun ownership is raised, for those not in the military. The trend of obtaining guns from parents or friends is quite widespread and it is an international one. For example, in a school shooting in India, Akash Yadav, age thirteen, stole his father’s gun to commit the killing (Wikipedia, 2019c). In the Winnenden, Germany shooting in 2009, Tim Kretschmer grabbed a gun from his parents’ bedroom, before killing fifteen (Bockler, Seeger, Sitzer, & Heitmeyer, 2013a; Heitmeyer, Bockler, & Seeger, 2013; Hoffmann & Roshdi, 2013). In the case of obtaining guns from parents, the youths tend to steal the gun. In contrast, when the adolescents obtain them from friends it is often from an older friend, who is of age to have a gun or a friend who illegally has the gun. One type of possible gun control is to make friends and parents much more personally responsible for these gun attacks. At first glance, the proposal seems reasonable enough, but at closer examination it is surfeit with controversy, because sometimes the parents are very careful to lock their guns and put them in a secure place. Nevertheless, their adolescent children sometimes masterfully find a way to elude the safeguards. There are some of nations, that have punished a parent for the shootings their children committed (Bockler et al., 2013a). For example, the Winnenden, Germany, i.e., Tim Kretschmer, shooting of 2009 resulted in charges and a 21 month suspended sentence for Joerg Kretschmer, the father. However, these incidents tend to take place in nations in which there are a small number of school murders and one can easily get the impression the nation is attempting to take a firm stand against these mass acts of violence to send a message that its people love children and that there will be zero tolerance for these acts of aggression (Cartright, 2013; Pollack & Eden, 2019). To be sure, there is a general resistance to the notion that one generation should pay for the transgressions of another. It seems so unjust and cruel. As true as that is in the general sense of the term, if parental negligence or blatant irresponsibility is clearly a major reason why the shooting took place, it seems that this enters another dimension. That is, while it seems wrong to ask a member of one generation to pay for the transgressions of a member of another generation, if the parents’ behavior essentially made them virtual accessories, then it is a worthy discussion to have to

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talk about requiring parents act more responsibly, especially when it comes to having guns so easily accessible around the house.

3.2.1 Needed: School Shooting Specific Gun Laws The overwhelming number of gun control laws that are proposed are not schoolspecific. That is, they may be gun control laws that seek to address firearm violence overall, but will have little or no impact on school shootings. In order to be an intelligent gun control measure with regard to schools, there must be an awareness that almost in every case, the laws were already on the books that it was illegal for these students to possess guns. Therefore, simply passing more laws that insist that teenagers should not possess guns is not going to yield particularly fruitful results. The examples of school shooters getting their weapons from family or friends is almost endless. In the case of Michael Carneal, who attacked the school prayer group in West Paducah, Kentucky, he had a neighbor friend named Jared Parker. Parker’s father had guns. Jared Parker tapped on his father’s gun case and even said to Michael that these were the kind they needed to “do the school thing” (Newman et al., 2004, p. 30). The fact that Parker, not just Carneal, used that phrase, which according to some witnesses was used by the Goth group at school to refer to school shootings, has led some people to suspect that the West Paducah shooting was a Goth conspiracy. Michael Carneal later stole Jared Parker’s father’s guns to “build the arsenal he turned on the prayer group” (Newman et al., 2004, p. 30). Andrew Golden, who was one of the Jonesboro killers, came from a family of gun enthusiasts. He was first given a rifle at the age of six and by the time he was eleven, he was a marksman (Newman et al., 2004). It is interesting that the obsession with guns is not merely an American phenomenon, but also is manifested among the school attackers from a variety of nations, e.g., Saari from Finland (Allen, 2008). The obsession with guns that is sometimes apparent in the shooters leads those desiring to significantly reduce the number of shooters to further investigate two lines of thought. First, one needs to examine what forms of gun laws will make it more difficult for those adolescents obsessed with guns to actually use them. Second, it befits those who want to propound solutions to address what causes teens to become obsessed with guns. It is important to acknowledge that veering into diatribes about why society needs to adopt the second strategy, but not the first or the first but not the second is to display a lack of objectivity. The level of school violence is unacceptable and nations must do all they can to make schools and universities safe again. Halfway measures will not suffice.

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3.3 Challenge #2—If a Bill Is Going to Pass in the United States, Different Perspectives Need to Be Incorporated, or Else Gun Legislation Will not Pass In the United States, especially, both gun control advocates and strong defenders of the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution on the right to bear arms need to be more sensitive and welcoming-to each other. If this does not happen, it will be very difficult for firearm legislation to pass. In the United States, too many gun control proposals overlook the concerns of those who emphasize the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, i.e., the right to bear arms. When this happens, gun control advocates actually take the country farther away from intelligent gun control by actually creating fear in the minds of those who focus a great deal of attention on the Second Amendment. By fostering fear, some insensitive gun control advocates actually become part of the problem, drawing the U.S. away from intelligent gun control laws rather than bringing the country closer to them. One example was one of the debates during the presidential primaries of 2019 when former Democratic Congressman Beto O’Rourke answered, “Hell yes…” to a reporter’s question about whether he would force Americans to sell their AR-15s and AK-47s to the U.S. Government, as a means of gun control (Sullivan & Bradner, 2019). If Congressman O’Rourke had simply used the word “yes” and then given a logical, less emotional appeal, as to why these two weapons should only be used on a battlefield, the backlash would not have been so great! However, his emotionally charged response beginning with, “Hell yes,” left many with the impression that if O’Rourke’s response was a “hell yes,” with these two weapons, it would almost surely be “yes” to other weapons as well. O’Rourke’s points regarding AR-15s and AK-47s expressed in a more reasonable and calm way would probably have been embraced by most Americans, including those from a variety of perspectives. But O’Rourke’s words of “hell yes,” gave the impression that he was on a personal crusade against guns that would likely go far beyond the AR-15 and AK-47s. Hence, even several prominent Democrats chastised him for his wording and exerting such lack of control in his emotional response, including none other than Senate Minority leader Schumer (Santucci, 2019). It is highly unusual for a Senate Minority Leader to essentially rebuke a presidential candidate of the same party. It shows the extent to which O’Rourke’s statements revealed a lack of wisdom. Wisdom dictated that O’Rourke carefully word his response allaying the fears of many by explaining why he felt that banning of AR-15 and AK-47s was appropriate, but not other guns used for hunting and simple self-protection, etc.

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3.3.1 The Reason This Debate Is So Intense: Life and Death Experiences on Both Sides Gun control advocates need to use more wisdom in terms of being kind when they express their views. Second Amendment supporters also need to use more wisdom in the same way. Probably the central reason why the gun debate is so emotional is because it involves life and death. The reality is that sometimes the absence of guns saves lives and at other times the presence of guns, in the hands of the right people, saves lives. One recent example is the Fort Worth, Texas December, 30, 2019 Baptist church shooting. As the attacker opened fire on the church attendees, two of the congregants took out their guns and fired upon the assailant (Bacon & Kiggins, 2019). Texas Lt. Governor Patrick and the police praised the congregants for saving many lives. Similarly, many of the school shootings and other attacks occur in “gun free zones,” which are designed to increase safety, but sometimes have just the opposite effect. The San Bernardino shooting by Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik was in a “gun free zone” and the community center was known to be a “soft target,” along these lines (Clarke & Serena, 2017). In the aftermath of the event, many workers questioned the wisdom of promoting the area as a gun free zone and opined that it increased the likelihood of the event (Clarke & Serena, 2017). Many people feel that “gun free zones” are almost an advertisement such as, “Shoot here, because there will be no one present to resist you.” The Paris concert attack of 2015 is often given as an example of such a tragedy. Paris, France has one of the strictest set of gun control laws in the world and some people claim that because the terrorists knew there would be extremely low on-site resistance, it is no surprise that: (1) terrorists chose such a soft target in a virtually gun free zone and (2) that it was one of the worst peace-time mass murders in world history. It was the worst mass murder in France since World War II with 130 killed, 100 seriously injured, and 413 injured overall (Truc, 2018). When one’s life has been saved by the actions of a helpful person with a legal gun permit or a person has lost a loved one because of the absence of one, naturally these people are going to have their view on gun control affected. Whether one agrees with these individuals or not, it is very unkind to be insensitive to them. When a person’s life is spared or lost, it deeply affects their perspective on these issues. Whatever one’s view on guns is, one should respect that. It is equally true that people who are strong defenders of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution need to be sensitive to gun control advocates. When someone is killed or injured because the assailant used a semi-automatic weapon, the trauma suffered goes into the realm of inexplicable pain. People need to realize that life’s events clearly have an impact. When a parent experiences the death of a child due to a person high on drugs or alcohol who is driving a car, they usually conclude that their country is too tolerant of drug and alcohol abuse. Similarly, when a close relative is gunned down by a malicious assailant, the family members usually conclude that their nation is too easy on gun violence.

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In a number of the attacks listed in the first three chapters, adolescent shooters obtained their guns far too easily. Citizens of more restrictive governments would be shocked. However the people of the free world still should not excuse teens obtaining guns with such ease. The ease with which adolescents obtain guns, usually from family or friends, should be shocking. The fact that there are so many people not stunned by this fact should also be shocking. Politicians and the world citizenry need to “step up to the plate” and propose ways to substantially reduce the number of school shootings. How ironic it is in the current unfortunate global political climate that probably if both sides of the debate would listen the other side and of the gun debate, the best gun legislation would likely be introduced.

3.3.2 Concerns of Second Amendment People One of the primary reasons why gun control laws are not passed is because rather than admit that those who really emphasize the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution about the right to bear arms have some valid points, those who advocate stricter gun control laws tend to, often condescendingly, dismiss perspectives that are different than their own. When people cannot respect valid points made by those who disagree with them, it becomes extremely difficult to reach any sense of consensus and if this mentally dictates the process of decision-making made by a country, what happens is that a nation’s progress, along a number of dimensions tends to stagnate. Those who are against stricter gun control laws believe that when it comes to violence, one’s chances of survival and victory from attack are substantially greater if a person is able to defend oneself. Especially, if one barely survived an act of aggression due to possessing a gun, this topic can become very emotional and personal. Similarly, if a person has lost loved ones due to gun violence, an individual’s feeling can be just as deep going the reverse direction. In the midst of such loss, it becomes very hard to argue against making sure that guns go into the hands of the right people rather than in the possession of the wrong people. In order to obtain some degree of resolution on this issue, those on both sides of the debate must respect the depth of convictions that exist on both sides. When one examines the primary arguments given by those who resist gun control, it is this “right” to self-defense that arises as the foremost argument. There are few situations in life that create more of a sense of hopelessness than being attacked and fighting for one’s survival without adequate means to defend oneself. McCluskey (2017, p. 65) observes that, “Elected officials and advocacy group sources cited statistics and anecdotal evidence to argue that existing restrictions on guns were ineffective and if more guns were present, school shootings could be prevented or the carnage reduced…. Sources argued that if guns had been present or more prevalent in the two school shooting with the most fatalities-Columbine and Sandy Hook—the number of lives lost would have decreased.

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Although the statements in the previous paragraph are true enough, it is also true that if there were not so many guns in the United States, especially, in the first place, people would not have to be so caught up in the arguments regarding the right to defend oneself. People who adhere particularly strongly to the Second Amendment are often not quick enough to concede this point. Ultimately, the bickering must stop and listening to each other to deeper degrees must begin.

3.4 Challenge #3—More People and Politicians Need to Realize the Extent of the Gun Problem and Work Hard to Build Consensus Marcel Lebrun (2009, p. 3) in the book, Books, blackboards, and bullets: School shootings and violence in America asserts, “Youth violence is widespread in the United States. It is the second leading cause of death for young people between the ages of ten and twenty-four.” Whatever a person’s stance on gun control, this truth grieves the heart. That statistic is unacceptable. Having stated the above, what is also vital to note is that Lebrun (2009, p. 4) unlike many who tend to support a simplistic solution to school shootings, i.e., just pass gun control laws and the problem will end, takes quite a tame and balanced approach to firearms laws. He states, “Many factors make juveniles more likely to commit and to become victims of crimes. One major factor is drug use…. The second reason given for the rise in youth violence is the availability of illegal guns, which are widely accessible in some communities. Guns often accompany the drug trade…”. Marcel Lebrun’s statements are brilliant, because he not only spells out the severity of the problem, but also points out the need for a comprehensive solution. In this case, LeBrun shares that one cannot consider the guns without also considering the drugs that often cause youths to resort to guns. In the aftermath of the Newtown, Connecticut shootings, there were a lot of calls for gun control. Ron Pinciaro, the executive director of Connecticut Against Gun Violence stated, “Three-hundred million guns in the United States: When is the number going to be enough?” (O’Leary, 2012, n.p.). O’Leary further states, “Scholars and media pundits have been quick to point out that the increase in the number of firearms has coincided with the recent string of school shootings. Since 1970, the number of guns in the United States has doubled, to about 200 million…. The proportion of adults who own guns has stayed relatively constant since 1980 at about 30 percent.” This is not a low number; it is the highest proportion of any industrialized country, but has not changed much over the years” (Caulkins & Kleiman, 2014; Redding & Shalf, 2001). One of the reasons why gun control is attractive to many is because students in urban areas are far more likely to bring firearms to school than they are in suburban and rural areas (Redding & Shalf, 2001). Moreover, as is well known, adolescent gun violence is much more common in urban areas than it is in other areas (Redding & Shalf, 2001).

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3.4.1 The Difficulty of Building Political Consensus If one is to see successful gun legislation pass at the federal level, there must be a change in the contemporary political atmosphere. The current situation is not as before. For much of United States history, the American public voted in candidates with a long history of public service either in the government or in the military (Johnson, 1997). The leaders chosen knew how to develop a consensus with other individuals, and learned when it was time to stand on conviction and when it was time to compromise (Johnson, 1997). Historically, when the presidential candidate of one political party won, it was understood by the members of the other party that the new President was the leader of the country and that the opposing political party was to restrain the President from going too far in one direction, but also it was their job to do what they could to build consensus and develop policies that exhibit some degree of compromise (Johnson, 1997). This attempt to balance compromise, conviction, and consensus is one of the truths that is generally understood by people who have been in public service for an extended period of time. As long as people understood that voting for people with relevant experience was important in order to vote in a government administration that was efficacious, nations generally went forward. Over the last couple of decades, however, more and more Americans have voted for people with little or no experience in government to some of the highest offices in the land (Harwood, 2016; Rauch, 2015). A number of these individuals were either celebrities or the media raised them to celebrity status at some point in the campaign (Harwood, 2016; Rauch, 2015). A majority of these people had almost no experience in consensus building and compromising in government (Harwood, 2016; Rauch, 2015). Some prominent examples of this are Arnold Schwarzenegger (R, CA), Alan Franken (D, MN), Jesse Ventura (I, MN), Barack Obama, and Donald Trump. For example Presidents Obama and Trump tended to rely on other Senate and House leaders to negotiate instead of themselves, when presidential leadership was needed. Moreover, a fair number of times they were too insistent on their own way without enough effort to consider the views of moderates from the other major party (Noonan, 2011; Wall Street Journal, 2011). This led to trouble in the long-term (Noonan, 2011; Wall Street Journal, 2011). It reduced cooperation among the two major political parties on a variety of other issues in both the near-term and the long-term, as well as produced a backlash by encouraging political extremism on the other side of each aisle (Noonan, 2011; Wall Street Journal, 2011). People worldwide, but especially in the United States, have to once again embrace the importance of consensus or it will be very difficult to reduce school shootings.

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3.5 Challenge #4—Is the Issue That New Gun Laws Are Needed or Do the Police Need to Do a Better Job of Enforcing Those Laws? Another challenge in the discussion of gun control laws is the question of whether the United States and other nations really need additional gun control laws or is the issue the failure of the police and other branches of law enforcement to enforce the laws that are already on the books? Depending on what the answer is to this issue makes all the difference in determining how society is to approach the gun control strategies. There is a pattern in many of these student gun crimes that so many times one or more of the pupils will be caught in doing some egregious level of illegal acts or planning for something violent and substantial. In spite of this, law enforcement will often do nothing in terms of enforcing the existing gun control laws and criminology rules (Samenow, 2002). For example, just a day before the Springfield, Oregon mass killing, the future student shooter, Kip Kinkel, had his school suspend him for having a gun in his locker and receiving stolen property (2nd student dies, 1998). These two infractions clearly broke existing laws. Simply passing new gun control laws would not have worked. A given country, state, district, county, or city can pass all the gun control laws it wants, but if the police and other branches of law enforcement fail to enforce those laws then any talk about gun control must focus first on enforcing on existing laws rather than passing new ones. As has been emphasized earlier, one weakness in the gun control argument for these adolescent school shootings is that the laws are already on the books for teenage people to be unable to procure these guns…. Yet, the reality is that they do obtain these guns. Ironically, one can make a very interesting argument that by passing a new set of laws and guidelines, it will likely cause government leaders from various corners of several nations, states, cities to pass gun handling distribution guidelines. However, within this context, they overlook really addressing the fact that the police and law enforcement are often very reluctant to enforce those new laws. Another example, is that the two future shooters at Columbine were arrested for automobile burglary. However, once again the law enforcement agencies proved too soft (Chalmers, 2009; Pollack & Eden, 2019), Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were required, as their punishment to write letters of apology and receive counseling. The Jefferson County’s DA program called the two “bright young men with limitless potential” (Pankratz & Mitchell, 1999). Law enforcement reached that conclusion in spite of the fact that both young men idolized Adolf Hitler (Teen Gunman Who Admired Hitler, 1999). Moreover, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold both advertised their views, their plans and intensions, and their desire for widespread bloodshed. And yet, in the process of enforcing gun and criminal laws, the people in the law enforcement agencies dropped the ball. In the end, the need was not for new gun control laws, but rather for the proper enforcement of the existing ones (Samenow, 2002).

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3.6 Challenge #5—Although the People and the Lawmakers Emphasize Gun Control, the School Assailants Choose Other Weapons as Well, Such as Explosives As divisive as the gun debate may be, because it does draw in people on both sides, who have had life and death experiences; in the midst of such intense debate sometimes people can be blinded to other realities that are at work. In the case of school shootings, one should note that increasingly the assailants are looking to explosives to multiply the potential number of casualties. In addition, especially in nations where guns are difficult to obtain, alternatives such as axes, machetes, flamethrowers, and knives are sought. Therefore, it is also unwise only to focus on guns, because an increasing number of these acts of violence involve explosives, which potentially can be used to kill larger numbers of people than guns. For example, in the Janauba, Brazil tragedy in 2017, the aggressor doused the children with fuel and then ignited the fuel (New York Times, 2017). Similarly, the Bath, Michigan school murders killed forty-four. This is a reminder of how much damage explosives can do. The school killing that resulted in the most deaths was done via explosives, not guns. In the case of the Bath school, a school board treasurer Andrew Kehoe on May 18, 1927 killed 38 elementary school students and 6 adults, when he set off an explosion at Bath Township, Michigan Elementary school (Barton, 2020). Kenoe killed his wife and firebombed his school, and then killed himself by detonating a device at his school (Barton, 2020). The above is a lesson that explosives are responsible for the biggest school “shooting” disaster. In 2017, a kindergarten in Xuzhou, China, a twenty-two year old dropout set off a bomb killing eight and injuring sixty-five (Wikipedia, 2020d). Similarly, an attack by a teenager at a Shiguan, China kindergarten also involved igniting gasoline, killing three of the kindergarteners and wounding fourteen, including one teacher (Wang, 2006). In Weihai, China another school killer set fire to a school bus, killing all 13 aboard (Wikipedia, 2020d). Gun control will not be enough. Hence focusing only on gun control without including restrictions on access to other weaponry, such as explosives, will likely not be sufficient. Admittedly, with reduced access to guns, the aggressors might instead resort to what are usually less lethal weapons such as knives and axes. In South Africa, for example, there took place what is often infamously called “the samurai school” attack. A high school senior named Morne Harmse, a Satan worshipper, went after students with a samurai sword at Nic Diederichs Technical High School on August 17, 2008. The school was in Krugersdorp, South Africa. One ninth grade student, Jacques Pretorius, was killed. Three people were killed including one student and two staff members (Cartright, 2013). Harmse took his samurai sword and slashed Jacques Pretorius in the neck killing him instantly (Cartright, 2013). Harmse then slashed Stefan Bouwer in the head (Cartright, 2013). Two staff members tried to confront and subdue Harmse, but failed when Harmse slashed them and they, along with Bouwer, had to go to the hospital (Cartright, 2013).

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Morne Harmse shared that Satan had told him to launch the attack and that his actions were carrying out the beliefs of Satanism (Cartright, 2013). In the aftermath of the attack, the police visited his room and found widespread use of Satan worship materials, including books about casting spells and putting curses on people, ouija boards, etc. (Cartright, 2013). The Sterkfontein Psychiatric Hospital thoroughly examined him for two months and declared him mentally fit (Cartright, 2013). He was then sentenced to twenty years in prison for one count of murder and three attempted murders (Cartright, 2013). However, China, where it tends to be difficult for the general citizenry to obtain guns, is a good example of how killing with knives, cleavers, or axes can do a huge amount of damage (Wikipedia, 2020e). The first of these stabbings occurred on March 23, 2010 in Nanping at an elementary school resulting in eight dead (Wikipedia, 2020e). In April another knife attack occurred wounding 16. The Chinese government became very concerned that these stabbings would start a trend. With this in mind, both men were executed (Wikipedia, 2020e). The knifing attacks periodically continued in China in 2010. By the end of the year 27 were dead and 80 were wounded from these stabbings (Wikipedia, 2020e). There were two incidents in China in 2011 using an axe, in one case, and box-cutters in the other (Wikipedia, 2020e). The incidents have continued with some regularity since this time. The main difference between the school killings in China versus similar shootings in other areas of the world is that the ones in China are usually committed by adults, often young adults, but nevertheless by adults. This raises another issue as to why it is that Chinese adolescents are unlikely to be the assailants in these attacks. Although further investigation is needed on this issue, one or two possibilities seems especially worthy of consideration and investigation. First, it may well be that Chinese adolescents do not feel sufficiently empowered to initiate attacks of this nature. Moreover, it is relevant to the gun law debate that one reason why some American adolescents do feel empowered to launch these attacks is because of the availability of firearms (Langma, 2010). This is a very different situation than the ones faced by teens in China. It is conceivable that by reducing the extent to which adolescents can procure guns might reduce the overall number of school shootings in the United States and elsewhere. Second, it is also conceivable that if there are school shootings or other major acts of classroom violence, the Chinese government may not report them. To be sure, China is not known for its transparency (Hay, 2013). To the extent that China has already shared about its concern for copycat acts of school violence it has acted to restrict coverage. China has a history of revolts by young people in Tiananmen Square and Hong Kong (Hay, 2013). Most would claim that China’s reporting of key events cannot be trusted to the same degree that similar reporting is in many other countries. Japan is another nation in East Asia where firearms are difficult to obtain for the ordinary citizenry. With that context in mind, school assailants often resort to stabbing people. For example, the Ikeda Elementary School stabbing in Osaka occurred on June 8, 2001 (Wikipedia, 2020d). Mamoru Takuma killed 8 children and wounded 15. Nearly all of the children in attendance were 7 or 8 years old. Similarly, the

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Anne Anne kindergarten stabbing in Hong Kong also involved a knife rather than a revolver (Bockler et al., 2013a; Wikipedia, 2020a). Columbine is one such example of this trend. In their aggression, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold exploded 30 bombs (Matera, 2001). It was not merely an act of gun violence. As shocking as it may seem, many of the students and teachers at Columbine were very fortunate. Two enormous 20-pound propane bombs in the cafeteria did not detonate (Matera, 2001). It was the detonation of these bombs that was the main goal, because an entire floor would have blown up and one floor likely would have pancaked on another, killing over 500 people (Matera, 2001, p. 2). One quote by Eric Harris is especially eye-opening and ironic along these lines. Remember, the Columbine shooting occurred well before September 11, 2001, i.e., the Al Queda terrorist attack on New York. Harris said, “If we have figured out the art of time bombs beforehand, we will set hundreds of them around houses, roads, bridges, buildings, and gas stations, anything that will cause damage and chaos … then we will hijack … a lot of bombs and crash a plane into NYC with us inside firing away as we go down. Just something to cause more devastation” (in Langman, 2010, p. 1). Harris was thinking about exploding bombs and crashing a plane into New York City, even before 9/11. There are advocates from a third school of thought that rests in between those who are pro-gun control and those that strongly defend the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. They warn that even if additional gun controls are initiated not only will it likely have just a minimal impact on the reduction in shootings, but these violent youth will just turn to some other form of destruction, even worse than shootings guns. The trend appears to be that students are turning to explosives (Bockler, Seeger, Sitzer, & Heitmeyer, 2013b; Oksanen et al., 2013; New York Times, 2017). Additionally, angry and disgruntled students are increasingly causing forest fires. Given that this is the case, those from this third perspective believe that societies need to initiate character education in the schools once again. As was shared earlier in the book, the idea is to focus only on those character traits that virtually every human on earth believes in, unless someone is a criminal or sociopath, e.g., honesty, sincerity, respect, love, and responsibility. These supporters say, especially if parents are not providing values, teachers have to teach these kids love, honesty, and selfcontrol, particularly controlling their anger. According to this train of thought, the results will impact students using guns and explosives and those setting forests fires.

3.7 What Is the Evidence Regarding Gun Laws? There are a number of correlational studies that have been done examining the relationship between the states with the strongest gun control laws and the frequency of school shootings (Leins, 2019). These studies are insightful to some degree, especially if one lays aside one’s preferences regarding how one wishes for the results to turn out, but rather truly wants to uncover some real solutions regarding how to

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best lower the incidence of these tragic acts of violence. With this context in mind, there are two leading challenges to sifting through these data attempting to establish some real relationships. First, the results are rather mixed. There is some pattern that indicates that states with stricter laws of gun control have fewer school shootings, but the trend is not entirely conclusive. Second, the studies are correlational in nature and do not indicate whether there is actual causation involved. There could be a host of other factors involved that actually provide cause(s). For example, sharing illustratively, if one discovers that there is a correlation between parents purchasing Rocky Road Ice Cream for their children and school shootings by students, would that indicate that the solution to this problem is to increase the production- and availability-of Rocky Road Ice Cream for youths? In this case, it is more likely that the parental purchase of Rocky Road Ice Cream could reflect a higher level of prosperity or socioeconomic status in a given community. Another prominent possibility is that the frequent parental purchase of Rocky Road Ice Cream could be indicative of a high level parental involvement in the life of their children. In such a case, it is very possibly the case that in terms of reducing the likelihood of school shootings, there would likely be a greater probability of success if one encouraged increased parental involvement or encouraged a higher level of family income and education than if a person advocated that the production of Rocky Road Ice Cream be increased. One study in a journal called, Injury Prevention, indicated that states that have strong gun control laws, in the form of background checks, had fewer school shooting incidents (Sheth, 2016). However, gun advocacy groups argue that more guns, particularly in the hands of the police is what is needed to reduce school shootings and violence. The reality is among those in the general public most would assert that they would feel most comfortable with a gun law with each of the realities discussed highlighted. That is concurrently, fewer guns in hands of those that are most likely to be dangerous would be a very good development, as well as more guns in the hand of the police and those who were trained and willing to help. Blau, Gorry, and Wade (2016) examined data from over a 20+ year period. Their study found that there was no consistent relationship between gun control laws and reduced number of public shootings nor the number of fatalities at those shootings. Perhaps the most notable part of their study is a finding that emerged, even though it was not the primary emphasis of the study, i.e., that mental illness in the shooter was highly related to the likelihood of a school shooting. Some have argued that conceal and carry gun laws reduce the likelihood that there will be school shooting, because potential assailants will think twice before engaging in such violent activities. However, the reality is that the results of studies on whether conceal and carry gun laws help show mixed results (Rand Corporation, 2020). Lott (2003) examined conceal and gun carry laws from 1977 to 1997 on public shootings. To his credit, Lott (2003) controlled for the year that public shooting took place, various socioeconomic and demographic factors, and other firearm policies. The results showed a significant reduction in the number of public shootings and fatalities, when conceal and carry gun laws were in place (Lott, 2003). Lott’s findings are more helpful than most in enlightening the school shooting debate, because they focus on

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public shootings rather than just overall levels of murder and other violent crimes. Nevertheless, one should note that not all public shootings are school shootings. Many are not (Chalmers, 2009; Kleck, 2009). Duwe, Kovandzic, and Moody (2002) examined public shootings in the last quarter of the twentieth century (1976–1999) and addressed, among other things, whether the effects of conceal and carry gun laws were subject to diminishing over time. They controlled for socioeconomic status and state prison population effects. They found no statistically significant differences either for or against of conceal and carry gun laws. Similar to the Lott (2003) work, this study examined public shootings, which made it especially helpful. However, not all public shootings are school shootings. Luce, Malhotra, and Poliquin (2016) examined a later period of time (1989– 2014). They also controlled for socioeconomic status, demographic factors, political characteristics, and other gun law policies. They found a fairly good size set of effects that indicated perhaps there were positive effects of conceal and carry gun laws, but the results did not reach the level of being statistically significant. Other studies regarding whether conceal and carry laws work, which pro-gun advocates enjoy arguing for, also show results that are mixed, with few statistically significant results emerging (Gius, 2018). Blau, Gorry, and Wade (2016) examined data from 1982 to 2013. Their study also controlled for socioeconomic status, demographics, and other factors. The study found that there was no consistent relationship between conceal and carry laws and reduced number of public shootings nor the number of fatalities at those shootings.

3.7.1 Overall Findings of the Statistical Analysis of Gun Laws Overall, if there is any relationship at all between conceal and carry gun laws and fewer school shootings, it is quite small. It only sometimes yields a result that is statistically significant. If one looks at the relationship between the enactment of gun control laws and gun violence, the association does appear to be stronger. In one of the most comprehensive studies of its kind, because of its international span of studies Julian Santaella-Tenorio (2016), a doctoral student at Columbia University, and his colleagues examined 130 studies from 10 nations covering Europe, South America, Africa, North America, and Australia over the period from 1950 to 2014. The findings indicated a distinct relationship between increased gun control measures and a reduction in firearm violence. Almost certainly, the most helpful part of the study is that it suggests that gun control is quite possibly a strategy that can ameliorate the level of firearm violence not merely in one country, but also as part of an overall trend in multiple countries. Nevertheless, within the context of acknowledging this overall helpful finding, this study also has two weaknesses with reference to the topic under study in this book. First, the Julian Santaella-Tenorio (2016) study examines the merits of gun

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control as it pertains to overall firearm violence. That is a very different topic from addressing gun laws as they relate to school shooting specifically. An aim of this chapter is not to assess the overall merits of gun control legislation. Rather, the goal is to consider the role gun laws, including gun control legislation, might play in reducing school shootings. As Kleck (2009) has pointed out, those two answers are likely different. In addition, the overall trend in data, as Kleck suggests, is that gun control is likely much more of a factor in possibly reducing overall deaths from firearms than in is in exerting downward pressure on the overall number of school shootings. The second weakness of the Santaella-Tenorio (2016) study, as it pertains to the primary thrust of this book, is that as much as including data from a number of nations can be advantageous, in terms of highlighting overall trends, it also presents complications. Problems can clearly arise when comparing students from different nations. The level of international data does call one to pause, before jumping to conclusions regarding the results of initial analyses. One reason it does so is because there are many other factors that affect families living with in different cultures that go well beyond the typical multicultural issues shared by teachers in school. For example, in the United States, where rates of school shootings are higher than in most countries, the nation has a level of ethnic diversity and immigration that is presently unparalleled in the world. Many immigrant groups that come to the United States hate each other and they carry into the United States their past grievances. Perhaps the most notable recent example of this involved bringing in both Israeli and Arab immigrants. Nearly 4,000 years of animosity between several Arab nations and those who are Jewish are hardly going to end in two weeks. Nevertheless, this surely was not the first time that such tensions emerged. During the days leading up to Japan’s bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Japanese and Chinese were going head-to-head militarily. This resulted in a huge amount of friction between Japanese Americans and Chinese Americans. For months, a major problem emerged, because Japanese American- and Chinese American-children refused to go to school with one another (Yoo, 2000). Similarly, following World War I the United States passed the immigration acts to reduce the number of Eastern Europeans, who were at odds with one another in Europe and were then also having ethnic tensions with each other in the United States (Moreo, 1996; Tucker & Keely, 1990). The United States was afraid of inheriting Europe’s wars (Moreo, 1996; Tucker & Keely, 1990).

3.7.2 The Port Arthur, Australia Shooting and the National Firearms Agreement of 1996 Perhaps people should learn from Gun Control Legislation in other countries. One of the most horrific mass shootings in recent world history was in Port Arthur, Australia, April 28–29, 1996. It was not a school shooting, although pre-school and school age children were among the 35 killed. There were also 23 wounded (King, 2014). The

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shooting was all the more shocking, because it occurred just after the Dunblane school shooting in Scotland (Fulton, 2016; Great Britain Parliament, 2007; King, 2014). As a direct result of the shooting, the Australian government, led by John Howard, passed the National Firearms Agreement of 1996. The Port Arthur shooting occurred just seven weeks after John Howard had become Prime Minister, after defeating the Labor Party. Lauren Hirsh (2013) notes that quantitative evidence indicates that this law has lowered “gun violence” in Australia, although she did not specifically state that it reduced school shootings. The distinction between the two is important, because school shootings generally involve much younger people than most expressions of gun violence. John Lott disagrees with Hirsh and notes that the Australian violent crime rate surged 32% in the six years following the passage of the National Firearms Agreement of 1996. Moreover, armed robberies rose 74% during the same period (Lott & Lehrer, 2004). One might ask, how is it possible that Hirsh and Lott can look at the same data and reach two entirely different conclusions? The reason is because they are both very selective in the data they choose to present and neither one gives the whole picture. Hirsh chooses to make the conclusion she does because two Australian violent crime statistics clearly did fall after 1996, i.e., the homicide rate and the homicide rate as a percentage of violent crimes (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2019). However, there are three problems with using those statistics to reach the conclusion that Hirsh does. First, for nearly a quarter of a century prior to the National Firearms Agreement of 1996, both of these statistics were in steep decline (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2019). In fact, well over 90% of the decline in the homicide rate as a percentage of violent crimes took place from 1973 to 1996, before the National Firearms Agreement of 1996 was passed (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2019). Second, the decline in the homicide rate as a percentage of violent crimes took place in part, because other violent crimes such as armed robbery surged after 1996. Clearly, homicides are considered worse than armed robberies are, but both Hirsh and Lott really need to communicate the full picture. Third, the reality is that the overall results are mixed. Homicides showed a delayed, but slight decline after 1996 and that is notable and important, even though the decline was not large (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2019). However, armed robbery, sexual assault, and kidnapping all rose after 1996 (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2019). One of the reasons why there is intensive debate about whether the National Firearms Agreement of 1996 in Australia worked is because the conclusion depends on what outcome measure one uses. The reality is that although Hirsh and Lott both highlight different components of the data, neither really gives a full and objective picture. The results are inconclusive. The Australian data are neither an argument for nor against gun control. Moreover, because the data do not explicitly examine the relationship between the National Firearms Agreement of 1996 and school shootings, it makes the data even less clear. It should be noted that there are a number of studies that have demonstrated a relationship between strict gun controls and a lower crime rate, but the reader needs to recall that the concern of this book is with school shootings, in particular. As

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has been mentioned, one big difference between examining the overall crime rate and school shootings is that background checks, often the most popular form of gun control, work much better with adults than they do with teens. At least that is the case until laws are passed allowing more information to be included in the background checks of pre-adolescents and adolescents.

3.7.3 Parkland, Florida and Guns The Parkland, Florida shooter, the one whom the father of Meadow Pollack called #18-1958, Cruz’s prison identification number, “when he #18-1958 bought his guns, he had a totally clean record. On paper, he was a model citizen. In reality, he was a psychopathic felon. Our laws already say that psychopaths and felons can’t buy guns. But he was never institutionalized. He was never arrested. And maybe most important of all he was never really helped” (p. xix). Some might be tempted to opine that because the United States has a reputation for being extremely soft on juvenile offenders, that this reality of lack of adolescent records might be so in the United States, but not in other countries. However, it is also true in most of the major developed countries in the world. For example, Tim Kretschmer, the Winnenden, Germany shooter of 2009, had a totally clean criminal record (Bockler et al., 2013a; Heitmeyer et al., 2013; Hoffmann & Roshdi, 2013). This is also true of nearly all the school mass assailants in China, Japan, other parts of Europe, South America, Africa, Australia, and in other parts of North America. Another big difference between school shootings and other mass attacks is that schools are a very vulnerable place for an active shooter to be on the loose. One can see that in the case of a school, it might be particularly important for at least one person to be available to shoot back at the assailant to prevent more widespread casualties.

3.8 What Strategy Regarding Gun Laws Should Be Initiated? What is needed to help reduce school shootings is intelligent gun control and unfortunately most of the gun control laws that are proposed are not particularly intelligent. When one speaks of gun control, it is important that one specify the targeted strategy. The news media often not only reports the reality of school shootings, “but also suggests ways to respond, including changes in public policy” (McCluskey, 2017, p. 1). McCluskey (2017, p. 1) notes that, “in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shootings, which left twenty-eight dead…public opinion showed strong support for policy changes involving guns and treatment for mental illness.” “More than 450 bills were filed in state legislatures within a year of Sandy Hook…covering a wide range of

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responses from school security to gun control” (McCloskey, 2017, p. 1). Unfortunately, as well intentioned as many of these efforts are, they often arise out of the emotion and grief of the moment. Due to this fact, the bills that are propounded are often simplistic and not well thought out. There is no doubt that such gun law efforts, some of which advocate few guns and others that support conceal and carry, are generally well-intentioned and arise out of the tragedy of the moment. All of this is perfectly understandable. However, the reality is that although there are more gun laws being proposed and enacted than at any time in American history, school shootings continue to become increasingly common (Allen, 2019; Barton, 2020). There are two conclusions that are almost unavoidable from the above facts, no matter what a person’s stand on gun laws should happen to be. First, the United States, and to a lesser extent many nations around the world, are not adopting the right gun laws, as it pertains to school shootings. Second, heretofore almost all the attention that leaders and the media have given this problem involves gun legislation. That is clearly part of the problem, but the results of gun legislation have been disappointing (Allen, 2019; Barton, 2020). One would think that there should at least some movement in the right direction on school shootings. Sadly, the coronavirus is about the only development that has reduced school shootings (Lewis, 2020). It is clear that reducing school shooting will involve a more sophisticated approach than merely focusing on gun laws.

3.9 Solution #1—“Smart Guns” First, since it is the direct topic of this chapter, the focus will be on passing intelligent gun laws. Speaking of “intelligent,” a huge key is to pass laws providing incentives for the manufacturing of “smart” guns (Harman, 2014; Parloff, 2015). The idea of smart guns is to make certain that the only ones who can use a particular gun are the owner and those approved by the owner to use the gun (Harman, 2014; Parloff, 2015). Otherwise, a gun will be worthless. This approach will particularly affect school shootings, because so many of the aggressors stole their guns from family and friends. Hirsh (2013, p. 86) notes, “Despite the plethora of existing regulations, gun control laws in the U.S. are failing to control guns in any meaningful way.” Hirsh’s assertion is a reminder that it is simply not enough to have gun control laws, but rather what is needed are intelligent and targeted gun laws. Although many might support passing gun laws just for change’s sake, such a strategy is not progressivism, it is regressivism. This approach will address the concerns of both Second Amendment advocates and pro-gun control supporters. Second Amendment people are concerned about people being able to defend themselves. Gun control people are alarmed about the vast proliferation of guns, as well as their concerns about gun accidents and suicides by children, who are not even the gun owners (Allen, 2019; Squires, 2012). Both

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sides of the gun debate believe that the world is better off if guns are in the right hands and they are not in the wrong ones. Why not begin where there is a consensus?

3.10 Solution #2—Political Bickering Must Stop Second, leaders and people must stop the political bickering. The developments just described have significantly hurt efforts to produce intelligent gun legislation. President Obama attempted to pass gun control legislation which included some common sense ideas such as banning military-style assault weapons. However, although President Obama was skilled in a variety of areas such as making eloquent prepared speeches and rallying his chief supporters, President Obama was not skilled at reaching across to aisle to unite people (Noonan, 2011; Wall Street Journal, 2011). Similarly, President Trump due to his business background, was highly skilled in taking on the Chinese and getting the economy growing faster than in prior recent years, he also was not skilled at reaching across to aisle to unite people (Ryan, 2018). Presidents Obama and Trump each appeared quite certain of how to address school shootings and the gun control issue, but had difficulty incorporating the beliefs who viewed the situation as more complex than they did. As a result, little progress has been made in the United States on this issue (Noonan, 2011; Ryan, 2018; Wall Street Journal, 2011). If there is to be positive and influential gun legislation to reduce school shootings it must be: (1) unique enough to deal with the unique aspects of school shootings rather than merely adult shootings, (2) it must involve smart guns, on which there is much bipartisan support, (3) it should include the ideas of people from all the major political parties, and (4) it must be comprehensive and involve other ideas for reducing these shootings, not merely gun control initiatives. Otherwise, it will come across as simplistic and close-minded. Those who favor gun control should start their efforts where there is most likely to be consensus and show greater sensitivity to historical and contemporary context (Kleck, 2009; Langman, 2010). Without employing these two strategies together, gun control efforts are bound to fail. According to a 2019 poll by U.S. News and World Report, the American public is much more amenable to certain kinds of gun control rather than others (Walsh, 2019). For example, at the head of the list, the respondents favored: (1) background checks for gun purchasers (89%), 76% favored “red flag laws,” which identified those people, due to their past criminal record, who were most likely to be abusive in their use of guns, and 62% favored a ban on automatic weapons (Walsh, 2019). However, only 25% of Americans favor a ban of the sale of handguns (Walsh, 2019). These figures give at least some guidance into the which aspects of gun laws to pursue first. Regarding the second point, i.e., the “historical and contemporary context,” in the same poll, the respondents were almost exactly evenly divided regarding there being the risk that the government would not go far enough in gun control versus whether the government would go too far (Walsh, 2019).

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3.11 Solution #3: An Assault Weapons Ban Should Be Part of the Firearms Solution Third, an assault weapons ban should be part of firearms solutions. Not only is there really no good reason for non-military people to own them, but also these laws have been passed in recent years. Machine guns were banned under President Ronald Reagan in 1986 and assault weapons were temporarily banned under President Clinton in 1994 (Himelfarb & Perotti, 2014; Lettow, 2013). The fact that leaders established a consensus previously, gives some indication of what might be able to be accomplished once again. In addition, other nations have had some success with passing gun control bills, based on identifying certain classes of weapons that should be banned. For example, Great Britain passed the Firearms (Amendment) Bills of 1987 and 1997, which band British people from most kinds of handguns (Fulton, 2016; Great Britain Parliament, 2007). Based on the data presented in the U.S. News and World Report poll and the fact that school shootings are primarily dealing with teens and pre-teens, it would seem that a large part of the effort should be placed into banning semi-automatics weapons, at least as far as school shootings are concerned. The Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida was a grim reminder of what horrors a semi-automatic gun can do. It took place in February, 2018 when Nikolas Cruz, a nineteen year old recent attendee of the school, opened fire killing 17 and injuring 17 others (Schentrup, 2020). Cruz was armed with an AR-15 which was equipped with a high-capacity “firearm magazine” (Schentrup, 2020). A firearm magazine is an ammunition storage or feeding device within or attached to a repeating firearm. This fact enabled Cruz to gun down a myriad of students within just a few minutes. Banning the purchase of these semi-automatic weapons may not reduce the number of shootings, but it will almost certainly reduce the number of casualties when the gun-firings occur (Squires, 2012; Talbot, 2018). The Jokela school shooting involved Pekka-Eric Auvinen shooting an automatic pistol, which killed nine and wounded thirteen (Oksanen et al., 2013). There is an unquestionable worldwide trend that the worst casualty totals from school shootings tend to be associated with semi-automatic weapons (Oksanen et al., 2013). This is an important observation to make when considering new gun laws that can save lives (Oksanen et al., 2013). When semi-automatic weapons are used with these high-capacity magazines, it makes it much more difficult for security guards, the police, or anyone else who has a gun or can tackle the shooter to be able to take action before many have been killed or wounded (Schentrup, 2020).

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3.12 Solution #4—Background Checks May Not Help Much with School Shootings Fourth, background checks may work for more typical adult shootings, but they are unlikely to help reduce substantially the number and severity of school shootings. Background checks, which are the most accepted aspect of gun control, may also help reduce these school shootings to a quite small degree. Conceivably, background checks and “red flag laws” could very well be helpful in reducing adult shootings. However, because in many societies, little background information is kept on preadolescent and adolescent behavior almost none of the school shooters had a record that would have raised red flags in a background check. That fact can change if societies decide to record pre-adolescent and adolescent violent incidents much more than they do now. However, until these procedural changes are made, the reality is background checks will do little to reduce school shootings. However, the utility of background checks would likely be limited in the case of these acts of violence undertaken by youth, because pre-teens and teens have little or no track record (Chalmers, 2009; Langman, 2010). As will be noted at various times, some of the adolescent and pre-adolescent aggressors had short track records. Hence, background checks might have some value. However, a number of the youthful assailants used semi-automatic weapons and action along these lines could have a real impact. However, for background checks to work to foil school shootings, nations will have to change just how meticulously they record juvenile misbehaviors.

3.12.1 Are Educators, Parents, and Law Enforcement People Too Light on Adolescents? Currently, society: (1) because of the youth of juvenile offenders, there are a lot of cases in which the police issue verbal warnings without putting in writing what was the youth’s offense. (2) Often when officers make some written entry, they purposely use euphemisms and understatements, with the motive that due to the pupil’s youth, they want to give the adolescent or pre-adolescent a break with regard to the law. With these two points just made in mind, there usually is not much available on an aggressor’s record that would protrude from the record and stand out as being as immoral, unethical, or illegal (Chalmers, 2009; Langman, 2010; Pollack & Eden, 2019). That is one of the great difficulties that confronts police. Hence, conducting background checks on adolescents with could provide some relief from the current very high rate of school shootings. However, a person would have to be a real Pollyanna to believe that simply doing contemporary style background check would immediately identify the teen that committed a given act of gun violence (Gius, 2018; Pollack & Eden, 2019). However, if principals, municipalities, and police keep more detailed accounts of what actually happens when youth get into

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fights, are disciplined in the course of an ordinary school day, commit what would normally be considered adult crimes, when the assailants are young, the value of background checks could go up dramatically (Pollack & Eden, 2019).

3.13 Solution #5—Gun Control Laws and Conceal and Carry Laws Should Not Automatically Be Regarded as “Either Or” Propositions Fifth, although the effects of gun control and conceal and carry -laws are relatively small and may not even quite reach statistical significance, there may be something there in both cases. Clearly, each side of the gun debate would like to hear that the perspective they support has considerable support in the research literature. However, when it comes to school shootings the influence of either set of laws appears to be rather small. Nevertheless, to the extent that the effects are consistent, albeit petite, the effects are consistent enough to make it wise to call for further analysis to see when gun control works and when conceal and carry laws work. It is facile to understand the logic that fewer guns in society will lead to less conflict among the people of a given locale. Nevertheless, a trained individual can take down a shooter before widespread killing emerges. Rather than view gun laws as an “either or” proposal when it comes to traditional gun control versus other conceal and carry, perhaps both are necessary, but at different times. As one example of this possibility, perhaps “gun free zones” can work, but in addition to having a place so-labeled, it is wisest to have a large security force that can easily respond to a student gun assault, if so needed.

3.13.1 Is There at Least Future Potential for Background Checks? If there is an increased willingness to provide data on pre-adult activities of pupils, there is some degree of potential for background checks. Background checks do have a good deal of support in higher places (Talbot, 2018). Both Presidents Obama and Trump support legislation to call for required background checks, when guns are sold (Talbot, 2018). President Trump wanted to “revive a bill mandating universal background checks for gun buyers, chiding them for being frightened of the N. R. A., and saying that in some situations, he was in favor of taking people’s guns away first, and asking questions later” (Talbot, 2018). In one sense, it is ironic that President Trump shared this because in his 2016 election run, he enjoyed the support of the N. R. A. Those who opposed him politically ridiculed him for his call for background checks (Talbot, 2018). However, President Trump made it clear on many occasions that he believed that as much he endorsed the Second Amendment with regard to gun ownership, he believed it was necessary for the N. R. A. to accept gun control to

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the degree of being operational at the level of common sense. In other words, there were some elements of gun control that are necessary and some that are not. Trump believed it was wise to acknowledge the best forms of gun control; and implement those, while maintaining the integrity of the Second Amendment (Talbot, 2018). The bottom line is that for background checks to work, they must be done on people who have a background. Hence, for these backgrounds checks to have a legitimate chance of reducing school shootings, school officials and law enforcement must do a much better job about recording the details of infractions, fights, detentions, suspensions, flagrant disregard of the teacher’s orders, etc. or else background checks will likely fall far short of its potential to possibly reduce these horrific crimes. The idea of keeping much better records of pre-adult behavior is highly attractive, but some will feel uncomfortable with the idea, because they believe that personal liberty will be infringed upon and that the innocence of youth will be compromised. There is no question that many in this country believe that those who are not quite yet adults should basically be given “the benefit of the doubt” when committing crimes, until they reach adulthood. What is questionable is whether that approach is wise. Naturally, the argument in favor of broader and deeper background checks for the pre-adult population is that when a pre-adult decides to gun down a population of people, a lot of adult-like decision making has usually gone into planning such an attack (Chalmers, 2009; Squires, 2012). In a situation like this, it therefore becomes difficult to give a youth “the benefit of the doubt,” especially when such a decision has led to a blood bath that affects countless numbers pf people. To give youth “the benefit of the doubt” in such an instance possesses a very high risk/reward ratio.

3.14 School Shootings Have Continued to Surge Even After the Passage of Many Gun Control Measures The Parkland, Florida shooting rekindled the debate about gun control perhaps more than any of the other tragic shootings in part because of the number of casualties that there were, but also because Cruz used a semi-automatic weapon and gunned down many people in an incredibly short time (Schentrup, 2020). One would have thought that have that with all the talk about gun control not only after the Parkland shooting, but also before under President Obama, there would have been some real success in reducing school shootings. True enough, not much in the way of successful control legislation emerged on the federal front, but a good number of states passed gun control measures (McCluskey, 2017). However, the number of shootings continued to surge. The proposals that emerged were more emotional knee jerk reactions than ones that were thoroughly researched, logically argued, and utilized the best technological solutions. In addition, to the extent that they were single action solutions rather than comprehensive ones, many citizens come to see through their naïve and simplistic nature (Langman, 2010; Lieberman, 20006; McCluskey, 2017).

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In terms of gun control, the empirical evidence is mixed regarding school shootings. A study by Mark Gius (2018) found no statistically significant relationship between the extent to which various states had various types of gun control in place and the number of lives lost in school shootings, with one notable exception. Gius found that whether one examined background checks, dealer background checks, or other forms of gun control, no notable reduction in the number of lives lost to school shootings took place (Gius, 2018). For the reasons mentioned earlier, these results may not be that great a surprise. However, it should be noted that Gaius also found that when a state had in place a ban on assault weapons, the number of fatalities was reduced by 54.4% (Gius, 2018). His findings further support the notion that focusing on laws banning assault weapons, along with firearm magazines, may be one of the preferable gun control strategies rather than background checks, when it comes to limiting the carnage that results from school shootings (Schentrup, 2020). The reality is that guns are part of the problem, but they are not the only problem. Gun laws that build on emotional feelings of frustration will not work. However, gun laws that are built on actual data and are part of a broad comprehensive solution will. Gun laws that do not consider that the distinct nature of pre-adolescent and adolescent school firearm will not succeed, but those that do will make a difference. Those gun laws that do not utilize recent advances in gun owner identification technology are far more likely to fail than those that do.

3.15 Some Americans Are Concerned About the Rise of Statism The other primary issue the 2019 poll by U.S. News and World Report revealed is that about half of Americans believe that government gun control efforts will go too far. There is no question that many people around the world have a distrust of the use of government power, especially when it is so highly concentrated. Lord Acton declared, “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” In many countries around the world, the tendency has been for power to become increasingly centralized in the government and for the rights of citizens to be reduced. Often when an extreme right (fascist) or extreme left (communist) government takes or consolidates-power, they confiscate the guns owned by the general population (Doherty, 2008; Whitney, 2012). Hence, whether one agrees with some gun owners or not, some view their gun ownership as a Second Amendment guarantee of freedom, which safeguards them against the potential for government oppression (Doherty, 2008; Whitney, 2012). In the eyes of some, government is growing so fast as a percentage of G.D.P. that the infringement on individual rights is almost inevitable (Doherty, 2008; Whitney, 2012). In the United States and many European countries, now that the federal government runs much of healthcare, the government is in control of between 40 and 50% of G.D.P (Forbes & Ames, 2016). Particularly for the United States, a nation that

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since 1776 has never had a monarchy and was founded on the notion of a small government, the rapidity with which the government sector has grown over the last several decades has been very disconcerting (Forbes & Ames, 2016; Haycock, 2019; Johnson, 1997). America’s founders, as well as most of its most honored leaders throughout history, lauded the advantages of freedom and individualism (Haycock, 2019; Johnson, 1997). Moreover, throughout much of their history of the last number of decades, the United States and much of Europe have done much to fight off the evils of dictatorships and totalitarianism (Haycock, 2019; Johnson, 1997). The United States, in particular, does not have a high regard for the centralization of government power (Haycock, 2019; Kotkin, 2014). The U.S. has especially deep convictions in this regard, in part because since it gained its independence, it has never had a monarch (Haycock, 2019; Kotkin, 2014). Given that the United States suffered under the British monarchy before then, unlike virtually every country in Europe, it associates monarchy and any other government system that involves a concentration of power, e.g. communism and fascism, with negative experiences and abuse of power. It thinks of these forms of government as oppressive and contrary to the expression of individual rights (Haycock, 2019; Kotkin, 2014). To Americans, in particular, but many people from other nations as well, a massive concentration of power in the government divulges the presence of selfish, impure, rapacious, and greedy motives (Haycock, 2019; Kotkin, 2014). It is this unruly concentration of power in systems of monarchy, communism, and fascism that causes the leaders of various countries to act out of self-interest rather than in the best interests of people (Haycock, 2019; Kotkin, 2014). As it stands now, a ponderous number of people oppose the way various kings and dictators such as Hitler, Stalin, and Putin, especially from all over Europe, have acted toward the general population (Haycock, 2019; Zimmerman, 2016). Dictators led by General Secretary Xi Jinping of China, and a parade of dictators from North Korea and Iran have only added to that impression. Hence, for decades many Americans, for decades, have viewed gun control in an entirely different context. President Harry S. Truman was typical in his warnings about “statism.” The fundamental basis of this nation’s laws was given to Moses on the Mount…. If we don’t have a proper fundamental moral background, we will finally end up with a totalitarian government which does not believe in rights for anybody except the State” (Goodreads, 2000).

3.16 Concluding Thoughts for This Chapter There is little question that of all the solutions propounded in this book, it is the issue of guns that is the most emotional. The foremost reason is because of the individual experiences that people had in which either the absence or presence of guns could have either saved lives or prevented other horrible experiences. Unless there is a greater sensitivity to this fact and greater compassion and kindness on both sides of this debate, little will be accomplished.

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“Smart guns” appear the place to begin, as well as banning certain weapons, where consensus existed in the past under Presidents Reagan and Clinton. Ultimately, it is the wise approach to begin where there is consensus or near consensus and build from there. Virtually everyone is agreed that societies want fewer guns in the hands who intend harm or more guns in the hands of those who can prevent- or limit-that harm. Beyond “smart guns,” what is also needed is smart people, i.e., people who realize that reducing school shootings will require much more thought than simply reciting what one has heard from the evening news or seen on the internet. As Gary Kleck (2009) has insightfully points out school shootings are quite different than adult shootings. When many people think of gun laws, they immediately think of background checks. That may well have an effect for adult crimes, but as procedures stand now, it will help little in stopping young shooters who usually have little or no criminal background. Therefore, with regard to school shootings, which is the topic of this book, one needs to look either to other types of gun laws or establish different procedures for tracking the behavior of teens and pre-teens, so that more young people will have a sufficient “background” that one can check. All of this requires deep thinking about these issues, as Kleck (2009) rightly points out.

Chapter 4

The Importance of Family Factors

Joseph Lieberman (2006, p. 1), former Senator from Connecticut, wrote in his book, School Shootings, “It begins with the home.” As one of the most respected members of the Senate of his generation, most Americans agree with Joseph Lieberman and it appears the data do as well. Recently, CNN listed the 27 deadliest shootings in modern American history, from 1949 to present (CNN, 2017/2019). Mark Meckler (2018) notes that of those 27 deadliest shootings, 26 were committed by a male from a fatherless- or dysfunctional-home. As Meckler (2018, p. 1) states: Fatherlessness is a serious problem. America’s boys have been under stress for decades. It’s not toxic masculinity that is hurting them, it’s the fact that when they come home there are no fathers there. Plain and simple. Add to that a bunch of horrible cultural trends telling them that everything bad is good (gang culture, drugs, and misogyny) and we’ve got a serious problem on our hands.

Many recent shootings have been committed by youth from fatherless homes or households in which there has been child abuse (Harper & McLanahan, 2004; Scott & Nimmo, 2000; Zagar, Grove, & Busch, 2013). The Parkland attacker was a foster child. The aggressors at Sandy Hook were also from divorced families. Although the recent Las Vegas shooting was not at a school, Stephen Paddock grew up in a house without a father, because his dad was either in jail or running away from the law for most of his life. Dylann Roof, who committed the mass murder at a church in South Carolina, also came from a fatherless home. These statistics should not be surprising, because Cynthia Harper and Sara McLanahan (2004) found that youth that were either mother only- or mother plus stepfather-families were between two and three times as Some of the data analysis presented in this chapter originally were published in the following articles: Jeynes, W. (2017). A Meta-Analysis: The Relationship Between Parental Involvement and Latino Student Outcomes. Education & Urban Society, 49 (1), 1–28; Jeynes, W. (2016). A Meta-Analysis: The Relationship Between Parental Involvement and African American School Outcomes. Journal of Black Studies, 47 (3), 195–216; Jeynes, W. (2015). A Meta-Analysis: The Relationship Between Father Involvement and Student Academic Achievement. Urban Education, 50 (4), 387–423; and Jeynes, W. (2000). The Effects of Several of the Most Common Family Structures on the Academic Achievement of Eighth Graders. Marriage and Family Review, 30 (1/2), 73–97. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 W. H. Jeynes, Reducing School Shootings, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66549-4_4

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likely to be incarcerated as their counterparts in intact families. Parental involvement and a loving family atmosphere are also among family factors that reduce the chances for juvenile violence (Hamlin & Li, 2020; Jeynes & Winter, 2015). McLanahan, of Princeton University, has been conducting research of fatherless homes for decades and has reported findings like these for many years. Admittedly, CNN’s list is a little bit different than the list examined earlier in this book, i.e., the worst school shootings. Nevertheless, by considering a larger and broader list of shootings, it can provide added insight into the lives and motives of these mass shooters (Fein & Isaacson, 2009; Jeynes, 2006b, 2012e). As the reader scrolls down this list, what is worthy to focus on for the purposes of this chapter is that nearly all of these shooters were from fatherless homes or otherwise troubled home situations. #1- 58 killed, October 1, 2017- In Las Vegas, NV. 64 year-old Stephen Paddock of Mesquite, Nevada fired upon 22,000 spectators of a God and country concert, shortly after the crowd sang “God bless America.” Paddock shot from 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay Resort, injuring nearly 700. The shooting lasted about 10–15 minutes. Paddock committed suicide and acted alone. #2- 49 killed, June 12, 2016- In Orlando, FL. 29 year-old Omar Saddiqui Mateen opened fire at the Pulse Nightclub. 50 were injured. Police shot Omar Saddiqui Mateen down after he held others hostage in the nightclub. #3- 32 killed, April 16, 2007 at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA. In the worst school shooting in American history, Seung-Hui Cho, murdered 32 in two locations and wounded an undetermined number of people. The shooter killed himself. #4- 27 killed, December 14, 2012, Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. Adam Lanza, age 20, killed 20 children ages 6 and 7, and 6 adult school staff and faculty, before killing himself. #5- 25 killed and an unborn child, November 5, 2017 at a church in Sutherland Springs, TX. 20 are injured. Devin Patrick Kelley was found dead after a brief chase, but it is unclear whether the wounds were self-inflicted. #6- 23 killed, October 16, 1991 in Kileen, TX. 35 year old George Hennard crashed a pick-up truck through Luby’s Cafeteria. After leaving the truck, Hennard shot and killed 23 people. He then committed suicide. #7- 22 killed, August 3, 2019 in El Paso, TX. A mass shooting at Wal Mart by Patrick Crusius, who was a white supremacist. #8- 21 killed, July 18, 1984 in San Ysidro, CA. 41 year old James Huberty slew 21 at a McDonalds restaurant. A policeman killed Huberty 1 hour after the shooting began. #9- 18 killed, August 1, 1966 in Austin, TX. Charles Whitman fired from a tower and wounded over 30. Whitman also killed his mother and wife. He was killed by law enforcement officers. #10- 17 killed, February 14, 2018 in Parkland, FL. February 14, 2018- A former student, Nikolas Cruz. went on a murderous rampage at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School. Cruz was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder. Nikolas Cruz was raised in a single parent family.

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#11- December 2, 2015, 14 killed in San Bernardino, CA. Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik went on a shooting spree on an employee gathering at Inland Regional Center. They were later killed in a shootout with police. #12- August 20, 1986, 14 killed in Edmond, OK. Patrick Sherrill murdered a large group of postal workers. #13- November 5, 2009, 13 killed and 1 unborn Child in Fort Hood, TX. Nidal Malik Hasan also 32 injured. He was convicted and sentenced to death. #14- April 20, 1999, 13 killed Columbine High School in Littleton, CO. 18 year old Eric Harris and 17 year old Dylan Klebold slew 12 students and 1 teacher. #15 April 3, 2009, 13 killed in Binghamton, New York. Jiverly Wong killed 13 and wounded 4 at an immigrant center. #16- February 18, 1983, 13 killed in Seattle, WA. Three men entered Wah Mee Casino & Social Club in Seattle and robbed 14 and shot each in the head, killing 13. Kwan Fai Mak and Benjamin Ng were convicted of murder and are serving in prison. The third, Wai-Chui, was convicted of first degree robbery and second degree assault and was deported to Hong Kong in 2014. #17- September 25, 1983, 13 killed in Wilkes-Barre, PA. A 40 year old prison guard gunned down 13. In September 2011, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his death sentence, claiming that he was mentally incompetent. #18- September 5, 1949, 13 killed in Camden, NJ. Howard Unrah killed 13. Using a German pistol, he strolled down 32nd Street and murdered 13, while walking down the street. He was declared mentally ill and institutionalized. He died at 88 (Bockler, Seeger, Sitzer & Heitmeyer, 2013a). #19- May 31, 2019, 12 killed, 4 injured, Virginia Beach, VA. DeWayne Craddock fired upon a crowd of people killing 12 and wounding 4. #20- November 7, 2018, 12 killed, Thousand Oaks, CA. 12 were killed and 10-12 were also injured at a restaurant frequented a great deal by college students. David Long was the assailant. At the end of the attack, he committed suicide. #21- Sept. 16, 2013, 12 killed, 4 injured, Washington Navy Yard. Alan Alexis, age 34, killed 12. #22- July 20, 2012, 12 killed, 58 injured, Aurora, CO. James Holmes, age 24, killed 12 and injured 58 shooting at a Batman film. He set off two explosive or incendiary devices of some type and then shot at audience in theater. Three years later, he was found guilty on 165 counts against him including 24 counts of murder, 140 counts of attempted murder, and one count of possession of explosive or incendiary device. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole. #23- July 29, 1999, 12 killed, 12 injured, Atlanta, GA. 44 year old Mark Barton murdered his wife and two children. Then he went to 2 brokerage houses and killed and wounded more. He later committed suicide. #24- Oct. 27, 2018, 11 killed, Pittsburgh, PA. In the Squirrel Hill Neighborhood at the Tree of Life Synagogue Robert Bowers, 46, said he wanted all Jews to die. #25- May 18, 2018, 10 killed, Sante Fe High School in Sante Fe, TX. Dimitrius Pagourtzis- walked into art class and shot to death 8 students and 2 teachers. #26- March 10, 2009, 10 killed in Alabama. Michael McLendon of Kinston killed his mother, grandparents, and aunt, and uncle. He also killed himself.

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The idea that nearly all of the shootings above were committed by youths from fatherless homes or otherwise troubling homes is a very sobering, to say the least. It leads most anyone, who has even a small degree of objectivity, to realize that it is going to be very difficult to bring down the rate of school shootings without recognizing that single parenthood and dysfunctional families must be one of the foremost issues in society that needs to be addressed. Some would even insist it should be the centerpiece (Langman, 2010; Newman et al., 2004). That it should be the centerpiece might well be the case. The evidence just presented could easily be interpreted to suggest that much. However, the overall evidence of this book indicates that it is a multifaceted and interdisciplinary approach that is needed. Hence, even if family factors are the primary problem that needs addressing, among eight key ones let one just say, only addressing this issue without addressing the others will not suffice. It would be like driving a V8 car on one of those cylinders rather than all eight. Beyond these shootings in the United States, there is also evidence that a number of shootings outside the United States were undertaken by assailants from dysfunctional home situations, e.g., the 2018 Columbine-like shooting in Russia (Nemtsova, 2018). Marcel Lebrun (2009, p. 1) in the book, Books, blackboards, and bullets: School shootings and violence in America asserts, “Many would argue that the decline of the school system is symptomatic of the decline of family values, the lack of good role modeling, and the lack of direction on the part of adults.” Even before the more recent spree of shootings before 1996, overwhelmingly when an urban shooting took place, it was generally done by people who were from either single-parent families or at least dysfunctional families. For example, Brenda Spencer lived with only her alcoholic father, as a result of her parents being separated (Fast, 2013).

4.1 The Good News About Families Being a Major Key At first glance, it might seem discouraging that so many of the worst mass shooters, including those at educational institutions, came from either single-parent families or dysfunctional ones. It might seem easier if it were purely a matter of lack of laws and lack of legislation and in addressing that the problem would end. In reality, however, the fact that family situations are so vital in sowing the seeds of future shooters on the one hand and many other parents are people of love and integrity on the other, is actually encouraging. This means that one of the most vital solutions is in the hands of the people. If one is accustomed to pointing fingers at others in the search for solutions, maybe the above fact is discouraging. Moreover, if one believes that humans are not capable of taking the moral high ground or in experiencing some divine-like spark, this news can also be discouraging. However, if a person focuses on the potential of humanity, such a realization can be not only encouraging, but also inspiring.

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People around the globe have developed an unfortunate and yes, even subtle selfdestructive tendency that is very different from generations of the past (Beckwith & Bauman, 1993; Stimpson, 1993). That is, increasingly people look to other people to solve the most pressing problems of society (Beckwith & Bauman, 1993; Stimpson, 1993). In past generations, one would hear young people declare, “We need to do this to improve society.” Now, increasingly, the declaration is that, “They need to do this to improve society (Taylor, 1993).” There are two immediate observations that are quite noteworthy in the contrast between these two declarations. First, psychologists would observe that the first perspective, using we, is an expression of people who have an internal locus of control (Hill, 2011; Lefcourt, 2013). On the other hand, these experts in psychology would assert that the second perspective, using they, is an expression of people who have an external locus of control (Hill, 2011; Lefcourt, 2013). In the vast majority of cases, an internal locus of control is preferable to an external locus of control, because the individual realizes he or she can do something about the situation. Whereas, in the case of an external locus of control, that person believes that the change that is necessary is beyond one’s sphere of influence and one’s ability to exact change (Hill, 2011; Taylor, 1993). It is the belief of psychologists that if such an orientation persists long- and consistently- enough, it can create an attitude of learned helplessness (Hill, 2011; Lefcourt, 2013). Learned helplessness is a psychological attitude that is spawned by believing that life’s circumstances are dramatically beyond one’s ability to change them, that any attempt to do so is probably futile (Hill, 2011; Lefcourt, 2013). Unfortunately, what happens, often unintentionally, is that when people opine that virtually all hope for improvement in one’s circumstances is dependent on other people and institutions taking action, is that any hope for circumstantial improvement substantially dissipates (Hill, 2011; Lefcourt, 2013). Rather than giving parents and children of color a sense of empowerment, it could emotionally incapacitate them (Hill, 2011; Lefcourt, 2013). The second observation regarding the attitude of, “They need to do this to improve society” is that it constitutes a very judgmental and self-righteous attitude. Those who espouse this orientation act like they themselves are the ones who are the enlightened ones and they are the self-appointed justices dictating to others what they should be doing. However, there is often a sense, as Shakespeare put it, that such people “doth protest too much.” For example, if certain individuals believe that such violent acts are caused because the shooters are frustrated about living in poverty and that others need to take more action to alleviate poverty, the irony is that often the people who cry out the loudest regarding alleviating poverty, are among the least generous in giving to charities whose defined goal is to help the poor (Zinsmeister, 2017). The Chronicle of Philanthropy shares that according to their statistics, those who cry out for taxes to be raised to give more to the poor actually contribute the least to charities to help the poor and needy (Daniels, 2013).

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4.2 Most Children Yearn for a Good Relationship with Their Parents One should note, family factors that hurt children and cause them to do destructive things are not merely related to family structure, but also to the extent of parental involvement (Jeynes, 2011b, 2013a). Children almost always want a true relationship with their parents (Jeynes, 2015e). They want a substantial degree of intimacy (Jeynes, 2015e). When that sense of relationship and intimacy is not realized, there maybe also be all kinds of negative effects on children (Berger, 1999; Hegstrom, 2006). In many respects, human beings are born with a need for relationship (Berger, 1999; Jeynes, 2015d). These relationships are at the emotional, intellectual, and spiritual level (Hegstrom, 2006; Jeynes, 2012f). To the extent that children yearn for these relationships, but are denied in an important sense and at least two or three levels, these youth are more likely to commit acts that are disruptive across a broad array of areas (Hegstrom, 2006; Jeynes, 2013b; McDowell & Hostetler, 1994). There is no denying that often parents are focused more on accruing more material items than they are on giving their children a sufficient degree of love and attention (McDowell & Hostetler, 1994; Miller, Perlman, & Brehm, 2007). In a Saint Louis Dispatch (1999a, p. B6) article, it is noted that, “Children who become killers are often are often disconnected from their families….” With the above influences in mind, it is important to note that especially those who would focus on gun control laws might not want to acknowledge family factors. However, the essence of this book involves opening up one’s mind to realize that a comprehensive solution is needed to resolve the school shooting issue. To think that one limited action alone will resolve the issue is naïve. Wamser-Nanney, Nanney, Conrad, and Constans (2019) examined early childhood trauma’s effect on later use of gun violence. They examined whether childhood trauma was associated with that child engaging with gun violence, i.e., when that child became older. Being a victim of domestic violence (DV) or community violence (CV) when young was related to increased incidence of gun violence both later as an adult and at joint gatherings in high school. It is important to note that the effects sizes that emerged were moderate to large in size. The study indicated that if a youth was a victim of gun violence, gun threats, and domestic violence, they were more likely to imitators of gun violence themselves (Nanney, Conrad, & Constans, 2019). To detach a child’s family background from the issue of gun control is unrealistic. There is something to be said for seeking to ascertain and then divulge what is often the “first cause.” Yes, the abundance of guns in the wrong hands needs to be addressed. However, to address the issue of gun laws in isolation from what drives people to become obsessed with guns will not solve the problem. First, because it does not focus on the root of the problem. Second, because focusing only on one mode of solution without implementing others will be insufficient.

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4.2.1 The Importance of Parents Spending Time with Their Children Anne Wimberly, a professor of Education, posits that parents need to set priorities in order to make sure they spend a sufficient amount of time with their children (Hendrick, 1999). Doing so, will help ensure that children do not deviate into treacherous territory (Hendrick, 1999). Furthermore, Ron D. Stephens, executive director of the National School Safety Center averred, “I’m surprised how many parents drop their kids off in kindergarten, pick them up in 12th grade and have no idea what went on in between (Schremp, 1999).” The reality is that as much as parental family structure is a key to understanding student behavior, other family factors can become so salient that they can approach the extent of the effects of parental family structure (Chalmers, 2009; Jeynes, 2002e, 2005a).

4.2.2 The Salience of Parental Involvement One of these family factors that can have almost as great an impact as parental family structure is parental involvement (Chalmers, 2009; Jeynes, 2005a, 2007b, 2012b). One of the primary reasons why parental involvement has an influence similar to that of the family structure in which a child resides is because parental involvement is often strongly related to whether the biological father and mother are in the home (Jeynes, 2005a, 2007b, 2012b). Clearly, there are many sincere and hard-working single parents across the country, trying to do the best that they can (Covey & Covey, 2018). With this context in mind, it is nevertheless important to realize that caring for children with one parent is, on average, simply harder than caring for these youngsters with two parents (Cherlin, 2009). Every father and mother is human and therefore tires. It is hard to give one’s all to a child when one is exhausted. In addition, when there are two parents, the couple can sometimes, when necessary, work in shifts (Covey & Covey, 2018). For example, when parents have babies and they must decide which of them should arise to tend to the baby’s cries each night. One possibility is to have one parent tend to the baby’s cries Sunday, Tuesdays, and Thursdays and the other parent arise Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Then whichever want of them is less tired can get up for the crying baby on Saturday. This is a very fine strategy, particularly if these parents are like numerous people who can handle one night without sleep, but not consecutive ones. Parents can only be involved insofar as they are available (Jeynes, 2016a, 2017a). Hence, if children are in a single-parent household, at least one parent will have less access to the youth (Jeynes, 2002e). Therefore, all things being equal, the parents will be less involved (Jeynes, 2005b). It is also wise to observe that even among various family structures, where there has been family dissolution, there is variation in how much that particular family structure makes an impact on children (Jeynes, 2000b). For example, although generally speaking coming from a single-parent household

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tends to have a substantial influence on student behavior, some of these household formations affect the behavior of adolescents and pre-teenagers more than others (Chalmers, 2009; McLanahan & Sandefur, 1994). For example, on average coming from a never married single-parent household has more of a negative impact on the behavior of children and adolescents than coming from a divorced single-parent household (Cherlin, 2009; Jeynes, 2000b). This is because, over the lifespan, youth have far greater access to the non-custodial parent (usually the father), when they are from divorced single-parent homes than if they are living in a never married single-parent household (Cherlin, 2009). This finding is quite consistent across a wide range of research studies. In the case of divorce, children often have spent a good number of hours with the non-custodial parent both before the divorce took place and then often afterward as well. Even after a divorce is finalized, many noncustodial parents, usually the fathers, continue to have some degree of relationship with the child (Cherlin, 2009).

4.3 Conducting Meta-Analysis to Address Family Factors Over the last couple of decades social scientists have gained a greater appreciation for the relationship between family factors and student behavioral outcomes including anti-social behavior, acts of aggression, academic achievement, etc. The most powerful of these family factors is parental family structure, as has been highlighted in the list of the school shootings presented above. In recent years, in particular, a huge percentage of mass shootings, including school shootings, have been undertaken by people either from single-parent families or from dysfunctional families (Lieberman, 2006; Meckler, 2018). To ignore this fact is not only naïve, but really is not helpful in solving the problem of school shootings. Related to the influence of parental family structure is the role of parental involvement. Parental involvement, on average, is much greater if there are two parents available rather than one. Moreover, among single parent families, children do much better, in their various behaviors, if the parents are highly involved rather than if they are only minutely engaged. Meta-analyses were undertaken to assess whether parental involvement is not only beneficial for the general population, but also to specific groups of children. It is essential that if the salience of parental involvement is to be embraced, it is vital to determine whether it is helpful not only to the general populations of youths, but also blacks, Latinos, etc. Much of the remainder of this chapter is dedicated to determining whether parental involvement is related to behavioral outcomes among various groups of teens and pre-teens among specific groups and other groups of interest. The Research Questions will be listed in parentheses.

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Table 4.1 Effect sizes for parent involvement with 95% confidence intervals in parentheses Type of parent involvement and specific outcomes

Effect size without sophisticated controls

Effect size with sophisticated controls

Overall effect size

General parental involvement Overall

.36** (.09, .63)

.26* (.04, .48)

.32a

Pre-K and elementary school

.35** (.08, .62)

.24

.34a

Secondary school and college freshman

.36** (.08, .62)

.26* (.04, .48)

.31a

NA

.29a

Parental In. Program 29* (.02, .56)

*p < .05; **p < .01; NA = Not available a Confidence intervals tabulation not undertaken for combined effect size because of difference in sample distributions for the two sets of studies

4.4 Parental Involvement and Blacks 4.4.1 Effect Sizes for Parental Involvement Overall for Blacks (Research Question #1) Table 4.1 lists the effect sizes that emerged for parental involvement as a whole, for black youths. The outcomes examined included both academic and behavioral ones combined. Statistically significant effect sizes emerged for parental involvement. The effect size for the overall parental involvement variable was, .36 (p < .01), 95% CI [.10, .62], of a standard deviation, which was statistically significant at the .01 level of probability, when no sophisticated controls were used. The effect size was also statistically significant when sophisticated controls were used (.26, p < .05), 95% CI [.04, .48].

4.4.2 Effects of Parental Involvement by Student Age for Blacks (Research Question #2) When parental involvement at the elementary school level (including pre-K) was examined when sophisticated controls were not used the effect size, .35 (p < .01), 95% CI [.09, .61], was statistically significant. Nevertheless, when these controls were used the effect size was in the expected direction (.24), but was not statistically significant (p = n.s.). For parental involvement at the secondary (and college

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freshman) school level when sophisticated controls were not used the effect size, .36 (p < .01), 95% CI [.10, .62], was statistically significant. The effect size was also statistically significant when sophisticated controls were used, (.26, p < .05), 95% CI [.04, .48].

4.4.3 Parental Involvement Programs for Blacks (Research Question #3) When the relationship between parental involvement programs for blacks and academic achievement was examined the effect size, .29 (p < .05), 95% CI [.02, .56], was statistically significant both overall and for studies that did not use sophisticated controls. There were no such studies that utilized sophisticated controls.

4.5 Parental Involvement and Latinos 4.5.1 Effect Sizes for Parental Involvement Overall for Latinos (Research Question #1) Table 4.2 lists the effect sizes that emerged for parental involvement for Latino students as a whole, addressed under research question #1. The outcomes examined included both academic and behavioral ones combined. Statistically significant effect sizes emerged for parental involvement. The effect size for the overall parental Table 4.2 Effect sizes for parent involvement with 95% confidence intervals in parentheses Type of parent involvement and specific outcomes

Effect size without sophisticated controls

Effect size with sophisticated controls

Overall effect size

General parental involvement Overall

.52** (.15, .89)

.22* (.01, .43)

.45a

Pre-K and elementary school

.50* (.08, .92)

.19

.30a

Secondary school and college

.53* (.10, .96)

23* (.01, .45)

.30a

Parental In. Programs

.37

NA

.37

*p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001 NA = Not available a Confidence intervals tabulation not undertaken for combined effect size because of difference in sample distributions for the two sets of studies

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involvement variable was, .52 (p < .01), 95% CI [.15, .89], of a standard deviation, which was statistically significant at the .01 level of probability, when no sophisticated controls were used. The effect size was also statistically significant when sophisticated controls were used, (.22, p < .05), 95% CI [.01, .43].

4.5.2 Effects of Parental Involvement by Student Age for Latinos (Research Question #2) When parental involvement at the K-5 grade levels was examined when sophisticated controls were not used the effect size, .50 (p < .01), 95% CI [.08, .92], was statistically significant. Nevertheless, when these controls were used the effect size was in the expected direction (.19), but was not statistically significant (p = n.s.). For parental involvement at the secondary (and college freshmen) school level, when sophisticated controls were not used the effect size, .53 (p < .01), 95% CI [.10, .96], was statistically significant. The effect size was also statistically significant when sophisticated controls were used, (.23, p < .05), 95% CI [.01, .45]. When parental involvement was examined only at the secondary school level (not including college freshmen) level the effect size, .48 (p < .05), 95% CI [.06, .90], was statistically significant. When sophisticated controls were used the results were also statistically significant, (.23, p < .05), 95% CI [.01, .45].

4.5.3 Parental Involvement Programs for Latinos (Research Question #3) When the relationship between parental involvement programs for Latinos and academic achievement was examined the effect size, (.37) was in the expected direction, but did not yield statistically significant results (p = n.s.). There were no such studies that utilized sophisticated controls.

4.6 The Father Involvement Meta-Analysis In 2015 a meta-analysis was published examining the effects of father involvement on student academic- and behavioral outcomes (Jeynes, 2015b). One of the most remarkable findings of the study is that even though educators and society in general typical show the greatest interest in father involvement as it relates to school outcomes, the results of the meta-analysis indicate that father involvement has a greater impact on children’s behavior than it does on their scholastic outcomes. Table 4.3 indicates father involvement that was designed to foster positive behavioral outcomes yielded

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Table 4.3 Effect sizes for types of father involvement with 95% confidence intervals in parentheses Type of father involvement and academic variables

Effect size without sophisticated controls

Effect size with sophisticated controls

Overall effect size

Types of father involvement Involvement designed to foster academic achievement

_____

_____

.14

Involvement designed to foster psychological welfare

_____

_____

.17* (.02, .32)

Involvement designed to foster positive behavioral outcomes Involvement to foster _____ other healthy outcomes

.20* (.02, .38) _____

.22* (.03, .41)

*p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001; ****p < .0001; NA = Not available a Confidence intervals tabulation not undertaken for combined effect size because of difference in sample distributions for the two sets of studies

an effect size of .20 (p < .05), CI [.02, .38]. Father involvement that was designed to foster positive psychological outcomes, .17, CI [.02, .32], (p < .05), and other healthy outcomes also produced statistically significant effect sizes, .22 (p < .05, CI [.03, .41].

4.7 Studies of the Effects of Family Structure on Student Behavior There were two additional findings from the Harper and McLanahan study that are particularly of note. First, the role of coming from a father absent family was so great that even controlling for other factors, a number of which result from abiding in this family structure, the effects of coming from a father absent family structure remained. Other research confirms these findings (Jeynes, 2002d, 2003b). Harper and McLanahan (p. 369) observe: Results from longitudinal event-history analyses showed that although a sizable portion of the risk that appeared to be due to father absence could actually be attributed to other factors, such as teen motherhood, low parent education, racial inequalities, and poverty, adolescents in father-absent households still faced elevated incarceration risks.

Second, although father absence was a predictor of the incarceration of children, coming from “stepparent families” “faced the greatest incarceration risks (Harper & McLanahan, 2004, p. 369).”

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Granted, the fear of not being politically correct is a major reason why, unlike people living 50–60 years ago, people today are often unwilling to engage in intelligent dialog regarding how youth from single parent families were far more prone to commit acts of violence (Beckwith & Bauman, 1993; Morgan, 2017). There are some who will argue that it is insensitive to talk about the challenges faced by children coming from fatherless families or other types of single-parent homes (McLanahan & Sandefur, 1994; Stimpson, 1993). However, as McLanahan and Sandefur (1994) argue in their classic book, Growing up with a single parent: What hurts, what helps? in reality it is insensitive not to address these challenges. In fact, if facing these hurdles is handled in the right way, discussing them can help parents and youth develop the motivation necessary to overcome them (Jeynes, 2005b; McLanahan & Sandefur, 1994). To be sure, according to research, addressing the extent to which increased parental engagement might compensate for children coming from a non-traditional family structure, the effects for coming from a single parent home still remain, even if children are raised in a home in which there are high levels of parental involvement (Jeynes, 2002b). As one might imagine, parental involvement was found to be a mitigating factor in reducing the impact of coming from a single parent family home, but it was not enough to even come close to eliminating the effects of being raised in either a never married parent- or divorced single-parent family structure (Jeynes, 2005b, 2014a). Another trend, similar to a copious number of people who demonstrate a reluctance to discuss about the impact of youth coming from single-parent families, blended families, and other non-traditional family structures such as cohabitating families is the reluctance of many to talk about the salience of fathers in the household. When people, including academics, dialogue about the family, they are overwhelmingly addressing the role of the mother. Some might call this attitude sexist and whether one identifies it as that or not, it is certainly ignorant and demeaning. Table 4.4 lists effects of each of seven main family structures (in percentage differences in standardized scores) for G.P.A. and Math Achievement Scores examining the National Educational Longitudinal Study (1992). Table 4.4 Effects of each of seven main family structures (in percentage differences in standardized scores) for G.P.A. Math Achievement Scores

G.P.A. (%)

Math standardized scores (%)

Divorced single

−6.2****

−3.2****

Divorced remarried

−5.2****

−4.4****

Widowed single

−5.8****

−5.2****

Widowed remarried

−7.4****

−13.8****

Never married single

−10.4****

−16.0****

Cohabitation

−9.8****

−11.6****

Separated

−8.0****

−11.4****

*p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001; ****p < .0001; NA = Not available

82 Table 4.5 Effects of each of seven main family structures (in percentage differences in standardized scores) for reading and science achievement test scores

4 The Importance of Family Factors Reading standardized Science standardized scores (%) scores (%) Divorced single

−2.6****

−3.2****

Divorced remarried

−2.8****

−3.8****

Widowed single −4.2****

−4.8****

Widowed remarried

−14.8****

−17.4****

Never married single

−14.2****

−15.8****

Cohabitation

−10.6****

−10.8****

Separated

−9.0****

−10.0****

*p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001; ****p < .0001; NA = Not available

One of the ways that family factors ultimately influence the likelihood of any given school shooting is that extent to which the family affects the household atmosphere. Cole and Knowles (2011, p. 69) note that a huge percentage of youth are raised in single parent families and that “parental separation trebles the chances of a child developing mental-health problems.” Table 4.5 lists the effects of each of seven main family structures (in percentage differences in standardized scores) for Reading and Science Achievement Test Scores examining the National Educational Longitudinal Study (1992). Table 4.6 lists the effects of each of seven main family structures (in percentage differences in standardized scores) for “Violent or Anti-Social Behavior” and “Illegal Drug Use.” The general trend for all four scholastic measures (G.P.A., Math standardized test scores, Reading standardized test scores, and Science standardized test scores) and the behavioral measures is that the farther one gets from Table 4.6 Effects of each of seven main family structures (in percentage differences in standardized scores) for G.P. A. Math Achievement Scores

Violent or anti-social behavior

Illegal drug consumption

Divorced single

+.42****

+.23***

Divorced remarried

+.44****

+.23***

Widowed single

+.24***

.16**

Widowed remarried

+29****

+18****

Never married single

+.72****

+.28***

Cohabitation

+.48****

+25***

Separated

+.43****

+23**

*p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001; ****p < .0001; NA = Not available

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the intact two parent biological family, the more of a negative impact parental family structure has on the academic and behavioral measures. Hence, coming from a “Never Married Single Parent” family structure has a considerable and statistically significant relationship with scholastic outcomes.

4.8 Other Family Factors Family factors can take a number of forms. Family structure is often the most patent variable affecting children (Jeynes, 1999b, 2002b). However, there are other factors as well. For example, Mitchell Johnson, the Jonesboro shooter, had a father, named Scott, who was either an alcoholic or nearly one, because he drank excessively (Newman et al., 2004). When, Scott Johnson drank, his temper became excessive. Such drinking also dramatically impacts the amount and quality of parental involvement and the psychological well-being of the child (Jeynes, 2003a; Kroll & Taylor, 2003). Mitchell Johnson, a shooter from the Jonesboro, Arkansas tragedy, had a terrible relationship with his father, who had a severe alcohol problem and a temper that followed. After the shooting, Mitchell Johnson also shared that he did not feel he could confide in his mother (Newman et al., 2004). Andrew Golden, his coconspirator in the shooting, was a “latchkey child,” whose parents were so thoroughly absorbed with their jobs that they did not have time for their children. They were oblivious to the Andrew’s spiritual, emotional, and behavioral problems (Newman et al., 2004).

4.8.1 Unawareness of Parents One of the realities that emerged after these school shootings that shocked many people is just how unaware parents tended to be of the activities of their children. It was unimaginable to the vast majority of Americans that parents could be totally unaware of caches of weapons stored in the house, malicious and threatening websites, and the hateful attitudes that their children had. The reports of parents overlooking and being totally ignorant of a plethora of signs that something horrible and abnormal was clearly brewing, struck many Americans as the precise opposite of parental involvement. Rather, it appeared that these uninvolved parents often placed other goals much higher on the priority list than their own children. As a result, they were totally clueless (Jeynes, 2018a; Kroll & Taylor, 2003). Cal Thomas (1998) put it well when he shared, “Parents have fooled themselves into believing that two careers are providing for a child’s ‘needs,’ when a child’s greatest need cannot be bought with money or material comfort…They have gotten the message that they are unloved, and they are fighting back with guns and other forms of violence.” An article in the Atlanta Journal and Constitution (1999) declared, “It is hard to believe

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that mothers and fathers fully involved in the lives of their children could have missed the signs leading up to Tuesday’s massacre.” Putnam (Newman et al., 2004, p. 113) notes, with regret, that Americans have let go of the communal activities and associational life that made the country the “nation of joiners” that French observer Alexis de Tocqueville remarked on in his book Democracy in America, after his 1831 visit to the United States. Families, along with houses of worship, are often considered a source of social capital, i.e., a source of values for functioning well in society (Coleman, Hoffer, & Kilgore, 1982). Often families and houses of worship work concurrently to help shape a child’s sense of purpose and value in life.

4.9 Concluding Thoughts There is little question that family factors play a large role in impacting the behavior of youths and, more specifically mass shooters, including those who launched school attacks. There is a great deal of potential for families to provide more of a solid foundation for pre-adolescents and adolescents. How that stronger foundation is developed depends on not only the individuals within the family and the family itself, but also on how other facets of society treat the family. Even lawmakers may inadvertently be a major source of undermining the family, when tax codes include what is often called the “marriage penalty,” which provides considerable incentives for couples to remain uncommitted and unattached in relationships rather than get married. To be sure, the fact that family solutions are some of the primary pillars of hope in terms of reducing school shootings is very encouraging. This means common people, meaning virtually everyone, can make a difference to improve the situation. However, it also means that there is a real responsibility for these family factors not to be dismissed, but rather embraced.

Chapter 5

Character Education Including an Emphasis on Love and Anger Management

For many years, the vast majority of educators believed that character instruction was the most important part of the school curriculum (Coleman, 2004; Matera, 2001). The character curriculum included important issues such as resolving conflicts with other people, how to forgive one who has done you harm, and how to act as a peacemaker in a conflict (Coleman, 2004; Matera, 2001). Many accounts have been written by people personally victimized by the school shooters and they speak of the aggressors as people who hold grudges, lack love and kindness, and are not equipped to resolve conflicts (Matera, 2001; Scott & Nimmo, 2000). Langman (2010), a psychologist, was less generous in his assessment and shared that the shooters lacked any real empathy, love, or kindness and were simply downright cold-hearted and cruel youths, who lacked any real remorse for the pain they inflicted on other people. In Switzerland, character education, especially that is designed to help students reach a compromise and avoid conflict, is an absolute must (Noack, 2009). Noting Switzerland is especially vital, because they have a very high percentage of people owning guns, but do not have much firearm violence (Noack, 2009). This is because Switzerland aims at the root of the problem of school shootings rather than its outward manifestations of this violence. The Swiss believe that this use of character education is the best way to keep down firearm violence in the classrooms (Noack, 2009). Prior to 1963, the United States also had this strategy. During the decades and centuries prior to this time, going back to the first arrivals from Europe, gun ownership was high, but school shootings were very low.

The findings from the meta-analysis first appeared in the following article: Jeynes, W. (2019). A Meta-Analysis: The Relationship Between Character Education Programs and Student Outcomes. Education & Urban Society, 51, (1), 33–71. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 W. H. Jeynes, Reducing School Shootings, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66549-4_5

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5.1 Values That Almost Everyone Has in Common There are certain values that virtually every person from each culture is agreed on, unless they are in prison or a sociopath, e.g., honesty, sincerity, respect, and responsibility (Matera, 2001). Educators can teach these qualities in a character instruction program. In addition, teachers need to more fully educate children on the relationship between the consumption of illegal drugs, on the one hand, and student violence and lower academic- and occupational-achievement, on the other (Jeynes, 2002f; Zagar, Grove & Busch, 2013). One does not have to address controversial themes that are best dealt with at home.

5.2 School Shootings Began Their Surge in the Early 1960s One of the most profound pieces of evidence supporting the notion that character education in the schools could reduce school shootings undertaken by juveniles is the chronological data on the frequency of school shootings (Jeynes, 2007a; Lieberman, 2006). School shootings were very rare before the early 1960s, when the reading of the Bible, prayer, and character education were widespread in the public schools (Barton, 2020; Jeynes, 2019a). Then, in urban areas, in particular, the frequency of these school shootings began to surge (Jeynes, 2007a, 2014c; U.S. Department of Justice, 1999). Myriad Americans are under the false impression that the sudden increase in these acts of violence suddenly increased in 1996–1997, when the media coverage swelled (Jeynes, 2007a; U.S. Department of Justice, 1999). However, in reality what happened in 1996–1997 is that these shootings came to the American suburbs and consequently they received a good deal more media attention than when they were in inner city areas, which most Americans already associated with high crime rates (Frech & Kimbro, 2011; Jeynes, 2007a). Although the surge in school shootings started early in the 1960s, because it was in areas of the country that most Americans avoided and regarded as dangerous, there seemed little need for alarm. Instead, the media portrayed these incidents as events which simply indicated that areas of the country that the citizenry already regarded as dangerous enough to be avoided had, just simply become even more intense (Jeynes, 2007a; Kaufman et al., 2000). However, in retrospect, to whatever extent communities with many youth born out of wedlock and high rates of drug use were already the nation’s weakest link, so the speak, one would likely expect that the earliest impact of the removal of Judeo-Christian based moral instruction would be felt first in some of its roughest neighborhoods (Jeynes, 2001, 2002f; Kaufman et al., 2000).

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5.3 Shooters Were Generally Known for Their Lack of Character A number of the shooters, long before the time of a given disaster, were known for their lack of character, which in a number of cases is to put it quite mildly. For example, the Parkland Florida school murderer, Nikolas Cruz, was viewed as evil by many people (Andone, 2018; Pollack & Eden, 2019). Moreover, the number of student complaints about this behavior since his days in middle school were almost innumerable (Andone, 2018; Pollack & Eden, 2019). Character education could produce advantages along three lines. First, the presence of an emphasis of love, respect, compassion and integrity would be less likely to produce people filled with hate and grudges that would turn into school shooters (Shakespeare, 2013). Second, an emphasis on character in the public schools would yield a larger number of students who would reach out to troubled students, who had the potential of becoming shooters and make them feel loved, so that they would not commit tragic acts (Shakespeare, 2013). Third, an emphasis on character would create a kinder, more caring, and selfdisciplined atmosphere in the schools so that people would love each other instead of hate each other enough to start a school shooting (Shakespeare, 2013). It is important to understand that a lack of character practiced by some youth can help cause their peers to kill. For example, perhaps the event that most plunged Mitchell Johnson into despair was that when he was eight Mitchell was forcibly raped by a much older boy “repeatedly and violently” (Newman et al., 2004, p. 34). Newman and her colleagues note, the older boy rapist “threatened to kill Mitchell’s grandmother if he ever told anyone about it” (p. 34). Hence, Mitchell felt he had no choice other than to remain quiet. Deeply hurting, Mitchell became angry and would bully other children (Newman et al., 2004).

5.4 Childhood Trauma, Violence, and Character Education Research by Jillian Peterson and James Densley (2019) and others indicates that early child trauma makes it more likely for boys especially, who make up ninetyeight percent of school shooters, to become aggressors upon masses of people (Yuko, 2019). However, the very good news is that, according to Peterson and Densley, character education can help students overcome traumatic events (Yuko, 2019). Particular kinds of character education that emphasize love, compassion, purpose in life, and forgiveness are especially effective in helping children and adolescents triumph over past traumatic experiences (Chalmers, 2009; Covey, 2009; Covey & Covey, 2016; Palmer, 2008). Some of these traumatic youth experiences include changes in family structure such as a divorce, sexual abuse, being beaten up by a gang, the death of a mother or father, etc. (Jeynes, 2012c) Character instruction that emphasizes love, forgiveness, healing, and a purpose in life can help a child see a horrific event or period of time in a larger and broader context in life (Chalmers, 2009; Peterson & Densley, 2019).

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According to Jillian Peterson and James Densley (2019), there are countless numbers of people who have childhood trauma and for those people, character instruction can be a source of healing. Jeynes (2019) concurs and beyond this believes that people have a choice when they experience trauma. They can either allow it to overcome them or the person can decide to overcome with good what the child perceived as traumatic or evil. In other words, the child has a choice regarding how that youth responds to the trauma. True, traumatic experiences will change a person (Langman, 2010). Nevertheless, each person affected by trauma has a choice (Langman, 2010). They can either succumb and allow the traumatic experience to make them into an unstable or unpredictable person or they can exert some selfcontrol and decide that their challenging experience is going to make them into a better person able to better relate this others (Langman, 2010). This relational caring person that one can become though this challenging situation can help one better relate to a host of people that previously one would have difficulty understanding. In other words, by recognizing that many times events happen for a reason and that there is purpose in life, a person experiencing hardship can actually decide that these events are going to make one into a better and stronger person (Covey, 2009; Covey & Covey, 2016; Palmer, 2008). Clearly this takes a good measure of self-control, a term which is not particularly popular these days. Nevertheless, by acting in a way that is filled with love, compassion, forgiveness, and integrity, a youth or adolescent can take something that had “harm” written all over it and believe that somehow, it can be turned around into good (Covey, 2009; Covey & Covey, 2016; Palmer, 2008). Andrew Golden, one of the killers at Jonesboro was known for being a very mean kid whose mouth was filled with profanity and would show consistent cruelly to both girls and cats (Langman, 2010). Many of his peers accused him of either killing cats directly by shooting them or starving them to death. Some parents feared him or called him “a little demon” (Davis & Satter, 1998, p. A1). Teaching character can help both students who can become potential shooters act more consistently and with greater integrity and also help pupils generally treat one another with greater love and kindness that will help these horrendous events become much less frequent. The value of consistency is especially valuable, because there are reports that a number of shooters display a “Jekyll and Hyde” type mentality (Neuman et al., 2004). Character instruction also enables teachers to provide students the tutelage necessary to understand that relationships are important. That is, there is much more to life than mere academic achievement. So much of true success in life involves love, being people of integrity that keep their word, being honest, responsible, sincere, compassionate, and respectful (Chalmers, 2009; Palmer, 2008; Palmer & Scriber, 2017). In contemporary schooling, there is very little emphasis on relationships (Palmer, 2008; Palmer & Scriber, 2017). Intentionally or unintentionally the schools of today place little emphasis on character traits such as love, integrity, kindness, and responsibility. Instead, for students, the emphasis is on standardized test scores and going on field trips which on a per hour basis may or may not have a respectable degree of value. For the instructors, the school systems of today are: (1) via Common Core and other initiatives that emphasize

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testing and particular modes of instruction, increasingly devaluing teacher creativity and instead dictating to these instructors what they should do. Increasingly, this translates into, either directly or indirectly, teaching to the test (Jeynes, 2006a; Perrone, 1990). (2) There is a huge emphasis on methodology, i.e., the supposedly right and tested way of instructing. Historically, this move toward teaching methodology and pedagogy was understood to be a move toward teaching as a “how to” type of profession (Palmer & Scriber, 2017). Yes, teaching methods are important. This should be part of the emphasis when training educators. However, when teaching methods first became the core and central emphasis in training teachers, most school leaders of the time understood this development for what it was, a move toward an emphasis on pedagogical mechanics and a move away from an emphasis on the heart (Horne, 1931a, 1931b).

5.5 Schools Need to Focus More on Character and Less on Testing In order to teach more character traits in the schools, the priorities of the public school systems are going to have to change. Currently, the leaders of this system are very mechanical and focused on standardized test results (Jeynes, 2006a; Palmer & Scriber, 2017). This is unfortunate because parents and other family members want the public school system to be much less mechanical than what it currently is. Yes, they see a need for testing, but in decades and centuries -past teachers were much more concerned with the kind of pupil that their classrooms produced rather than being obsessed with standardized test scores (Henningfeld, 2008; Jeynes, 2016b; Palmer, 2008; Palmer & Scriber, 2017). Yes, parents understand that tests like the SAT were developed to adequately and objectively compare students from all across the country. They realize the necessity of the SAT, within that context. However, parents increasingly view school administrators and instructors as obsessed with standardized tests. As a result, as much as educators talk about having a partnership with family members, parents believe it is not much of a partnership at all, because the priorities of educations are focused so much on testing (Gatto, 2001; Henningfeld, 2008; Hornby, 2011). Mothers and fathers generally have a much wider scope of what they consider to be their child’s development than do educators (Gatto, 2001). They view school-based instruction and tutelage as involving the whole child, rather than just the scholastic side (Gatto, 2001; Henningfeld, 2008). Parents, understandably so, tend to be much more concerned about a child’s character development, emotional maturity, social skills, health, and artistic orientation (Gatto, 2001; Henningfeld, 2008). Of course, the trend toward mechanization did not start recently, nor even in the early 1960s, when the trend toward emphasizing standardized tests really started to surge (Perrone, 1990). There were two major developments that set the stage for the mechanization of the public schools. The first development was in the early 1900s, especially the 1910s and 1920s and was propounded especially by Charles Pierce and

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John Dewey. It was called pragmatism (Hausman, 2010). Pragmatism emphasized practical actions and experience rather than principles and right and wrong. Dewey also wanted people to embrace his relativistic approach, but he knew he needed to develop a strong analogy and mode of thinking to make his case. Hence, he argued as follows. He said that the industrial revolution was changing the world. He argued that the industrial revolution necessitated that changes be made in education. That is, just as an industrial plant necessitates that people work at some project along the assembly line and that each person on the assembly line had a specialty, so was it appropriate for teachers to now be the education specialists in training children. Based on this rubric, Dewey insisted that at least in education, it was teachers who played the most prominent role and not parents. Dewey and Pierce’s pragmatism was certainly practical enough and it emphasized making schooling run as efficiently as a machine (Hausman, 2010). Nevertheless, Dewey’s approach clearly had critics. His primary critic was H. H. Horne, a professor at NYU. In Horne’s view, Dewey’s approach was simply too mechanical (Horner, 1931b). He believed that Dewey’s assumption was that if you just used certain childcentered education techniques that children would flourish (Horne, 1931a, 1931b). In so doing, Horne (1931b) asserted that Dewey almost entirely overlooked loving responsibilities that the teacher had toward the children and the community that were essential for education to succeed (Horne, 1931b). For example, Horne believed that teachers needed to be kind enough to take interest in children between class meetings. Horne also advocated teachers being actively involved with helping others outside the school. Horne (1931b, p. 240) asserted that should “such activities include extending invitations, visiting the sick, working to improve the social conditions of the community in any way.” Such actions not only were important acts of love and service, but also would serve as fine examples for children (Horne, 1931b). Horne (1932, p.137) stated that a major problem with Dewey’s theory is that it contained no “ought.” And surely, pragmatism’s emphasis is on the practical and the efficient rather on doing what is right, what is ethical, loving, and compassionate (Hausman, 2010). He further argues that Dewey’s theories are “only relative and mechanical, not absolute and teleological” (Horne, 1923, p. 67). Horne believed that Dewey, because of his distaste for absolute values, failed to place enough emphasis on moral education and consequently did not seek to go beyond the “human point of view” (Horne, 1931a, p.44). Years later Allan Bloom (2012, p. 25), in The Closing of the American Mind confirmed Horne’s prediction of what would happen in the public schools when mechanization replaced the sense of ought. “The relativity of truth is not a theoretical insight but a moral postulate, the condition of a free society, or so they see it. They have all been equipped with this framework early on, and that is the modern replacement for the inalienable natural rights that used to be the traditional American grounds for a free society.” Neuman and her scholarly partners also point out another shortcoming that Mitchell had that could have been ameliorated if he had been exposed to character education in the classrooms. They note, “Mitchell was perceived by others as overreacting to mild teasing…. No one understood why he reacted this way” (Neuman et al., 2004, p. 99).

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Many traits can be taught in school-based character instruction programs. A good number of these traits are focused directly on some of the issues that are some of the qualities and practices most related to are apparently directly related to the number of school shootings that that place nationwide (Jeynes, 2007). For example, both being alienated or belonging to an unusual clique are associated with student shooters (McCluskey, 2017). One of the reasons why this is the case is because adolescents who are often the most estranged and alienated are the first the either form or join a clique (McCluskey, 2017). For example, the perpetrator of violence at the West Paducah, Kentucky school, Carneal, joined the Goths, who prided themselves on opposing students who were loving, kind, and virtuous (McCluskey, 2017). Admittedly, there are some areas of the country that are more likely to acknowledge the salience of character more than others (McCluskey, 2017). Michael McCluskey’s data analysis of news media coverage is one indication of this trend. He found that newspapers in conservative- and “battleground”-states were more likely to cover this issue as a factor in school shootings than their counterparts in liberal states. However, it should be noted that the difference was not as great as some might normally think (McCluskey, 2017). “Culture wars are a political and social ideology that blames cultural artifacts, especially the media, for coarsening society and leading to (inevitable) moral action” (McCloskey, 2017, p. 73). In the context of a broader society that appears not to emphasize character education, some argue that the need for such instruction in the schools is greater than ever.

5.5.1 Teaching Just the Opposite of Character? The controversies surrounding character instruction are not merely limited to what transpires in the classroom, but also actions by both governmental and cultural forces present in the entertainment industry, the media, and society at large that discourage traditional values from even being taught in the home (Baehr, 1998; Becker, 1981; Horowitz, 2015). McCluskey (2017, p. 125) observes, “Government and society were portrayed as interfering with parental discipline, declining individual responsibility and raising a sense of victimology.” Seligman and Weissberg (1998) concur with this viewpoint in stating, “Teaching individual responsibility has been replaced by a self-esteem movement.” Furthermore, Seligman and Weissberg aver that youth “are imbued with victimology, the new, American way of blame.” Billman (1999, p. H1) opined a common belief that the government dictates too much of what parents can and cannot teach. By focusing on teaching self-esteem more than character, there are many who are concerned that educators may inadvertently be teaching the opposite of morality and character (Jeynes, 2017b; Lockman, 1999). Encouraging self-esteem can certainly have its place, particularly if people are loving and caring people of integrity. However, many family scientists, parents, and leaders believe that by emphasizing a child’s self-esteem more than love and a sense of right and wrong it leads to egotism, narcissism, and a self-righteous attitude among school shooters (Jeynes,

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2015c, 2017b; Lockman, 1999). Increasingly, numerous people are concerned about a permissive school culture in which everything is relative, nearly every action is okay, and there is basically a “juvenocracy,” in which the principal does not dare cross the students on any issue that is significant (Lockman, 1999). Moreover, school leaders tremble and alter their actions often out of the fear of lawsuits. It is largely this fear of lawsuits that limits the extent to which educators can administer school discipline, even if it is clear to the vast majority that it is clearly needed. Former Secretary of Education and author of The Book of Virtues, William Bennett asserts the fact that educators at Columbine allowed the future shooters to imitate the mafia and bully the students by threatening their lives for countless months before the shooting is practicing a level of permissiveness that endangers other students (Saint Louis Dispatch, 1999b).

5.6 Character in the Lives of Students and Teachers Who Helped Stop or Lower the Carnage One question that parents, educations, people in the general population need to ask is “Do families and schools want to produce more student shooters or more people who are ‘peacemakers’ who are the types to reduce the killing in the schools? The reality is that in the midst of the carnage at this massacre, there were also incredible people of character who intervened to save lives. For example, Ben Strong, a senior at Heath High School at the West Paducah, Kentucky massacre convinced the shooter to lay down his pistol. Strong was known as a very loving individual. He was the head of the Agape prayer group at the high school, which was the set of students that were under attack by the gunman. He was voted the friendliest student by his classmates. Strong literally risked his life by approaching the gunman, as the gun-firing began. Strong shared, “I ran over and said to him, ‘What are you doing man? Put the gun down…. Calm down, put the gun down’” (Rochell & Cheakalos, 1997, p. A4). The principal’s account of Strong’s actions is identical to what Strong himself shared. He stated, “Ben told Mike to be calm, to stop shooting people” and that Ben Strong was “the one who told him to stop, stop, stop. He’s the one who had the courage (Bowles, 1997, p. A1).” There are many adjectives that the media used to describe Strong’s heroic actions. Some describe him as selfless, a person of character and morality, and empathetic. McCluskey (2017, p. 167) notes, “His religious convictions were prominently mentioned…and being the son of a pastor.” Williams (1997) also notes that Ben Strong emphasized forgiveness and stated, “You’ve got to forgive. If you don’t forgive, you can’t make it through life” (William, 1997, p. 3A). When these egregious acts of violence occur, the tendency is to emphasize the lack of character in the lives of the aggressors. However, it is also true that those who intervene to subdue or stop the attacker demonstrate some of the best traits known to humanity. Another student of character during the shooting at Springfield, Oregon was Jacob Ryker. Ryker showed great selflessness in tackling the killer in the high

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school lunchroom. Ryker had a background in wrestling which clearly helped the success of his strategy (Longman, 1998). Jacob Ryker’s wrestling coach stated: “This was perfectly consistent with his character, thanking about other people instead of himself” (Longman, 1998, p. A9). As much as there were students who clearly showed character, when these actual aggressive acts took place, there were also teachers who displayed acts of character as well. One of the most notable of these was Vicki Soto who likely saved student lives by shielding them from the Sandy Hook shooter and then hiding her students in a closet for their protection. Dawn Hochsprung dove at the shooter as he came into Sandy Hook Elementary School. Soto’s pastor praised her for her quick actions during the crisis (Berger, 2012). Frank Hall was a teacher who took action during the West Paducah, Kentucky shooting by chasing the shooter out of a high school and then being humble about his crucial intervention. Hall said, “I’m not a hero…. Law enforcement, first responders…they are the heroes” (Pelley, 2012).

5.7 Meta-Analysis on Character Education As with other parts of this book, it is helpful to examine the literature, but even more valuable to examine the data regarding whether character education can make an impact on students. As stated earlier, a meta-analysis combines all the existing studies that have been conducted on a particular subject to see what the overall body of research indicates. Given, that it is the most comprehensive statistical analysis available, it is held in very high regard not only among scholars, but also among government leaders and practitioners of one type or another. This particular meta-analysis investigated the relationship between character instruction from pre-kindergarten to college freshman outcomes. This meta-analysis first (research question #1) addressed whether there is a statistically significant relationship between character education and pre-kindergarten to college freshman student achievement and behavioral outcomes. A second question assessed whether the effects of character education differed by the age of the student (research question #2). The third analysis (research question #3) especially addressed the relationship between character education and outcomes for students of color, as well as for students of low-socioeconomic status (low-SES). The final analysis addressed the effects of character education on specific measures of achievement and behavior (research question #4). Each of these questions is important to address for the following reasons. First, regarding research question #1, it is important to ascertain the overall impact of character education. Second, it is vital to see whether the effects of character education hold across various age groups, particularly because this instruction seems much more likely to take place during the kindergarten and elementary school years and much less so in the secondary school years. The results could provide insight into whether this is a good idea. On the one hand, an individual can argue that because the younger years are foundational, the elementary school years are more important for character instruction than the secondary school

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years. On the other hand, some might assert that because adolescents make so many crucial decisions during this age period that helping to establish some sense of moral conviction is particularly vital during this period. Third, it is also key to determine whether any benefits that might accrue from a character curriculum holds across various levels of socioeconomic status and across racial groups. It is essential that any of the recommendations made in this book apply to virtually all people rather than just some. Forty studies were included in the meta-analysis. The variables were defined, as indicated below. First, the independent variable of character education was defined as instruction designed to enhance love, integrity, self-discipline, and compassion in the lives of youth. Second, the dependent variables were defined as follows: Academic achievement was defined by such measures as grade point average (GPA), standardized test scores, and other measures. Regarding the achievement tests just mentioned, there were not only overall measures but also specific assessments in mathematics, reading, science, and social studies (history, civics, and geography). Additional academic indicators, referred to as “other measures,” included assessments of whether a child had been left back a grade. Behavioral Variables included measures of love, integrity, self-discipline, compassion, and a variety of other lifestyle measures. Measures of socioeconomic status, race, and gender were also taken.

5.8 Results The results indicated that there is a statistically significant relationship between character education instruction and overall student outcomes. Overall, the results of the meta-analysis indicated that there is a relationship between character education for kindergarten through college freshman youth as expressed in academic and behavioral outcomes combined. The results presented here used analyses based on random-error assumptions. The rationale for presenting these results rather than those using fixed-error assumptions is to utilize analyses that yielded more conservative effect sizes (Hedges & Vevea, 1998). As one would expect, the analyses based on fixed-error assumptions yielded somewhat larger effect sizes.

5.8.1 Effect Sizes for Character Education Overall (Research Question #1) Table 5.1 lists the effect sizes that emerged for character education as a whole, addressed under research question #1. The first outcomes examined included both academic and behavioral ones combined. Statistically significant effect sizes emerged for character instruction. The effect size for the U.S. overall character education variable was, .31 (p < .01), 95% CI [.10, .52], of a standard deviation, which was statistically significant at the .01 level of probability, when no sophisticated controls were

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Table 5.1 Effect sizes for character education with 95% confidence intervals in parentheses Type of overall character education variable

Effect size without sophisticated controls

Effect size with sophisticated controls

Overall effect size

U.S. overall

.31** (.10, .52)

.17* (.02, .32)

.25a

U.S. + foreign overall

.29** (.08, .50)

.16* (.01, .31)

.24a

U.S. overall for studies rated 3

. 33** (.11, .55)

.20* (.03, .37)

.28a

U.S. + foreign overall for studies rated 3

. 33** (.11, .55)

20* (.03, .37)

.28a

U.S. overall for studies rated 2-3

. 29** (.11, .55)

.17* (.02, .32)

.25a

U.S. + foreign overall for studies rated 2-3

. 28** (.08, .50)

. 16* (.01, .31)

.24a

U.S. programs overall .31** (.10, .52)

.18* (.02, .34)

.26a

U.S. + foreign. programs overall

.17* (.02, .32)

.25a

Overall character Education generally

.30** (.09, .51)

*p < .05; **p < .01; *** p < .001; NA = Not available a Confidence intervals tabulation not undertaken for combined effect size because of difference in sample distributions for the two sets of studies

used. The effect size was also statistically significant when sophisticated controls were used, .17 (p < .05), 95% CI [.02, .32]. The effect size for the U.S. + Foreign overall character education variable was, .29 (p < .01), 95% CI [.08, .50], of a standard deviation, which was statistically significant at the .01 level of probability, when no sophisticated controls were used. The effect size was also statistically significant when sophisticated controls were used, .16 (p < .05), 95% CI [.01, .31]. When the General Overall Measures were limited to studies with a quality rating of 3, the effect size for the U.S. overall character education variable was, .33 (p < .01), 95% CI [.11, .55], of a standard deviation, which was statistically significant at the .01 level of probability, when no sophisticated controls were used. The effect size was also statistically significant when sophisticated controls were used, .20 (p < .05), 95% CI [.03, .37]. The effect size for the U.S. + Foreign overall character education variable was, .33 (p < .01), 95% CI [.11, .55], of a standard deviation, which was statistically significant at the .01 level of probability, when no sophisticated controls were used. The effect size was also statistically significant when sophisticated controls were used, .20 (p < .05), 95% CI [.03, .37].

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When the General Overall Measures were limited to studies with a quality rating of 2-3, the effect size for the U.S. overall character education variable was, .29 (p < .01), 95% CI [.09, .49], of a standard deviation, which was statistically significant at the .01 level of probability, when no sophisticated controls were used. The effect size was also statistically significant when sophisticated controls were used, .17 (p < .05), 95% CI [.02, .32]. The effect size for the U.S. + Foreign overall character education variable was .28 (p < .01), 95% CI [.07, .49], of a standard deviation, which was statistically significant at the .01 level of probability, when no sophisticated controls were used. The effect size was also statistically significant when sophisticated controls were used, .16 (p < .05), 95% CI [.01, .31]. The effect size for U.S. overall character education programs was, .31 (p < .01), 95% CI [.10, .52], of a standard deviation, which was statistically significant at the .01 level of probability, when no sophisticated controls were used. The effect size was also statistically significant when sophisticated controls were used, .18 (p < .05), 95% CI [.02, .34]. The effect size for the U.S. + Foreign overall character education variable was, .29 (p < .01), 95% CI [.09, .49], of a standard deviation, which was statistically significant at the .01 level of probability, when no sophisticated controls were used. The effect size was also statistically significant when sophisticated controls were used, .17 (p < .05), 95% CI [.02, .32]. The effects from programs were quite similar for the overall measures for character education, in part, because most of the character instruction that was examined was in were in the form of programs. The meta-analytic outcomes for academic achievement specifically tended to be somewhat smaller than for the overall results for scholastic measures and behavior combined. The effect size for U.S. character education on achievement was, .26 (p < .05), 95% CI [.04, .48], of a standard deviation, which was statistically significant at the .05 level of probability, when no sophisticated controls were used. The effect size was also statistically significant when sophisticated controls were used, .17 (p < .05), 95% CI [.02, .32]. The effect size for the U.S. + Foreign overall character education variable was, .24 (p < .05), 95% CI [.03, .45], of a standard deviation, which was statistically significant at the .05 level of probability, when no sophisticated controls were used. The effect size was not statistically significant when sophisticated controls were used (.15, p < .ns). In contrast to the results just given, those for student behavior specifically tended to be somewhat larger than for the overall results for scholastic measures and behavior combined. The effect size for U.S. character education on achievement was, .37 (p < .01), 95% CI [.11, .63], of a standard deviation, which was statistically significant at the .01 level of probability, when no sophisticated controls were used. The effect size was also statistically significant when sophisticated controls were used, .18 (p < .05), 95% CI [.02, .34]. The effect size for the U.S. + Foreign overall character education variable was, .36 (p < .05), 95% CI [.10, .62], of a standard deviation, which was statistically significant at the .01 level of probability, when no sophisticated controls were used. The effect size was not statistically significant when sophisticated controls were used (.16, p < .ns).

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5.8.2 Effect Sizes for Character Education by Student Age (Research Question #2) The effect sizes for character education varied considerably by age, especially in the academic achievement measures (see Tables 5.2 and 5.3). The results for high school students were larger than for either elementary or middle school students. For the overall results of character education they were .35 (p < .01), 95% CI [.11, .63], of a standard deviation for U.S. students and .33 (p < .01), 95% CI [.11, .63], of a Table 5.2 Effect sizes for character education with 95% confidence intervals in parentheses Type of overall character education variable

Effect size without sophisticated controls

Effect size with sophisticated controls

Overall effect size

.21a

General effects For character education U.S. academic achievement

.26*

.17*

(.04, .48)

(.02, .32)

U.S. + foreign academic achievement

24*

.15

.19a

.18*

.30a

(.02, .46)

U.S. student behavior .37** (.11, .63)

(.02, .34)

U.S. + foreign student behavior

.36**

.16

29a

U.S. elementary school students

.27*

.12

22a

U.S. + foreign elementary school students

.27*

U.S. middle school students U.S. + foreign middle school students U.S. high school students U.S. + foreign middle high school students

(.10, .62) (.04, .50)

. .12

22a

.34**

20*

29a

(.10, .57)

(.04, .36)

.32**

.12

27a

.35**

.20*

30a

(.11, .59)

(.03, .37)

.33**

.18*

(.09, .57)

(.02, .34)

(.04, .50)

(.08, .56)

27a

*p < .05; **p < .01; NA = Not available a Confidence intervals tabulation not undertaken for combined effect size because of difference in sample distributions for the two sets of studies

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Table 5.3 Effect sizes for character education with 95% confidence intervals in parentheses Character education and specific age levels of students

Effect size without sophisticated controls

Effect size with sophisticated controls

Overall effect size

Specific effects For character education For academic achievement U.S. elementary school students

.16

.15

.16a

U.S. + foreign elementary school students

.15

.14

.15a

U.S. middle school students

.14

.11

.13a

U.S. + foreign middle school students

.13

.11

13a

U.S. high school students

.32**

22*

29a

(.08, .56)

(.04, .40)

U.S. + foreign middle high school students

.28*

.20*

(.04, .52)

(.02, .38)

Minority students

.36**

.27*

(.10, .62)

(.04, .50)

Low-SES students

.36**

27*

(.11, .61)

(.06, .48)

.27a

Specific populations .33a .33a

*p < .05; **p < .01; NA = Not available a Confidence intervals tabulation not undertaken for combined effect size because of difference in sample distributions for the two sets of studies

standard deviation for U.S. plus foreign students, when sophisticated controls are not used, both of which was statistically significant at the .01 level of probability. The results of character education for elementary school were smaller at .27 (p < .05), 95% CI [.04, .50], of a standard deviation for U.S. students and .27 (p < .01), 95% CI [.04, .50], of a standard deviation for U.S. plus foreign students, when sophisticated controls are not used, both of which was statistically significant at the .05 level of probability. The effects for character education programs were slightly lower for middle school students than they were for high school students. The effects were .34 (p < .01), 95% CI [.10, .57] and .32 (p < .01), 95% CI [.08, .56] for studies that did not use sophisticated controls and did use these controls, respectively. The differences in the effects for character education by age were especially evident in the academic achievement measures. For high school students the effects were .32 (p < .01), 95% CI [.08, .56], of a standard deviation for U.S. students and .28 (p < .05), 95% CI [.04, .52], of a standard deviation for U.S. plus foreign students, when sophisticated controls are not used. For middle school students and

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their younger counterparts in elementary school the results were not statistically significant, although they were in the expected positive direction at .16 and .14 of a standard deviation units, respectively. When sophisticated controls were employed the outcomes were, .22 (p < .05), 95% CI [.04, .40], for U.S. high school students and .20 (p < .05), 95% CI [.02, .38], for U.S. plus foreign high school students. The effects for the elementary (.15 and .14) and middle (.11 and .11) school students were in the expected direction, but were not statistically significant.

5.8.3 Effect Sizes for Character Education for Minority Students (Research Question #3) The relationship between character education and academic and behavioral outcomes overall for minority students were statistically significant both when sophisticated controls were not utilized and also when they were. The effects were, .36 (p < .01), 95% CI [.10, .62], of a standard deviation unit when sophisticated controls were not used and .27 (p < .05), 95% CI [.04, .50], of a standard deviation unit when sophisticated controls were utilized. The results for the meta-analysis for low-SES students had very similar numbers, although the 95% confidence intervals were a little bit tighter for low-SES students than they were for minority pupils. The results were, .36 (p < .01), 95% CI [.11, .61], of a standard deviation unit when sophisticated controls were not used and .27 (p < .05), 95% CI [.06, .48], of a standard deviation unit when sophisticated controls were utilized.

5.8.4 Effects of Character Education on Specific Measures of Achievement and Behavior (Research Question #4) When one examines the specific aspects of academic achievement and student behavior, the effects of character education remain quite evident. The relationship between character education and scholastic outcomes yields statistically significant results whether one examines GPA, standardized tests, or more subjective measures, when no sophisticated controls are utilized. The effect sizes range from .25 to .41 for these three different academic measures. The effects were somewhat smaller when sophisticated controls were used versus when they were not for both standardized tests .21 (p < .01), 95% CI [.02, .40], and non-standardized measures, other than GPA, .26 (p < .01), 95% CI [.02, .50]. Once sophisticated controls were employed the results for the relationship between character education and GPA were still in the expected direction (.15), but were no longer statistically significant. Table 5.4 indicates that the length of time character education was implemented also was related to larger effect sizes. Those efforts that were in place over a year in the U.S. yielded effects of .37 (p < .01), 95% CI [.12, .62], of a standard deviation

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Table 5.4 Effect sizes for character education with 95% confidence intervals in parentheses Character education and outcomes

Effect size without sophisticated controls

Effect size with sophisticated controls

Overall effect size

U.S. Acad. Ach.

.26* (.04, .48)

.17* (.01, .33)

.21a

U.S. + foreign academic Ach.

24* (.02, .46)

.15

.19a

U.S. GPA

41* (.11, .71)

.15

.33a

U.S. + foreign GPA

.36* (.06, .66)

.16

.30a

U.S. Standard. tests

.25* (.05, .45)

.21* (.02, .40)

.23a

U.S. + foreign standardized tests

.23* (.03, .43)

.17* (.01, .33)

21a

U.S. non-standard. assessments

.33* (.06, .60)

.26* (.02, .50)

.31a

U.S. + foreign non-Standard. Assess.

.33* (.06, .60)

.26* (.02, .50)

.31a

U.S. length of Prog. U.S. + foreign

.37** (.12, .62)

.22* (.02, .42)

.32a

Length of program

.36** (.10, .62)

.22* (.02, .42)

.31a

Reading outcomes

.47* (.08, .86)

.40* (.06, .74)

.45a

Math outcomes

.47* (.08, .86)

.37* (.05, .69)

.43a

Science outcomes

.47* (.05, .89)

.26

.38a

Soc. St. outcomes

.47* (.05, .89)

.26

.38a

Specific outcomes

*p < .05; **p < .01; NA = Not available a Confidence intervals tabulation not undertaken for combined effect size because of difference in sample distributions for the two sets of studies

unit when sophisticated controls were not in place and .22 (p < .05), 95% CI [.02, .42], of a standard deviation unit when sophisticated controls were used. For U.S. plus foreign character education the results were .36 (p < .01), 95% CI [.10, .62], of a standard deviation unit when sophisticated controls were not in place and .22 (p < .05), 95% CI [.02, .42], of a standard deviation unit when sophisticated controls were used. These results were somewhat larger than for the character education initiatives overall. The results are quite consistent across tests of different subject matter. Whether one examines outcomes (tests and grading) in reading, math, science, or social studies the meta-analysis yields effect sizes of nearly one-half of a standard deviation unit (about .47) when sophisticated controls are not utilized. The standard deviations 95% confidence intervals were somewhat narrower for the reading and math achievement test scores than they were for the social studies and science test scores. This is likely primarily due to the fact that there were a larger number of studies that examined math and reading achievement than there were those that included science and social studies achievement. When sophisticated controls were used, the effects for math

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101

(.37) and reading achievement (.40) declined somewhat. However, it should be noted that when these controls were included, the level of probability dropped from a .01 level of statistical significance to .05. In the cases of both science and social studies achievement, although the results were still a pretty good size (.26), they were no longer statistically significant. Once again, this combination can likely be attributed to the relatively small number of studies that examined these outcomes. Given that the relationship between character instruction and behavioral outcomes was stronger than one finds for that type of education and academic outcomes, it likely comes as no surprise that all of the effects for the individual behavioral variables were in the expected direction. Moreover, all but one of these nine variables reached statistical significance. The results for a greater extent of self-control and lower rates of violence reached statistical significance both when sophisticated controls were and were not used. In the case of self-control the numerical results were .58 (p < .01), 95% CI [.17, .99], of a standard deviation unit when sophisticated controls were not in place and .54 (p < .05), 95% CI [.09, .99], of a standard deviation unit when sophisticated controls were used. When the violence findings were examined, the effects were .59 (p < .01), 95% CI [.14, 1.04], of a standard deviation unit when sophisticated controls were not in place and .30 (p < .05), 95% CI [.02, .58], of a standard deviation unit when sophisticated controls were used. The other behavioral outcomes included in the meta-analysis (see Table 5.5) that yielded statistically significant results only included enough data to run analyses that did not use sophisticated controls. The results indicated that character instruction was associated with a smaller number of suspensions, .53 (p < .05), 95% CI [.09, .97], higher levels of respect, .73 (p < .01), 95% CI [.20, 1.26], higher levels of love, .38 (p < .05), 95% CI [.10, .66], better social skills, .44 (p < .05), 95% CI [.07, .81], a greater incidence of honesty, .42 (p < .05), 95% CI [.09, .975], and few expressions Table 5.5 Effect sizes for character education with 95% confidence intervals in parentheses Type of overall character education variable

Overall effect size

Effect size With Sophisticated Controls

Overall effect size

Character Ed. & behavioral results Self-control

. 58** (.17, .99)

. 54* (.09, .99)

.57a

Respect

. 73**(.20, 1.26)

NA

.73

Love

.38* (.10, .66)

NA

.38

Honesty

.42* (.09, .75)

NA

.42

Suspensions

.53* (.09, .97)

NA

.53

Violence

.59* (.14, 1.04)

.30* (.02, .58)

.48a

Moral judgment

.23

.28

.25

Bad behavior

.31* (.03, .59)

NA

.31

Social skills

.44* (.07, .81)

NA

.44

*p < .05; **p < .01; *** p < .001; NA = Not available a Confidence intervals tabulation not undertaken for combined effect size because of difference in sample distributions for the two sets of studies

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of bad behavior, .31 (p < .05), 95% CI [.03, .59]. Only moral judgment yielded effect sizes that albeit were in the expected direction (.23 and .28), but were not statistically significant. Research questions 1 and 2 probably yield the most notable results of the metaanalysis.

5.9 Discussion 5.9.1 Effect Sizes for Character Education Overall (Research Question #1) The results of the study indicate that there is a clear relationship between character education and student outcomes overall. The overall relationship appears to be about .3–.4 of a standard deviation, which in academic terms would be about .4 of a GPA unit on a 4-point grading scale. There is some indication that the relationship is probably somewhat larger between character instruction and student behavior than that of education and achievement, especially for younger children. This is a particularly an important finding, given the emphasis of this book, which is on reducing school shootings. These findings are consistent with what one would expect given that character instruction is inherently more concerned with the hearts and behavior of youth than they are with scholastic outcomes (Jeynes, 2011b; Matera, 2001). Nevertheless, there are many examples of scholars that argue that increased virtue in students will lead to higher levels of selfdiscipline, a sense of purpose, determination, perseverance, and wise priorities that all tend to lead to success (Khan, 1997; Rae & MacConville, 2015). It is noteworthy that the Educational Testing Service, i.e., the College Board, concluded that one of the key factors contributing to the 17 consecutive years of decline in average SAT scores was the decline of the Judeo-Christian ethic (Wirtz, 1977). The effects for character education were slightly more robust in the U.S. sample versus the U.S. plus foreign sample, but because the differences were small and were not statistically significant from one another, it is difficult to conclude whether these small differences may reflect anything substantial at all. However, the possibility in differences in effect sizes for foreign and U.S. samples may be a subject worthy of future study.

5.9.2 Effect Sizes for Character Education by Student Age (Research Question #2) Probably the most interesting set of results were those that emerged by age. The effects for character education were the largest for high school students, the second

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largest for middle school students, and the smallest for elementary school students. This trend was especially evident for academic achievement measures. These results are especially salient given that the overwhelming percentage of efforts to place character instruction in the schools is made at the elementary school and kindergarten levels. These results challenge that strategy. There are two likely explanations for these results are: (1) character education may simply have a greater impact of adolescent students than it does on younger students and (2) the results for character education may be so strong at the high school level because it has a cumulative effect and what the studies are catching is this aggregate effect. Regarding the first point, these findings could simply reflect the fact that adolescents face a wider array of ostensibly moral decisions that include actions regarding pre-marital physical intimacy, illegal drugs, alcohol consumption, and other consequential choices in which character training can be highly worthwhile and remunerative. In terms of the second point, a number of the studies included in this meta-analysis that examined character education in high school had character instruction in place for a number of years. Given that this meta-analysis also indicated that longer initiatives were associated with stronger results, the possibility that the larger effects for high school students reflects, in part, a cumulative phenomenon appears likely.

5.9.3 Effect Sizes for Character Education for Minority Students (Research Question #3) The results indicate that the effects of character education for minority students yield effect sizes that are at least as large as for the general population. These results are encouraging because naturally if one is to aver that character education efforts are to be initiated, one wants to see that it can help the broadest spectrum of people possible. The fact that moral instruction apparently benefits both children of color and those of lower socioeconomic status supports the notion that implementing character education efforts would have a high degree of academic and behavioral utility.

5.9.4 Effects of Character Education on Specific Measures of Achievement and Behavior (Research Question #4) One of the most notable patterns in the data is extent to which character education is related to higher academic outputs across virtually all the major subjects and is also associated with nearly all types of positive behavioral outcomes. From this meta-analysis, it would appear that the relationship between character education and these kinds of scholastic and behavioral results is pretty pervasive. The fact that the effects for character education hold across so many specific scholastic and behavioral

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outcomes would appear to provide impetus both for further research on this topic and the implementation of character education programs. The meta-analysis also likely provides insight into why educators for well over 2,000 years have placed such confidence in the efficacy of character education. Both of the above possible explanations for the findings certainly make sense. In fact, the extent to which each argument appears logical is such that further research should be undertaken to determine the extent to which each of these factors are at work. In spite of the rather robust broad results for character education and its effects on student outcomes, it should be noted that although the behavioral outcomes in this meta-analysis often covered violent and anti-social behavior, as well as pretty extreme acts of disobedience, they did not include school shootings. The overwhelming reason for school shootings generally not being used as a student outcome variable is because until recently, there were not that many school shootings. Nevertheless, it should be pointed out that a number of these character education studies include outcome variables such as gang activity, acts of aggression, fights in school, etc. These activities are often highly related to gun activity.

5.10 Concluding Thoughts for This Chapter Given that school shootings in the United States, in particular, started to surge in the early 1960s, one has no choice but to address the question of what changed during this period that could have caused these acts of violence to increase so dramatically. In addition to the sudden surge in the divorce rate in 1963, one notes the removal of character education in precisely the same year. This is not to diminish the other key factors addressed in this book, but at some point developing a course of action to substantially reduce school shootings will only go so far if people do not address the primary causes. Without character education and its emphasis on love and compassion, what emerges is what Peter and Gordon describe in their 1964 song as “A World Without Love.” If youths from the earliest age are not taught about how love can flow through them onto others and how love from others can change their lives, with all the challenges of life, their experiences can quickly descend into “A World Without Love.” When a nation turns away from the foundation that “God is love” to a view that “love” is somehow anti-intellectual, a surge in school shootings should come as no surprise. Addressing root causes such as character education (and family factors from Chapter 4) can play a major factor in reducing school shootings.

Chapter 6

Social Media, the Entertainment Industry and the News Media

Social media, the entertainment industry, and the news media can all have a major impact on the likelihood of school shootings, both for good and for ill (Coleman, 2004; Lankford, Madfis, & Bushman, 2018). What is important is to somehow change each of these areas of expression into means through which these school shootings can be decreased rather than increased (Coleman, 2004; Muschert, 2014; Muschert, 2013; Muschert & Sumiala, 2015; Sizert, 2013). For example, social media is often used to bully youth in after school hours and even to organize harmful events. Parents and teachers need to communicate to children and adolescents how social media can be used as a place of encouragement and increasing supportive events. Similarly, the entertainment industry, which frequently equates violent- video games and movies with profits, needs to consider more its responsibility to foster a more loving society (Hakala, 2019; Muschert, 2014; Muschert & Sumiala, 2015). Video games and movies encouraging love, self-discipline, and personal sacrifice are needed to help improve student behavior and make violence less likely (Hakala, 2019). The news media is often too negative and critical; and focuses on “bad news.” Often reporters direct more attention on those that kill others than they do on those that sacrifice daily to feed the poor, help the sick, and help people overcome suicidal tendencies and substance abuse (Groseclose, 2011; Muschert, 2014; Muschert & Sumiala, 2015). By focusing more on these positive type of news stories, what many term the “copy-cat effect” will yield more constructive outcomes rather than negative ones (Coleman, 2004).

6.1 Human Beings Tend to Focus on Bad News Rather Than Good News The reality is that human beings have a definite proclivity to focus on bad news rather than good news. For example, Anaheim Vineyard Christian Center often gives more food and help to the poor than the entire city of Anaheim, with about 1/3 of © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 W. H. Jeynes, Reducing School Shootings, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66549-4_6

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a million people, home to Disneyland, the Angels baseball team, the Ducks NHL team, and formerly home to the Los Angeles Rams. If the evening news were at least somewhat balanced, one would think that Anaheim Vineyard Christian Center would be in the news quite often, given this level of compassion, love, and help for the poor. Not so much. Similarly, if a counselor, pastor, or police officer talks a person out of murdering someone that usually does not make the news. However, if a murder takes place, it likely will be on the evening news. Perhaps because the modern citizenry has become so accustomed to the evening news being skewed in its selectivity of coverage, that there has been a psychological numbness that has set into the brains of the populace (Groseclose, 2011).

6.2 Is Society’s Emphasis on Blood and Violence Even Normal? Perhaps it is time to reevaluate whether modern day news coverage is even normal or healthy, when it comes to the focus on the shooter more than the victims and the negative more than either the neutral or the positive (Groseclose, 2011). In engaging in this “conversation,” one may also have to distinguish between two questions: (1) Is it normal? (2) Is it healthy? This did not used to be the case, because “normal” used to generally mean “healthy.” However, somehow in certain people’s minds “normal” means “it happens.” Naturally, using that definition, almost everything becomes normal because everything happens (Muschert, 2013; Sizert, 2013). When that is the case, reasonable dialog becomes difficult. If societies develop an attitude that “normal is in the eye of the beholder,” then it is going to become very difficult to identify potential future shooters and save lives. If there are no longer any “red flags” allowed, because a student’s behavior is regarded as abnormal, e.g., threatening and dangerous, many pupils will die unnecessarily Muschert, 2013; Sizert, 2013). As famed psychologist Charles Patrick Ewing declared, “A child talking about building bombs, abusing animals, and killing people is not normal (in Lieberman, 2006, p. 102).” Admittedly there are some who complain about any kind of guidelines. They feel restricted by them and impeded in their movement forward. However, in reality guidelines are not on expressways to impede progress, but rather facilitate the way forward. Similarly, regarding school shootings, guidelines about what is normal and healthy mentally is not meant to impede the way ahead on students rights and safety, but rather to help pave the road toward a better life for society. One can make a very good argument asserting that the level to which the media highlights blood and violence is out of bounds, so to speak (Groseclose, 2011). Hypothetically speaking, if there were to come a person from a distant tropical place who had never been exposed to the world’s news media; might not this person conclude that there is something terribly out of sorts about the media’s obsession with violence, blood, and killings (Muschert, 2013; Sizert, 2013)? Often it is the most

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violent story that gets the top headline. Is this right? Healthy? Normal? Is this the type of society the reader wants one’s children raised in throughout the years (Muschert, 2013; Sizert, 2013)? Many psychologists and other experts believe that too many in the media and entertainment industry are putting thoughts in the minds of teens that are causing these youths to act far more aggressively at younger ages than they would normally. LeBrun (2009, p. 2) observes, “Subsequent reports have found that younger and younger children are becoming perpetrators as well as victims. Juvenile crime in the United States is increasing at a much faster rate than adult crime.”

6.3 Shooters Often Idolize One Another Given all the news coverage that the news media gives these cataclysmic events, it is no surprise that the school shooters often look up to one another, idolize one another, and even often want to commit the same crimes as one another (Groseclose, 2011). “Each shooter is inspired by his predecessors, and especially by the media attention that they receive. In a cellphone video made prior to February’s deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida, for instance, the gunman declared, “I’m going to be the next school shooter of 2018…. It’s going to be a big event. When you see me on the news, you’ll all know who I am (Gordon, 2018).” According to Evelyn Gordon (2018) in a Commentary after a 2015 school shooting a blogger wrote, “’I have noticed that so many people like him are all alone and unknown, yet when they spill a little blood, the whole world knows who they are….Seems the more people you kill, the more you’re in the limelight’ A few months later, that man murdered nine people in a shooting spree at an Oregon community college.” The New York Times concluded that many mentally ill boys, in particular, view being gunmen and killing large numbers of people as a means to “get the attention of…society (in Gordon, 2018, p. 1).” Put even more emphatically the New York Times declares, “The role of the media in turning school gunman into household names and perpetuating ‘the infamous legacy they desire’ can be shown to have inspired additional attacks (in Gordon, 2018, p. 1).” Evelyn Gordon in her article for Commentary notes that these results should really come as no surprise, because Middle Eastern boys and young men essentially use the same logic. They want the recognition and this is one of the factors motivating them to do grave acts of violence (Muschert, 2013; Sizert, 2013). Gordon (2018) reminds society that, “The glorification of violence…can be deadly. It is therefore long past time for the West to stop tolerating it.” Some nations, such as China, have sometimes gone out of their way to go to the other extreme, which is to cover up the incident. For example, China removed from the internet the facts behind the Hanzhong kindergarten killings on May 12, 2010. The assailant killed 7 and injured 7, when he came at the kindergarten class with a cleaver (Wikipedia, 2020e). The Chinese government justified the cover-up by stating that they did not want to encourage “copycat” events (Wikipedia, 2020e).

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Nevertheless, although most every country would say they do not want to be like China and cover-up the truth, there is a sense in which other countries, like the United States, often go to the opposite extreme and inadvertently give the attackers the attention and notoriety they desperately crave. It would seem that there is a balance. In shootings in various other countries all across the globe, there is a sense that some of these events are kept under cover, because these plotting teens probably get a lot of the publicity that they want with the media coverage. For example, the Netherlands has a policy that they do not divulge the names of the shooters and yet they are reasonably transparent about just every other aspect of the shooting (CBS, 1999).

6.4 Hollywood and the Entertainment Industry Some come to the defense of Hollywood’s tendency to put so much violence into their films. These defenders state that even if the pupil killers draw from Hollywood films to produce their ideas and even their quotes, Hollywood should feel free to continue to have violent films, because they have free speech and movies filled with violence are so exciting (Horowitz, 2015; Medved, 1992). These defenders also claim that few people are affected by these school shootings (Horowitz, 2015; Medved, 1992; Muschert, 2013; Sizert, 2013). However, in spite of the people who believe it is fine for Hollywood and media outlets to produce movies, television shows, and video games that are so violent, there are several reasons to think otherwise (Hakala, 2019; Horowitz, 2015). First, as Newman and her fellow academics state, “There are good reasons to dwell on rampage school shootings even though they are rare. They are an unprecedented kind of adolescent violence (Newman, et al., 2004, p. 49).” Donna Britt (1999, p. B1) notes, “…pretending entertainment doesn’t have a huge effect is criminal.” Second, such statements that defenders of Hollywood and media violence make, demonstrates an unfathomable degree of insensitivity to the families and communities devastated by these horrible tragedies (Hakala, 2019; Horowitz, 2015; Muschert, 2013; Sizert, 2013). The defenders act like all that is lost is a small number of young people, who actually die in the deadly encounter. In reality, with each school shooting thousands of lives will be devastated and will never be the same (Crews & IGI Global, 2020; Delgado, 2019; Webber & Mascari, 2010). From the hundreds or thousands of students who either witness the shootings, hear the bullets and screams of desperation, see the blood-filled sidewalks halls and streets, and see students yell their last cry for help, countless numbers are affected. It continues with students who barely escape with their lives and still others who will likely never view schools as a safe place again. The lives of dozens of parents and hundreds of family members will be torn apart. Hundreds of friends will mourn and never be the same. The community of probably thousands of people will never be the same. Across the nation, tens of thousands of

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Americans will likely relive some of the most traumatic experiences of their lives, as a result of the shooting (Crews & IGI Global, 2020; Delgado, 2019; Webber & Mascari, 2010). These consequences of a given school shooting are reasonably obvious. One might well ask what is happening to the country and the world, if some people are becoming so insensitive to the suffering of countless individuals that the grief, shock, and emotional trauma that what these people feel is minimized in such a fashion. Many immigrants coming from China, for example, say that they fled from that country, because they believe that China values only the masses and not the individual (Gonzales, 1990; Jeynes, 2008c). It is important that the United States with its roughly one-third of a billion inhabitants not de-emphasize the value of each individual. Third, the question arises as to whether westerners, particularly in the United States, value “freedom of speech” in the way the architects of the United States and other western countries originally intended. American U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes asserted in the decision “falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic (Schenck v. United States, 249 47 (1919)” is not free speech. In his 1919 Schenck v. United States decision, leading a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court, Holmes argued that it was a violation of the Espionage Act of 1917 to distribute fliers against the draft during World War I. Holmes declared that allowing this activity constituted a “clear and present danger” (Schenck v. United States, 249 47 (1919). One of the greatest commonalties among the adolescent assailants is that they listened to music that lauded or encouraged destructive behavior, e.g., murder, rape, suicide, and abuse (Charen, 1999; Guadette, 2017). Charen mentions Marilyn Manson specifically, as well as the Goth music scene generally as encouraging hate, violence, and self-destruction. Some might say that this is freedom of speech, but is it really the freedom of speech that the founders had in mind or is it the dangerous unprotected speech that Oliver Wendell Holmes had in mind? If one takes a step back and attempts to have some level of objectivity, the answer is pretty obvious. Morne Harmse, the assailant from South Africa, listened constantly to the hard rock group Slipknot and especially emulated Joey Jordison, the drummer (Cartwright, 2013). The day of the shooting, Morne Harmse donned a mask very close in appearance to one used by the group and a dress almost exactly like the one worn by Joey Jordison (Cartwright, 2013). Harmse later admitted that he intentionally wore garb in an attempt to imitate the hard rock band. Jordison plays a type of music called “Horror Punk,” has worked with Marilyn Manson, and has been prominent in the group, Murderdolls. People in South Africa were alarmed by the school attack and blamed Satanism and the hard rock group Slipknot for the attack. Regarding Slipknot and, especially, Joey Jordison, South Africans claimed that Slipknot had encouraged evil in their performances and inspired Morne Harmse to rebel against love, morality, and all that was good (Cartwright, 2013). Mitchell Johnson, who was an assailant at the Jonesboro, Arkansas school massacre, listened to rap music which sometimes attempts to “connect fame directly to violence (Newman et al., 2004, p. 72).” Andrew Golden, Johnson’s co-assailant, “was enamored of Beavis and Butthead and South Park (Newman, 2004, p. 72).”

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As one might imagine, the call for various hard rock and horror punk groups, over the years, to act responsibly and in a spirit of love and compassion has not had very much success. Over the years key American leaders from Bill Bennett to Tipper Gore to Joseph Liebermann have made such pleas (Bennett, 2010; Gore, 1987; Liebermann, 2006).

6.5 Solutions to the Problems Orginating with the Media, Social Media, and the Entertainment Industry 6.5.1 Solution #1: The News Media Needs to Focus More on the Heroes Than the Shooters The First solution is that the news media needs to focus more on the heroes than the shooters. The media reports so much on the perpetrators of school shootings, so that people in various countries, especially the United States, Europe, and South America focus more on the aggressors than they do on heroes that intervened to prevent more people from getting hurt (Muschert, 2014; Muschert & Sumiala, 2015). Many people can recite a list of the most infamous school shooters, but nevertheless cannot name one single hero that risked one’s life to save lives. Something is wrong with this emphasis. The planet definitely needs more heroic interventions during these tragedies and the emphasis of the news media on the villains rather than on the victims and heroes provides a disincentive to selfless acts of courage. Moreover, they make copycat shootings much more likely (Coleman, 2004; Muschert, 2014; Muschert & Sumiala, 2015; Wikipedia, 2020e). It is unfortunate that although the discussion about the copycat school shooting effect has been taking place for approximately a quarter of a century, only certain nations of taken action on this issue (Coleman, 2004; Muschert, 2014; Muschert & Sumiala, 2015). Germany and Japan are among the countries that have done the most to reduce the copycat effect, often by at least partially hiding the shooter’s full identity (Noack, 2018; Roy, 2009). China often addresses this issue by covering up information about the shooting all together, but most countries view this approach as deceptive and that it amounts to lying by the government (Wikipedia, 2020e). In the United States, before the mid-1960s, school shootings by students were so uncommon that there was no discussion about the copycat effect, because there were not enough shootings to even justify such a conversation. Then from 1962 or 1963 until about 1996, school shootings were an inner-city phenomenon, often connected with gang warfare and the drug trade (Jeynes, 2007a). Politicians and other leaders did not think of school shootings in terms of the copycat effect, because the prominent factors involved in the shootings from the mid-1960s through the 1990s had to do with gangs and the drug trade and these events were not as highly publicized as in this internet era. There was a real concern about these factors rather than copycat incidents.

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Starting in 1996, when the school shootings came to the suburbs, it was evident that copycat events were becoming a major problem. The shooters would evince a copycat mentality in one of two ways. First, many of them would literally follow Hollywood scripts word for word (Muschert, 2013, 2014; Muschert & Sumiala, 2015; Sizert, 2013). Second, myriad shooters would reference previous shootings on their website and in other records (Brown & Merritt, 2002; Scott & Nimmo, 2000). Often, they even idolized and emulated the previous shooters, especially those at the more infamous killings, e.g., at Columbine (Peterson & Densley, 2019; Yuko, 2019). Unfortunately, after the threat of copycat shooting following the media’s explicit and meticulous coverage of the massacres, the debate about concerns did not last long in the United States. There were some conservative media outlets that would not repeat the name of the aggressor. Andrew Pollack, the primary author of Why Meadow Died, on the Parkland, Florida shooting, for most of the book only identifies the assailant by his prison identification number, #18-1958. However, the overwhelming majority of American media outlets could not exercise the degree of self-control that was necessary to contain the copycat effect. There was too much pressure among television, radio, and internet outlets to be the first to break the story and provide rich details (Muschert, 2014; Muschert & Sumiala, 2015). Europe also sometimes suffers from copycat school shootings. For example, just three weeks after the Jokela shootings in Finland, Scandinavian schools were threatened with school shootings quite a number of times. In Finland, in November 2007, police rushed to three of them, due to the announcement of the attacks on the internet (Oksanen, et al., 2013). On September 23, 2008 another shooting in Finland took place called the Kauhajokiu School shooting, at Seinajoki University (they share facilties). A twenty-two year old opened fire using a semi-automatic weapon. Ten were killed and 11 injured. In addition, the news media coverage generally is overwhelmingly negative (Muschert, 2013, 2014; Muschert & Sumiala, 2015; Sizert, 2013). The reality is that on a typical hour broadcast of the local evening news, there is almost no good news presented. Almost always, the leading stories are negative. In addition, often there is such a negative thrust in the news stories that are presented that about the only good news is: (1) sports, if the reader’s team won, (2) the weather, if one lives in a nice climate or if it is the time of year when the temperatures are in the 60s or 70s (or between 18–25 degrees centigrade), and (3) a nice little human interest story at the end of the news hour. Admittedly, those in the news media have argued that bad news attracts higher ratings than good news. Maybe that is the case. If that is true then it would seem time to have a worldwide, or at least nationwide, discussion regarding whether it is right for ratings to be at the top of the priority list in running a news show. However, maybe this is not the case and is rather assumed by the news programs. It may instead depend on the degree to which the story is considered newsworthy by the audience. For example, probably it was moon landing the news event that watched by a larger percentage of the American audience, 93%, than just about any other singular event (McDermott, 2019). The moon landing was clearly good news. Moreover, those in the media who think that bad news is good for business should consider that many

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people do not tune into the news as often as they would normally, because the news is presented with such a depressing emphasis (Germond, 2013). The news media would be wise to take notice of the fact that the local evening news’ percentage of the overall television viewership has been in decline for some time (Germond, 2013; Horowitz, 2015). A school shooting is about as negative a piece of news as one can find. Moreover, it is one of those pieces of bad news to which most people can relate, in some sense of the word. That is, the overwhelming majority of those viewing the school shooting have either been to school or have one or more children in school. This is one of the reasons why the news media goes into all the grim details of focusing on the identity of the shooter, the details of the attack, etc. However, there is little question the way that many in the news media portray school shootings fuels other disturbed adolescent teens into copycat efforts. In order to reduce these copycat attacks, the news media must reassess its value system (Muschert, 2014; Muschert & Sumiala, 2015). The news media may or may not be the primary force that contributes to the plethora of school shootings, particularly in the last twenty-five years. However, it would appear to be one of the primary forces, especially when it comes to contributing to copycat tragedies, by contributing by placing the spotlight on the killers (Muschert, 2013, 2014; Muschert & Sumiala, 2015; Sizert, 2013). In addition, what is even more troubling is that the news analysts often report the murdering in such a way that the viewer is inclined to somewhat sympathize with the assailants (Chalmers, 2009; Langman, 2010; Muschert, 2014; Muschert & Sumiala, 2015; Sizert, 2013). Many reporters share that the shooters were lonely and bullied (Langman, 2010; Muschert, 2013, 2014; Muschert & Sumiala, 2015). Nevertheless, this is very interesting because if one looks at the accounts given by those who are injured and in other ways involved in the schools, they paint a very different picture and, in essence, state that the media has it wrong (Langman, 2010; Matera, 2001; Scott & Nimmo, 2000). The shooters themselves were generally the bullies leading up to the school shooting, not the bullied (Langman, 2010; Matera, 2001; Scott & Nimmo, 2000). In the weeks, months, and in some cases years leading up to the mass assault, the future shooters threatened to do life-threatening harm to their fellow students to such a malicious degree that it can only be some of the worst bullying that anyone could ever imagine (Chalmers, 2009; Langman, 2010; Matera, 2001; Scott & Nimmo, 2000). Hence, to note that in some cases the shooters were teased, when in reality the bullying they directed towards others was at least fifty times worse is inhumane (Chalmers, 2009; Langman, 2010; Matera, 2001; Scott & Nimmo, 2000). In his book, Why Kids Kill: Inside the Minds of School Shooters, Peter Langman does an intensive study of ten of the shooters and does not feel that bullying was really much of a factor, especially when one considers that virtually every student is teased (Langman, 2010). Peter Langman and his wife Madeleine Langman are both psychologists and distinguish between the relatively mild teasing that the future shooters and other students are frequently subject to and the cruel and malicious threats, i.e., bullying in its worst form, that the future shooters engaged in during the

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months and years leading up to the attacks (Langman, 2010). For example, Langman speaks of Andrew Golden, known as Drew. Langman (2010, p. 24) states, “Was Drew a victim of bullying? No, he was the one who threatened and intimidated other kids.” The media needs to do much better and demonstrate a much higher level of compassion and responsibility. The media’s tendency to blame the victims must stop, not only because it is merciless, but also because it encourages copycat strikes by those who relate to the experiences of the shooters (Baehr, 1998; Muschert, 2014; Muschert & Sumiala, 2015). Quite a number of books have rebuked the media and others (schools, universities, etc.) for making excuses for future shooters (meaning when they pitilessly threatened and bullied pupils, before the actual mass attacks) and shooters to varying extents (Langman, 2010; Matera, 2001; Scott & Nimmo, 2000). Yes, it is good to have compassion for all, but not to the point that society turns a blind eye to malevolent behavior and put the safety of others at risk. However, for the media to simply to cease from putting the spotlight on the aggressors and the details of their actions and strategies is not enough. In order for the news media to be a part of the solution, there must emerge an entire paradigm shift from one that emphasizes the undermining triad of the love of -money, -ratings, and -negativity to one that is driven by love, a sense of right and wrong, and looks out for the good of broader humanity. On the surface, this paradigm shift seems like the obvious direction that the media should go. Nevertheless, a paradigm shift is called this for a reason. For the media to go from a rubric that emphasizes the love of -money, -ratings, and -negativity to one that is driven by love, a sense of right and wrong, and looks out for the good of broader humanity will mean that the media will have to change almost everything that it has stood for over the last 55 years (Horowitz, 2015; Medved, 1992; Muschert, 2014; Muschert & Sumiala, 2015). To be sure, the situation has steadily deteriorated so that the 2020s have been worse than the 2010s, which was also worse than the 2000s, etc. (Horowitz, 2015; Medved, 1992; Muschert, 2014; Muschert & Sumiala, 2015). However, there is some room for optimism in the sense that there are so many people grieved by the trends described, that there is a hunger for news that seeks to also present “good news.” People around the world want to see the heroes, those that save lives and literally lay down their lives for others, knowing that there is no greater than love than laying down one’s life. Increasingly, people are asking when will the time come when we know the names of the heroes of these shootings better than we know the shooters? It does not need to be this way. In addition, in the past, there was not this negative emphasis. Can the reader imagine knowing the names of losing opposition World War II generals far better than any others? The shooters are the opposition and they lose. Why not focus on the heroes who save lives? If the media shifts to this emphasis or if new media broadcasting companies arise emphasizing “good news” in a balanced way, the news media can be a force for good rather than one that often pushes things in the wrong direction. It is possible, but it will take a large paradigm shift.

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6.6 Solution #2 Hollywood Needs to Act Far More Responsibly Looking to the Interests of Humanity Rather with the Intention of Lining Its Own Pockets Second, Hollywood and the entertainment industry need to act far more responsibly looking to the interests of humanity rather with the intention of lining its own pockets (Muschert, 2014; Muschert & Sumiala, 2015). Admittedly, this will probably take a miracle. To expect Hollywood and the entertainment industry to act compassionately, altruistically, and morally is at odds with the greed and immorality that it is so widely known for. Actors, actresses, and pop stars are known for living in fifteen or twentyfive million-dollar homes, having multiple marriages, and cheating on their spouses (Horowitz, 2015; Medved, 1992). They are known for speaking against violence, but producing, directing, and performing-in some of the most violent movies and music videos ever made (Horowitz, 2015; Medved, 1992). It is a lifestyle that is largely about excess and selfishness (Horowitz, 2015; Medved, 1992). Therefore, to call on those engaged in this industry would appear to be one of the most futile acts that one could initiate (Muschert, 2014; Muschert & Sumiala, 2015). Nevertheless, there is a hunger for responsible, loving, and constructive entertainment (Baehr & Boone, 2012). In fact, this is evident to such a large degree that there are now awards given at a family themed gala to honor those productions that emphasize loving, constructive, and wholesome themes (Baehr & Boone, 2012). It could be that this demand could potentially cause Hollywood to reexamine its priorities and change the types of films it produces. Much like the news media, Hollywood is driven by money. In fact, it is probably true that Hollywood is driven by money even more than the producers network sponsors of the evening news. This is because the ultimate measure of success of box office revenue (Horowitz, 2015; Medved, 1992; Muschert, 2014; Muschert & Sumiala, 2015). It is hard to know whether, in its current expressions, whether Hollywood or the news media does more harm to the school shooting. On the one hand, the news media almost parades the school shooting, sharing almost all that they know about the shooter and the specific atrocity without giving much thought to the long-term consequences of inadvertently inciting some future copycat shootings (Muschert, 2014; Muschert & Sumiala, 2015; Scott & Nimmo, 2000). In terms of whether it is the news media or the entertainment industry contributes more to the epidemic of school shootings than the other, it is difficult to determine. No doubt, it varies from situation to situation (Muschert, 2014; Muschert & Sumiala, 2015; Scott & Nimmo, 2000). On the one hand, the news media shares much more information about the culprits and consumes much more time about the event than almost any other source. In this sense, one could easily conclude that the media provides more detailed information. That can constitute a foundation for those pondering the possibility of a copycat shooting. On the other hand, the entertainment industry sometimes produces films that are either on school shootings or on those with similar spiteful and malevolent attitudes.

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Those reporting the news may not think their reporting could cause a copycat event, although one could argue they should. However, one can certainly argue that it is hard to imagine that those making a movie about an imagined school shooting without considering the real possibility that the film could inspire an actual school shooting. Similarly, Hollywood and other entertainment centers often produce films with a level of violence and gore purposely desired to shock and stir fear. These are the kind of releases that lead those that are disturbed to consider a school shooting or some other very violent act. The entertainment industry really needs to reconsider what is ethical behavior and its wider responsibility to society. Unfortunately, often people and organizations are so enamored with their own individual rights that they give only minimal consideration to the welfare of broader society (Horowitz, 2015; Medved, 1992; Muschert, 2014; Muschert & Sumiala, 2015). Whether or whether not the entertainment industry is one of the very top causes of the school shooting spree that has infected the country, it is a central one. If these egregious incidents are to subside, Hollywood and the rest of the entertainment industry needs to be a part of the answer. One of the huge advantages of propounding a comprehensive solution is that if people concur and cooperate, literally millions of people can be working together to solve this problem. One disadvantage, however, is that if various groups necessary in being part of solution point fingers at others who they believe need to help, but fail to take action themselves, little progress is made. A comprehensive solution means that a lot of individuals and organizations must work, in many ways, collectively. This means for there to be a remarkable amount of progress, there must be a remarkable amount of cooperation. What this also means is that the level of success in this venture designed to reduce school shootings will largely depend on that level of cooperation.

6.7 Solution #3—Those in Hollywood and the Entertainment Industry Need to Change Their Attitudes Beyond the above facts, changing the attitudes of Hollywood is one of the goals that is most vital to reach, because their actions and attitudes hurt the effort to reduce school shootings in so many ways. First, although Hollywood professes to be against gun violence, they produce films that have levels of blood and gun violence that are mind-boggling. To many, the discrepancy between Hollywood’s stated beliefs and their actions seems hypocritical. It applies to other issues as well. Hollywood people say they are against income inequality, but they are one of the greatest contributors to this reality. Second, Hollywood people love to talk about what others need to do to reduce school shootings, but they appear blinded to the extent to which they are a major part of the problem. Third, to put it nicely, Hollywood people are not known for their morality and not only that, but they often demean those who want to introduce character education in the schools. Fourth, many Hollywood stars to not adhere to

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the importance of keeping marriages together, especially for the sake of children. In other words, often Hollywood and the entertainment industry frequently undermine or oppose some of the actions and attitudes that are instrumental to reducing school shootings. This is deeply disturbing and it makes tackling the problem of reducing school violence much more difficult. Adding to the challenge is the fact that many areas of the world are also developing entertainment centers. For example, K-pop music in South Korea, J-pop music in Japan, Bollywood in India, and Hong Kong cinema are also entertainment centers (Baehr & Boone, 2012; Muschert, 2014; Muschert & Sumiala, 2015).

6.8 Why Hollywood and the Entertainment Industry Need to Cooperate in Solving the School Shooting Problem In many ways it is awkward and ironic that in order for school shootings around the globe to contract in their frequency and in their severity, people need to approach Hollywood and other places in the hope that they will cooperate. However, the reality is that Hollywood and the entertainment industry worldwide need to cooperate if there is to a widespread reduction in school shootings for following reasons. First, Hollywood and the music industry are a major source of the problems. It only makes sense that they should be part of the solution. Second, it may be unfortunate and reflect poor priorities, but people are very interested in events within the entertainment industry. It is interesting, maybe even somewhat mind-boggling, that most people get more excited about who won Academy Awards, Emmy Awards, and Grammy Awards than those who win Nobel Prizes, who runs missions on skid row, and people who win humanitarian awards for helping the poor, etc. (Horowitz, 2015; Pollack & Eden, 2019). Third, both school children and college students need to be taught some degree of discernment. It is interesting that when people talk about the most intelligent people who ever lived, one might think of Elon Musk (1971-present), Thomas Edison (1847– 1931), or Albert Einstein (1879–1955). About the farthest most people will go back is to Isaac Newton (1643–1727). However, when they talk about the wisest people who ever lived, they think of people who lived 2,000–4,000 years ago. It is easy to conclude that in terms of intelligent ideas and technological progress, the world is on a positive trajectory (Crews, 1998; Doinick, 1998; Egan, 2002). However, in terms of wisdom and discernment, one wonders whether the world is going in reverse (Crews, 1998; Doinick, 1998; Egan, 2002). Modern schools appear to reflect this emphasis. They focus on preparing students to perform well on standardized tests, but make little mention of the importance of love, integrity, wisdom, responsibility, and discernment (Henningfeld, 2008; Jeynes, 2006a; Perrone, 1990). Given this focus in modern times, K-12 pupils and college students have little ability to distinguish between right and wrong. Allan Bloom (2012, p. 64) notes, “Lack of education simply

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results in students’ seeking for enlightenment wherever it is readily available, without being able to distinguish between the sublime and trash, insight and propaganda.” Young people need the qualities of love, integrity, wisdom, responsibility, and discernment not only for their own sake, but for the sake of their future children, so that they can be raised with a higher degree of these qualities than in commonly seen today. Newman confirms what Bloom and others declare, by asserting that lack of emphasis on character in many modern cultures and instead an emphasis on external appearances and being cool helps set the stage for many of these shootings. Sadly, Hollywood, social media, and news reporters are often the leaders in creating these new cultural norms.“Cultural ideals that rule the rest of society play a key role in this milieu as well. Entire industries are built on (and reinforce) women’s desires to ‘look skinny’ or have ‘good hair’ and men’s desires to build their big cars (Newman, et al., 2004, p. 128).” “By these adolescent standards, all…of the shooters were “losers.” (Newman, et al., 2004, p. 129).”

6.9 How the News Media Can Help Be Part of the Solution According to McCloskey (2017) the news media, in their reporting of school shootings, focuses on some topics much more than others. (1) Guns, (2) Popular Media, (3) Parenting (family structure and parental involvement), (4) School (programs, school employees, security), (5) Teen Life (bullying, gangs, and peer pressure), (6) Drugs & Alcohol, (7) Lack of Action by Law Enforcement, (8) Mental Health, and (9) Religion. In terms of frequency that the media mentioned each, guns was #1 followed by #2 popular media with parenting and schools rounding out the top 4. Drugs were mentioned the least and a lack of action by law enforcement was second to last (McCloskey, 2017). There are a few points that are especially important to bring out about the news media, regarding the covering of school shootings. First, the news media tends to focus especially on guns as the solution to the school shooting problem (McCloskey, 2017). One strength of this fact is that it comes to the public’s attention just how many guns there are in the country and that by most people’s estimation, it is far too many (O’Leary, 2012). However, there are additional realities that should be highlighted about this coverage that makes most people realize that there is far more involved in the gun coverage content than is immediately apparent (McCloskey, 2017). The first of these realities is that there is a good deal of divergence in the news coverage on guns, with some of the partisans being interviewed insisting that stricter gun control is needed and other partisans asserting that if one of the school authorities had possessed a gun and used it on the shooter during the terrorizing episode, countless lives and injuries could have been spared (McCloskey, 2017). Moreover, the news coverage is often so one-sided that little consideration is given to the possibility that both sides might simultaneously be correct.

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Many decades ago when building a consensus was considered a prerequisite for the success of American democracy, the possibility that both sides might simultaneously be correct would likely be regarded as one of the most plausible solutions. However, modern contemporary nations are very divided and the possibility, even the probability, that both perspectives are true is a conclusion that few are willing to concede. One of the reasons why both viewpoints can be true concurrently is because one standpoint focuses on the circumstances before the shooting and the other addresses the circumstances during the shooting. If one chooses to be objective, one would think that fewer guns in the hands of the wrong people would, all things being equal, lead to few school shooting deaths. That is a logical conclusion. However, it is also true that if one possesses an equal degree of objectivity a person can also acknowledge that if school authorities had possessed a gun and used it on the shooter during the terrorizing episodes countless lives and injuries could have been spared. The news media presents the above two views as mutually exclusive, but in reality nothing could be further from the truth. However, unfortunately the way the mainstream media works today, it often seeks ratings and has a particular agenda (Bozell, 2005; Ruschmann, Hudson, & Marzill, 2012). Some news outlets are left of center and some are right of center, with very few in the center (Bozell, 2005; Wallace, 2019; Horowitz, 2006). With this distribution in mind, there are very few news outlets that think of the value of building consensus or in acknowledging that both sides of many longstanding debates actually have points (Jeynes, 2004; Ruschmann, et al. 2012; Wallace, 2019). Whether one leans politically left or right, the data are clear that the media in the United States and Western Europe lean left (Bozell, 2005; Wallace, 2019). Nevertheless, the data are also patent that there are certain news outlets that lean right (Ruschmann et al., 2012; Wallace, 2019). McCluskey’s (2017) data analyses on how the media reports these shootings indicates that news outlets that are in states that lean left and right report these shootings quite differently from one another. Sometimes, the reporting is so skewed that one cannot even tell that they are reporting on the same event. This is problematic. The second of these realities is that by the news media focusing on guns as the solution, it discourages discussion of a more comprehensive solution that would include a combination of all or nearly all of the likely factors mentioned earlier that at least get some coverage by the mainstream media (Jeynes, 2003c, 2005c, 2008b, 2011c). Clearly, healthy and wise decisions need to be made to limit the number of guns that get into the hands of angry and unstable youth. However, those that watch media reporting on school shootings can easily be left wondering whether there are other factors that also increase or decrease the likelihood of an act of widespread violence (Coleman, 2004; Delgado, 2019). However, news reporters are often reluctant to make statements of conviction regarding youth from single-parent families and those that are mentally ill, etc. (Brown & Merritt, 2002; Delgado, 2019; Neuman et al., 2004; Roy, 2009). While such a predisposition may be understandable, it is not for the good of humanity in the long haul (Crews & IGI Global, 2020; Delgado, 2019; Neuman et al., 2004). To be sure, there are numerous fine single-parents. Having said that, it is indisputable that children from father-absent and father-only families face

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certain disadvantages. While the media may be hesitant to speak about some of the challenges of family living for such children for fear of being judgmental, there is likely to be more damage done by failing to sufficiently examine family factors. To the degree that better understanding the salience of family factors can reduce the incidence of school shootings in the future, endeavoring to acknowledge their prominence in helping youth avoid these violent activities is indubitably very vital (Jeynes, 2010b, 2011a, 2018a). The news media is often reluctant to talk about the use of illegal drugs, by the youth who instigated the crime, as well as the presence of mental illness in these teenagers and pre-adolescents, with a similar motive as in the case of family structure. Reporters do not want to bring shame to the youth and their families for taking illegal drugs or having mental illness problems (Neuman et al., 2004). The “shame factor” may be supported by the fact that according to McCloskey (2017) found that national media outlets were over twice as likely to address the tendency for these assailants to take illegal drugs as any of the types of state media outlets, e.g., those in liberal, conservative-, and battleground- states. It may very well be that state (or even more localized publications and television stations) outlets are more sensitive and protective of an adolescent shooter’s drug habits than the national news. Nevertheless, it is hard to imagine much more shame than in being in the same immediate family as a school shooter. Having said that, partially in the acknowledgement of that same family, the news media might not want to “pile on.” In one sense of the word, these motives are laudable. However, the question emerges what is cost of seeking to protect the shooters and their families? One can argue that there is a great need for the media to remember that the true victims of these acts of mass violence are not the perpetrators, but rather the true victims. If a given reporter does not remind oneself that the victims are the victims, that media person might be inadvertently contributing to an increase in the aggregate number of such victims in the future. The key issue at hand is very similar to that faced by individuals concerned about whether imprisonment is worth the effort, if the criminals placed therein are not rehabilitated. Yes, rehabilitation is a salient outcome if a person is imprisoned, but one should remember that a paramount goal is to protect the citizenry from potential death, physical harm, and psychological harm by putting the people who engage in such malicious behavior behind bars. Much of the media is especially hesitant about investigating the effects that partaking of illegal drugs has on individuals not only because they do not want to embarrass the family of the perpetrator, but also because many of them desire that more illegal drugs become legal (Marion & Hill, 2016). Were reporters to highlight the role that substance abuse plays in the lives of these miscreant youth, it would undermine one of their primary arguments in favor of legalizing a number of illicit drugs. That is, numerous reporters allege that drug addicts do no harm to anyone, but only to substance abuser themselves. The problem is that the data do not support this perspective (Jeynes, 2002f, Jeynes & Beuttler, 2012). McCluskey (2017, p. 47) states, “Defining events like a school shooting take the problem issue out of the realm of traditional public policy in which institutionalized sources can control the discourse. Instead, the event itself-and how it is initially

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covered by news organizations- propels the range of discourse, with institutionalized sources having a limited ability to influence the discourse.” McCluskey (2017, p.47) continues by asserting, “…the breaking news coverage sets the initial impressions in establishing public opinion…. Thus, the initial news coverage can be critical for setting the boundaries of public policy debate. Previous scholarship on breaking news demonstrates at least some attention to the initial problem definitions communicated by journalists (p. 47).” McCluskey (2017, p. 75) rightly concludes, “The public in contemporary society blames both news and entertainment for violence. Therefore these industries must be involved, if there are to be real and permanent solutions. ‘The Clinton Administration, after the Columbine shooting, targeted the entertainment industry’s marketing of violent movies, music and video games to children, ordering a probe by the Federal Trade Commission (McCluskey, 2017, p. 76).’” Americans noted that there was a plethora of violent and blood-filled video games that were both glorifying bloodshed and desensitizing youth to the pain of killing and injury. “Video games potentially influence users by desensitizing them to violence and teaching them violent behaviors and skills (McCluskey, 2017, p. 77).” David Grossman, a professor of “killology” has referred to games as murder simulators (Ferguson, Coulson & Barnett, 2011). Superintendent of the Pearl School District in Mississippi William Dodson shared that it is almost as if students can no longer discern the line between fact and fantasy. He averred, “Students do not accept consequences for events anymore….It’s like life is like watching a movie. At the end of the movie, everything is like before it started. Somehow we are not getting across to young people, that life is not a movie. There are consequences (Bragg, 1998, p. A8).’”

6.10 Concluding Remarks for this Chapter There is no question that the news media and the entertainment industry are major contributors to the school shooting problem that now has become worldwide. Just like family factors, the plethora of illegally obtained guns, and the dearth of character education contribute to the acts of mass violence on school campuses, one must add the media as a major factor as well. However, what is frightening is that unlike most families, schools, and other institutions in which a majority of members acknowledge that their institution needs to radically- or at least substantially- change to contribute to solution, the vast majority of people in the media and entertainment industries are in denial and do not perceive themselves as part of the problem. Hollywood and the makers of video games do not see their own hypocrisy of speaking about peace, but being the institutions that promote violence and bloodbaths probably more than any other. Moreover, too many in the media do not understand how its coverage often encourages copycat episodes. Admittedly, a lot of this blindness is likely convenient and generated by greed, i.e., the love of money. Moreover, recognizing that the media and entertainment industries need to stop emphasizing self-aggrandizement and start demonstrating love and social responsibility requires

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humility. Humility is a trait vary rare in Hollywood and the news media, in which egos often run amuck. One can easily argue that insomuch as this book advocates a comprehensive solution, the entertainment and media industries are likely to be the most resistant. In no way could the entertainment industry, led by Hollywood and the media, help reduce school shootings more than to stop always pointing out how institutions better than they need to reform and focus instead on huge reforms among themselves.

Chapter 7

Issues of Mental of Mental Health and Student Safety

7.1 The Troubling Mental Health Issues of Many of the Shooters Cannot Be Ignored Although mental illness is a sensitive subject, over time the evidence that has accrued indicating a relationship between mental illness in the assailant and school shootings is too patent to ignore as merely coincidence (Blau, Gorry, & Wade, 2016; Duwe & Rocque, 2017). The evidence that has emerged has not only come from quantitative statistical analysis, but has also become ostensible at the case study level as well (Blau et al. 2016; Duwe & Rocque, 2017; Follman, Aronsen, & Pon, 2019; Roy, 2009; Zagar, Grove, & Busch, 2013). Of all the recommendations made in this book, the suggestions of this chapter which involve swifter identification of mental illness and those in need of counseling, as well as protecting especially K-12 students in classrooms, and making sure that the mentally troubled students receive the help that they need, are some of the most complex (Blau et al. 2016; Duwe & Rocque, 2017; Follman, et al. 2019; Roy, 2009; Zagar, et al. 2013). Admittedly, many times this is not enough, because the aggressors need more than counseling and psychiatric care, but they should at least receive the counseling that they need (Allen, 2008). Saari, one of the Finnish school killers was receiving psychiatric counseling for months before the killings, but apparently that short frame was not enough (Allen, 2008). Other shooters are identified as having mental health issues only after the attack took place.

7.1.1 Three Issues That Make This Topic Complex In contemporary society, at least, there are three leading reasons (among others) that make discussion of the connection betwixt mental illness and school shootings especially complex. First, unless someone has lived with someone who is mentally ill, works in a mental hospital facility, or is a member of law enforcement, most people © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 W. H. Jeynes, Reducing School Shootings, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66549-4_7

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generally do not understand just how dangerous mentally ill people can be (Guze, Goodwin, & Crane, 1969; Pollack & Eden, 2019). In literature, on television, and in movies from the twentieth century the issue of mental illness was more transparently addressed than the often dismissive way it too often is now (Guze, et al. 1969; Krohn, 2013; Leff & Warner, 2006; Pollack & Eden, 2019). There are millions of abused women, children, and students who live in total fear of a mentally ill person who is in their lives and their pleas for help are often dismissed or ignored (Pollack & Eden, 2019; Riecher-Rossier & Garcia-Moreno, 2013). One of the reasons Alfred Hitchcock was considered such a great director is because in such movie classics as Psycho and Two Strangers on a Train, and others, he was bold enough to deal with this issue quite explicitly (Krohn, 2013). However, in the last quarter century or so addressing the issue of mental illness has often been considered politically incorrect (Pollack & Eden, 2019). After all, the argument goes, values are supposedly all relative and one might say the shooters, rather than being viewed as aggressors can also be viewed as victims (Leff & Warner, 2006; Pollack & Eden, 2019). Perhaps the most unfortunate result of all this is that as Lebrun (2009, p. 17) describes it, “The sad part is that many youths and children do not feel safe either at school or at home.” With the above debate in mind, various issues arise such as which is more important, for schools to preserve the privacy of the threatening and violent students or to protect the lives of other students? This book will return to this question, since it has become a topic of great controversy. For centuries, in the West it was considered about as godly and righteous an act as possible to value human life, as one of the highest manifestations of love. However, as the West in the last 20–25 years has increasingly valued freedom and the desires of the individual more than the good of the community, the centrality of love and compassion toward others has diminished (Lieberman, 2006; Pollack & Eden, 2019; Roy, 2009). In a Barcelona, Spain school killing, Porta repeatedly stated that he was going to initiate a school murder of twenty people and constantly threatened to annihilate them. He killed a teacher and four students with a crossbow and machete (BBC, 2015). There were countless signs that Porta was going to conduct this attack, because he shared countless times that he was going to kill a “blacklist” of about twenty or twenty-five people. Porta became well known for frightening, bullying, and terrifying these twenty people (BBC, 2015). However, it was hard for the classroom instructors and students to believe that a thirteen year old could be so severely mentally ill to commit such a malicious atrocity (BBC, 2015). The lack of knowledge that the teachers had of just how severe mental illness can be caused these educators to lose one of their own (BBC, 2015). The second issue that makes discussion of the connection betwixt mental illness and school shootings especially complex is that in both historical- and contemporarysociety most people do not want to talk about mental illness (Cole & Knowles, 2011). It is a very unpleasant topic. The reality is that properly addressing the problem of mental illness is vital, because in the end such action protects the victims and potential victims of the mentally ill, including the damage that the mentally ill can do to themselves, e.g., suicide. Yes, there is a goal to rehabilitate the mentally ill.

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However, the primary issue must be to preserve all lives involved, including those being habitually threatened, as well as the person who is mentally ill. Brenda Spencer is another example of someone who school authorities and law enforcement should have identified as a definite threat to become a mass murderer and instead she was given “a pass,” so to speak. She had threatened to shoot a police officer and stated that she planned to do a huge vile act to get on television (Fast, 2013). About a month and a half before the killings, a psychiatric evaluation arranged for Brenda Spencer by a parole officer indicated that she should be admitted to a mental hospital, but the father refused (Fast, 2013). Clearly, lives would have been saved if Brenda Spencer had been placed in a mental hospital. It is evident that she had deep problems. When asked later why she committed the murders, she replied, “I don’t like Mondays. This livens up the day (Fast, p.248).” France had a school shooting in 2017 when a seventeen year old opened fire at Toqueville High School, injuring four (BBC, 2017). A report by the BBC indicated that there was real consensus by the school and political authorities that the assailant was mentally ill (BBC, 2017). In the United States and Europe, before the late 1850s, the responsibility for dealing with the mentally ill rested greatly on families and churches that tried to love these members of the family, so that they would soften and act in a more amenable way. Sometimes the love was “tough love,” because it was understood that the mentally ill needed structure. The teaching of the time was that these people were in a combination mental, emotional, and spiritual battle. From the late 1800s to World War II, based largely on the recommendations of Darwin and his followers, the mentally ill were generally institutionalized in a mental hospital (Dugdale, 1877; Laughlin, 1926; Metzel, 2004; Rafter, 2004). This was the “way out” so that the general populace would not have to discuss the issue that much (Metzel, 2004; Rafter, 2004). In contemporary society, the “way out” of discussing this issue is usually to attribute mental illness to individual differences that should be regarded as normal (Dugdale, 1877; Laughlin, 1926; Metzel, 2004; Rafter, 2004). The third issue that makes discussion of the connection betwixt mental illness and school shootings complex is that there is often a very intricate relationship between mental illness and drug use (Compton & Manseau, 2019; Lynam & Bowers, 2014). Sometimes mental illness can require taking medication in order to control the mental illness in such a way that the person struggling with the illness can function in daily life (Compton & Manseau, 2019; Lynam & Bowers, 2014). It is also true that people taking drugs that are illegal in much of the world can cause mental illness and even on occasion lead them to act in a way that is dangerous both to others and to the addict (Compton & Manseau, 2019; Lynam & Bowers, 2014). A difficult reality is that people neither like to admit they are mentally nor that they have a drug problem, whether it involves taking illegal drugs or abusing legal prescriptions (Compton & Manseau, 2019; Lynam & Bowers, 2014). For example in the Kungalv school shooting in Sweden in 1961, Ove Conry Andersson (17 years old) killed 1 and injured 6, but it was also reported “that Andersson was considered mentally unbalanced, partly because of the effects of alcohol” (Wikipedia, 2019e). It was

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the first school shooting reported in Sweden and one of the first ones in Europe (Wikipedia, 2019e). Matti Junani Saari, the shooter at the Seinajoki University in Finland also was alcohol dependent and received a Driving Under the Influence (DUI) citation, before committing his act of violence. Saari had said that he “wanted to kill as many people as possible (Allen, 2008, p. 1).”

7.2 A Long History of Threating and Frightening Behaviors A number of the school shooters had a long history of threatening and frightening behaviors that were not reported to the school officials and law enforcement, when they should have been. There is a considerable amount of evidence that students with mental disorders of some type are much more likely to engage in school shootings than students without these psychological issues (Duwe & Rocque, 2017; Follman, et al. 2019; Roy, 2009; Zagar, et al. 2013). For example, Seung-Hui Cho, the Virginia Tech attacker, and Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, of the Columbine massacre, had been constantly threatening to either kill or do substantial bodily harm to countless numbers of their fellow students. On Harris’ website he asserted, “My belief is that if I say something it goes. I am the law, if you don’t like it you die. If I don’t like you or I don’t like what you want me to do, you die” (Brown & Merritt, 2002, p. 84). He also declared, “I will rig up explosives all over a town and detonate each of them at will after I mow down the whole {expletive} area” (Scott & Nimmo, 2000, p. 150). Harris also wrote in Dylan’s handbook, “God I can’t wait until they die. I can taste their blood now…. You know what I hate? MANKIND! Kill everything….kill everything” (Brown & Merritt, 2002, p. 94). The fact that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were in the “Trench Coat Mafia” should have raised some red flags (Newman, et al., 2004). In the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, Seung-Hui Cho killed 33 people. For two years before the killings, Cho accused his fellow students of literally being guilty of cannibalism and committing genocide, which frightened his peers regarding what he might do next. Lucinda Roy (2009) was head of the English Department at Virginia Tech, when the incident happened. In her book No Right to Remain Silent (2009), Roy shared that Virginia Tech mental health guidelines were more concerned about protecting Cho’s privacy rather than the safety of the university students. The focus on mental illness really grew following the shootings at Virginia Tech in 2007 and Sandy Hook in 2012. There were a variety of articles that called for greater government spending to help psychiatric patients, reduce the access that the mentally ill have to guns, and increase the availability of treatment for these individuals (Huntley, 2012; Williams 2012a). In one prominent publication one can read, “If we really want to stop young men like him from becoming mass murderers…we should invest our resources in better screening for, and treatment of, psychiatric illnesses in young people (Friedman, 2012, p. D5).” Researchers observe that after the Sandy Hook shootings many Americans were led to believe that there needed to be more awareness

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of and action taken regarding mental illness (Barry, et al., 2013; Jeynes, 2010a; McCluskey, 2017). In addition, there is evidence that states that spend the most on mental health have a lower number of school shootings (Sheth, 2016). The Sandy Hook and Red Lake shooters were portrayed as having severe mental problems. The Sandy Hook attacker, Adam Lanza, apparently had autism or Asperger’s syndrome, which are mental problems, but not mental illnesses (McCluskey, 2017). However, his behavior was such that many viewed his behaviors as going beyond simply autism or Asperger’s syndrome. The Red Hook assailant was under psychiatric care, had attempted suicide, and took anti-depressants (Davey & Wilgoren, 2005; Freed, 2005). Chris Dunshee, the principal of Red Lake High School, shared, “I think most of us felt like this was a troubled young man and someone whose problems we felt like we were addressing (Davey & Wilgoren, 2005, p. A1). Many believe other shooters, such as the 2009 shooting in the Winnenden School in Germany, involved mental health issues (Bockler, Seeger, Sitzer, & Heitmeyer, 2013a). The assailant, Tim Kretschmer, had been receiving counseling for clinical depression and targeted females in his attack (Bockler, et al. 2013a). Yes, naturally as contemporary societies, it is of utmost importance to be sensitive to students with mental disorders who demonstrate threatening and frightening behavior. However, it is equally vital to also be sensitive to those who are deeply wounded by this behavior and very possibly could be future victims if the threats are carried out (Philpott-Jones, 2018). Michael Carneal, the West Paducah, Kentucky shooter, clearly had signs of mental illness. He downloaded material from the internet on the “Raping of a Dead Coarpse,” and the way that many innocent visitors can die at Disneyland (Newman et al., 2004, p. 26). He was bullied and did not believe in fighting back (Newman et al., 2004). He began to seek out the Goths, who were very anti-Christian and were strongly against the idea of waiting to have intercourse until after marriage. The Goths listened to very dark music (Newman, et al., 2004). Carneal tried to join the Goths and coveted their favor, but they consistently rejected them and saw themselves as “morally superior to other cliques” (Newman, et al., 2004, p. 29). After the shooting, Michael claimed that he did not act alone, but that “the rampage was indeed planned by the entire group” (p. 30) during lunch. According to Michael, the Goths agreed to act together in the attack and Michael would purchase the guns for the attack (Newman, et al., 2004). Newman and her colleagues note that “The police interrogated all of the participants about what was discussed in preparation for possible conspiracy charges to be lodged against several Goths” (p. 31). Although the Goths admitted that the statements Michael Carneal claimed were made, in his testimony, actually were stated, various Goths stated that Michael took them more seriously than they did. It is likely that in the absence of concrete evidence and the fact that the Goths were juveniles, the police did not arrest any of the Goths. Whether the shooting was a Goth-led conspiracy or simply Michael believing that this was the Goth plan, such thinking is far from normal. However, the contemporary age is such that people are afraid to call anything abnormal. Moreover, there is a new legalism that pervades many modern societies that if anyone calls some of the attitudes of Michael or the Goths abnormal and hateful, it is that whistleblowing person who is

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abnormal, because they do not view virtually everything is normal. If society is to significantly reduce school shootings, this new legalism must disappear. In the German shooting in Winnenden, Germany in 2009 Tim Kretschmer had had received in-patient psychiatric care at Weissenhoff Psychiatric Clinic (Bockler, et al. 2013a; Heitmeyer, Bockler, & Seeger, 2013; Hoffmann & Roshdi, 2013). After he completed is in patient care he was released from the clinic and he was supposed to continue his treatment as an outpatient, but he never did (Bockler, et al. 2013a; Heitmeyer, et al. 2013; Hoffmann & Roshdi, 2013).

7.2.1 Germany and Switzerland Have Strategies to Quickly Identify Mental Illness in Students Both Germany and Switzerland have strategies in place to quickly identify mental illness as soon as possible, in order to circumvent the possibility of widespread harm (Noack, 2018; Roy, 2009). They view student safety as one of the foremost priorities in their school (Noack, 2018; Roy, 2009). Overall, these nations and quite a number of others are confused by the United States’ approach which often appears more concerned about protecting the aggressors than they do the victims and potential victims (Roy, 2009). In addition, by the United States being reluctant to identify the presence of mental illness, not only are the students put in danger who could likely be harmed, but also the love, support, and help, that the potential shooter so desperately needs, are delayed (Noack, 2018; Roy, 2009). Moreover, when a potentially dangerous student is identified, investigators and social scientists can come to a greater understanding of what stresses and circumstances set off violent offenders. For example, people who suffer from mental problems often have triggers go off around them in their lives that “set them off.” For example, mass murders of this type are far more likely to take place at large schools rather than small ones. At large elementary school-, secondary school-, and college- campuses, students are much more likely than when they are in more intimate environments to feel isolated and alienated (Royer & Debarbieux, 2003). If psychologists, counselors, parents, and educators know this, they can anticipate signs of alienation and other problems in students at these large educational institutions. They can therefore take action to prevent problems earlier than they likely would have otherwise.

7.3 Diagnosing Mental Illness When It Is Too Late Newman and her scholarly partners (2004, p. 59) make an interesting observation regarding mentally ill school shooters. They state, “Few shooters are diagnosed with mental illnesses before their crimes. Yet many are discovered afterward to be mentally ill.” Some of the reasons why their mental illness is not uncovered include

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the following: 1) teachers and other adults are reluctant to come to seemingly such a depressing conclusion. Adults are particularly inclined to want to give the young some room, as they develop, than they normally would not grant to adults. 2) Parents are also very reluctant to conclude that their children have deep emotional and psychological problems. It is extremely difficult for parents to be objective in this way, especially because they love their children, truly wish the best for them, and are often too quick to rationalize about- or minimize- whatever faults their children might have (Ehrensaft, 1997; Lamb, 1997; Kindlon, 2001; Sigman, 2009). 3) To whatever extent that educators and children perceive various abnormal activities and statements in their mentally ill peers, the reality is that these people almost never report these activities, but rather tend to attribute these behaviors to other likely causes such as immaturity, harsh external factors of one type or another, etc. The issue of recognizing mental illness after the shooting rather than before the shooting is a major one. Admittedly, it is understandable, because it is only natural that parents and school officials are hesitant to label a child or adolescent as mentally ill, unless there is absolutely incontrovertible proof that this is the case (RiecherRossier & Garcia-Moreno, 2013). There is a general understanding that children and adolescents are quite resilient and that even if they manifest unusual behavior for a time, they are capable of overcoming these unusual tendencies (Riecher-Rossier & Garcia-Moreno, 2013).

7.3.1 The Unique Aspects of School Shootings When Compared to Other Acts of Mass Aggression A study by Joel Capellan (2019) and his colleagues was very detailed in its analysis and very comprehensive. They examined 318 mass shootings that took place between 1966 and 2017, 91 of which were school shootings. The team examined the details and trends apparent in school shootings in comparison to other types of mass shootings, i.e., rampage acts of aggression, disgruntled employee shootings, and ideologically motivated ones. Capellan (2019) and his colleagues found commonalties within each type of shooting and the differences between the different kinds of shootings. The unique aspects of school shootings that were quite different from the other kinds of shootings are worth noting, if one is to understand some of the causes or triggers of these shootings, especially as it relates to mental illness (Capellan, et al., 2019). The most unique components of the school shootings compared with other types of shooting (i.e., rampage acts of aggression, disgruntled employee shootings, and ideologically motivated) can really help develop strategies that will reduce school shootings specifically (Capellan, et al., 2019). The main trends that distinguished the school shootings from the other types of mass shootings included the following. First, a much higher percentage of the school shooters were mentally ill (over 49%) than were the aggressors from the other kinds of shootings (Capellan, et al., 2019). Second, almost none of the school shooters had

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a criminal record (Capellan, et al., 2019). Third, the overwhelming percentage of the assailants were white males (77%). This stands out in stark contrast to the other types of mass shootings that there are in which white males contribute much less to the number of shootings than their proportion in the overall population (Capellan, et al., 2019). The first finding about the 49% of the school shooters being mentally ill is especially noteworthy. This means that parents, educators, and society at large understand that mental illness plays a major role in explaining student behavior leading up to and including the school shootings (Capellan, et al., 2019). To the extent that the mental illness is recognized, these attacks will likely decline. However, to the degree that evidence is ignored along these lines, largely because it is unpleasant news, the more this problem will continue (Capellan, et al., 2019; Langman, 2010; Roy, 2009). Second, the finding that the pupils almost never have a criminal record is also significant and confirms statements in other parts of the book that makes some aspects of gun control more practical that others. Most notably, background checks may be an effective expression of gun control when it comes to adults, but for school shootings specifically, which is the focus of this book, it will likely have very little impact. Third, white people and boys are more heavily overrepresented in this mode of mass shooting than in the other three under examination in the Capellan and colleagues (2019) study. Moreover, this is true compared to almost any measure of violent crime, even beyond the bounds of the Capellan and colleagues (2019) study. The question is why? What makes schools especially unique? Years ago, Ogbu (1992, 1993) argued that given that K-12 education was so dominated by females, African American boys felt judged and misunderstood. His hypothesis likely had a large amount of truth. The Capellan data may reflect a similar phenomenon today, but with white boys instead. Not only is education dominated by females, but also many regard large portions of the American school curriculum, especially in history and sociology, as demeaning of whites (MacDonald, 2016; Sommers, 2015; Venker, 2016). Many white boys feel judged and misunderstood (Gonyea, 2017; MacDonald, 2016; Sommers, 2015). It is possible that teachers need to more fully recognize that they are instructing youths that are at a tender and impressionable age, when their sense of worth is just being developed and can easily be shattered. Therefore, they need to teach a curriculum that is more sensitive to- and uplifting of- all groups.

7.3.2 Why Are Rates of Mental Illness So High? Statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the National Alliance on Mental Illness indicate that for many decades the rates of mental illness in the United States have been on the rise, well before the coronavirus hit (National Alliance on Mental Illness, 2020; U.S. Centers for Disease Control, 2020). In recent years the rate has been just below 4%, whereas in past generations it was typically in the 2.4– 2.9% range (National Alliance on Mental Illness, 2020; U.S. Centers for Disease Control, 2020). It is only natural and appropriate to examine the American figures

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first, because it is clear that this is where the overwhelming majority of school shootings occur (Langman, 2010; Pollack & Eden, 2019). Nevertheless, it should be noted that although most other nations that report these data have a lower rate than the United States, the rise in mental illness rates is a fairly widespread global phenomenon (Chen, 2017). As Jim and Marilyn Folk (2020) of the Anxietycentre declare, “…mental illness is on the rise, and drastically.” Initial data indicate that these statistics will likely go higher, when data measuring the effects of the coronavirus became part of the database, as William Wan (2020) of the Washington Post suggests. It is also very significant to note that according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 50% of lifetime mental illness begins at age 14 and that percentage continues to climb steadily during the remainder of the teenage years (National Alliance on Mental Illness, 2020). Given that many of the school shooters commit suicide, it is also worthy of attention that according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, suicide is the second leading cause of death among people aged 10–34 (National Alliance on Mental Illness, 2020). The U.S. suicide rate has risen substantially over the last 60 years (National Alliance on Mental Illness, 2020; U.S. Centers for Disease Control, 2020). Given that 50% of lifetime mental illness begins at 14, this means that there are immediately three key problems that make the issue of mental illness among adolescents a real problem. First, many adolescents are going to find themselves too inexperienced and too immature to know how to deal with their mental illness. Second, the parents of mentally ill children and adolescents, being likely very new to the challenge, will often be ill-equipped to handle the situation and most of them, and perhaps most, will tend to sink into denial that the mental illness problem exists (Langman, 2010; Lieberman, 2006). Third, school employees will be hesitant to address the reality that yes, mental illness can be a major issue at such a tender age and delaying a proper diagnosis can be extremely harmful and even deadly (Andone, 2018; Capellan, et al., 2019; Langman, 2010; Lieberman, 2006; Pollack & Eden, 2019).

7.3.3 President Bill Clinton: A “Changing Culture That Desensitizes Our Children to Violence” One should consider whether there is a reason why contemporary society has higher rates of mental illness than in past decades. Are there certain components of our society that contribute to this trend? Bill Clinton asserted that there is a “changing culture that desensitizes our children to violence (Glassman, 1998).” After the tragedy at Columbine, President Clinton “appealed to parents, the media, and the entertainment industry to ‘pledge ourselves to the task of putting an end to the culture of violence.’ Parents… ‘should turn off the television, pay attention to what’s on the computer screen, refuse to buy products that glorify violence (Brooke, 1999, p. A1).” Al Gore became concerned about this issue, particularly with records that youth were listening to that encouraged murder, rape, and hatred (McCluskey, 2017).

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The concerns about the pernicious effects of contemporary culture were not merely limited to Democrats, but also Republicans chimed in on the issue. McCluskey (p. 83) observes, “Pat Buchanon blamed the entertainment industry for Columbine: “What happened in Littleton, Colo., was a product of the culture of death that we’ve got to resist.” William Bennett, the former Secretary of Education said, “I think somebody ought to get some of the television producers and movie-makers and ask them some questions: Do you all really need to make money by showing people slaughtering other people? By showing people on their knees begging for their life and then being shot away?” (Saint Louis Dispatch, 1999b, p. C13). “The other main target was video games, especially the reality of first-person shooter games, raised by politicians, advocacy groups, and psychiatrists. Independent Dem. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut said after the Sandy Hook shooting: ‘Very often these young men have had almost a hypnotic involvement in some form of violence in our entertainment culture, particularly violent video games (Snider, 2012, p. 6A).” Senator Jay Rockefeller, a Democrat from West Virginia, “introduced legislation after Sandy Hook to examine the impact of violent content, including video games, on children (Snider, 2012).” Rockefeller declared, “I have long expressed concern about the impact of the violent content our kids see and interact with every day (p. 6A).” The video game issue has become a major issue, especially with regard to school in the prosperous countries in North America and Europe. For example, in 2006 Sebastian Bosse in the western town of Emsdetten in Germany used various guns and smoke bombs in his act of aggression. Sebastian Bosse was very well known for being obsessed with playing violent video games (Heitmeyer, et al. 2013). Sebastian Bosse also shot himself, before his violent spree was over (Heitmeyer, et al. 2013). Even though this book addressed this issue in Chapter 6, leaders, parents, and teachers in both continents have made it clear that they believe that youths playing blood-filled ultra-violent video games in an addictive fashion, that is for countless hours for consecutive days, is often a mental health issue. They believe that viewing such games almost incessantly for hours day after day can cause mental abnormalities and even mental illness or be a result of mental illness. Leaders were also critical of some abnormal content in a number of movies coming out of Hollywood that they believed could cause mentally unstable youth to go over the edge and engage in criminal behavior that they otherwise would not have done. For example, Michael Carneal, the West Paducah killer, admitted viewing…the 1995 movie Basketball Diaries, which Michael Carneal admitted is where he got the idea for committing the shooting. For Columbine, the movie mentioned the most was Heathers and the Matrix from which both the Columbine- and Red Lake- killers obtained their ideas for modeling the clothes they would wear (Coleman, 2004; McCluskey, 2017; Primack, Gold, Schwartz, & Dalton, 2008).

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7.4 Drawing Lessons “Writing and other material attributed to a school shooter can be used to help produce lessons for society that will yield insight. For Columbine gunman Eric Harris, his online writing revealed his desire for violence. He used the pseudonym “Darkness” and pages were filled with images of fire and skulls, devils, weapons, and a song lyric threatening violence (Duggan, Shear & Fisher, 1999; Johnson & Copeland, 1999). Eric Harris wrote, “I live in Denver, and I would love to kill almost all of its residents (Wilgoren & Johnson, 1999).” Harris added, “You all better hide in your houses because I’m coming for everyone and I will shoot to kill and I will kill everything. (Wilgoren & Johnson, 1999).” This is clearly not a mentally well adolescent, to say the least. Jeffrey Weise on his website shared, “He depicted a shooting spree by a character dressed all in black (McCluskey, 2017, p. 88).” In the case of Mitchell Johnson, there were also mental health issues. It is hard to know how many of his mental- and emotional issues were a result of being forcibly raped when his was young, his terrible relationship with his alcohol-abusing father, or other factors. Nevertheless, there were clearly mental and emotional problems. On one occasion Mitchell slammed his fist into a thermostat in the hallway, breaking the glass case. Shannon Wright, the teacher who died in the rampage, put him into suspension for that infraction. On another occasion when serving detention, Mitchell appeared to threaten vengeance by writing that when he was done, there would be no more in school suspensions. Although the supervisor in charge of in school suspensions reported deep concerns about major acts of violence that Mitchell would do next, the principal did nothing (Newman, et al., 2004). To reduce death and injury from guns overall, there needs to be much more in the way of close and meaningful communication between healthcare providers and the families of individuals with mental health issues. David Hemenway (2020, p. 44) notes that, “Focused conversations can be helpful. Even though members of gunowning households are about 50 times more likely to commit suicide with a firearm than to die from an unintentional shooting, and far more likely to die in a firearm suicide than in a firearm homicide, most firearm instructors never mention suicide…. Healthcare providers help families get guns out of the home when someone in the household is at risk for suicide. Insurers could offer lower premiums to gun owners who store guns safely. Perhaps the most logical and persuasive component of the idea of passing additional gun control involves restricting access to guns for the mentally ill (Chalmers, 2009; Kleck, 2009). Sometimes there is actually more consensus on guns in the United States and other nations than people generally acknowledge. Unfortunately, there is a tendency among human beings to emphasize the negative (Chalmers, 2009; Kleck, 2009). No doubt, many political systems around suffer because men and women emphasize differences more than they do similarities (Chalmers, 2009; Kleck, 2009).

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Probably a greater number of significant gun control bills could be passed if people realized that there is more agreement on guns than is generally acknowledged. In reality, both sides of the debate agree that there are certain people they want to have revolvers and rifles in their possession and others that they do not. There may not be total agreement on the specifics between the two sides. However, there is a definite degree of overlap. Both sides agree that they want do not want the “bad guys” to win and that it is best that these people not have guns. Furthermore, both sides insist that the “good guys” should have guns. That being the case, there is a real opportunity to build a consensus and seek to limit gain availability to the mentally ill. It is irrefutably the case that virtually every human being alive feels ill at ease and not particularly safe, when a person who is patently mentally ill is brandishing a revolver. Although the reasoning used to arrive at the conclusion may be different, whether people support or oppose gun control, the vast majority of each group would feel uncomfortable with guns in the hands of someone who is mentally ill. Sadly, politicians and partisans on both sides of the gun control debate tend to emphasize differences between the two sides on this issues. However, it would be both logical and would be an act of genuinely wanting progress on this issue to attempt to build consensus on this issue of passing laws and taking action to prevent guns from getting into the hands of the mentally ill. If a nation is to make progress on the issues of gun control, beginning where there is already some consensus is absolutely essential. To the extent that in this one sphere of commonalties rests some real potential for developing consensus for developing intelligent gun legislation, it is important that people take action as soon as possible. It is beyond dispute that many politicians and individuals in the media act out of expediency and have a clear agenda one way or the other (Lieberman, 2006; McCluskey, 2017). However, this issue is sufficiently salient that it is time to develop some type of consensus on certain dimensions of the gun debate and especially on the school shooting problem specifically (Lieberman, 2006; McCluskey, 2017). Without pursuing some consensus on these specific and broader issues, there is little hope for progress in reducing these terrible acts of school violence.

7.5 What Is Needed If There Is to Be Progress on Acting on the Relationship between Mental Illness and School Shootings With all the above in mind, if a consensus bill is to move forward on making it almost impossible for someone mental ill to own a gun, both for the safety of others and their own safety, it is essential that two concurrent developments also take place. First, there needs to be more testing of the young for mental illness, Second, there needs to be more appreciation of the interaction between drugs & mental illness.

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7.5.1 More Testing of the Young for Mental Illness Ryan C. W. Hall and Susan H. Friedman (2013) wrote a very interesting article that appeared in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings. It was entitled “Guns, Schools, and Mental Illness: Potential Concerns for Physicians and Mental Health Professionals.” They acknowledged that in school shootings such as those in Newtown, Connecticut and Virginia Tech that the assailants were likely mentally ill. They also note that in other mass shootings, for example the infamous movie theater shooting and another one in Tucson, Arizona, the shooter was also apparently emotionally disturbed (Hall & Friedman, 2013). They acknowledge that many people, particularly the families of victims, were very upset that there were often innumerable signs that the shooters were mentally unstable and potentially violent; and even though individual warnings to those in authority accrued at astounding rates, educational officials and law enforcement officials did not take those warnings as seriously as they should have (Hall & Friedman, 2013). A growing number of psychologists, psychiatrists, educators, and other social scientists are recognizing that both detected- and undetected- mental illness is involved in a high percentage of the classroom assailants (Capellan, et al., 2019; Langman, 2010). By “high percentage” this refers to the 49% figure that the Capellan study found (Capellan, et al., 2019). Moreover, there are many researchers who argue that half or more of these aggressors were mentally ill (Capellan, et al., 2019; Hall & Friedman, 2013; Langman, 2010). They make this assertion not only on the basis of past records and behavior, but also based on the fact that almost by definition, most people who would engage in such a heinous act is mentally ill (Matera, 2001; Newman, et al., 2004; Scott & Nimmo, 2000). They argue that yes, there may be other factors that played into the act of violence (Matera, 2001; Newman, et al., 2004; Scott & Nimmo, 2000). However, even if one has broken up with a girlfriend, gotten a bad grade on a paper, been angry at other students, been shunned by his or her peers, or comes from a single parent home, this is clearly no reason to unmercifully kill so many people and do harm to so many families and community members (Matera, 2001; Newman, et al., 2004; Scott & Nimmo, 2000). One can certainly understand why episodes such of these would yield great upset in the minds and hearts of people, but to react to any of the events just described with the evil intent to engage in about the most nefarious act that an individual can undertake goes well beyond anyone’s definition of normality (Matera, 2001; Newman, et al., 2004; Scott & Nimmo, 2000). Hall and Friedman (2013) observe that the major role that mental illness plays in many of these shootings has done much good in one sense. That is, advocates of both gun control and guns for protection who normally are at odds have united on this issue to acknowledge that mental issues are often at work in these massacres (Hall & Friedman, 2013). This is vital, because one can talk about causes and solutions for weeks, months, and years, but in the end there must be a large degree of consensus in order for the right actions to take place (Hall & Friedman, 2013; Matera, 2001; Newman, et al., 2004; Scott & Nimmo, 2000).

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As salient as this consensus is that mental illness is one of the central causes in these school shootings, there are two truths worthy of note. First, while many people are in solid argument to assert that mental problems play a role in these shootings, a person can also make the same argument regarding character education. That is, a person of character would never engage in such a atrocious act (Coleman, 2004; Matera, 2001). Moreover, both statements are likely true simultaneously. Second, if one passes legislation placing more emphasis on diagnosing- juvenile problems and acting on them at a much earlier stage, one has to address certain key issues in that legislation or else other types of problems will emerge. For example, one has to specify whether the counseling offered is to be voluntary or involuntary (Hall & Friedman, 2013). Another topic that must be addressed is that counselors need to be legally protected if they, with all good intentions, misdiagnose the student. Legislation also needs to ensure that the counselors are properly qualified, etc. Legislation also needs to protect those children who have minor mental- and emotional-issues, so they are not improperly identified as being a threat (Hall & Friedman, 2013). Consistent with two of the primary themes of this book that acting in a collection of ways simultaneously and understanding that many of the factors examined are interrelated, it is important to note that family factors and mental illness are often related. How parents treat each other and treat their offspring influences children (Cole and Knowles, 2011). If children feel abused, mistreated, or neglected it can produce an atmosphere in which major mental and emotional problems can spawn (Cole and Knowles, 2011). When the home atmosphere is dysfunctional and detrimental to the development of self-worth in the child, it becomes really hard for teachers and social workers to penetrate the pupil’s hearts. Even if the teaching and efforts by these adults are good and done with the best of intentions, the “seed” that they plant in the hearts of the students will meet with different types of “soil,” i.e., receptivity, influenced significantly by each pupil’s home environment (Holy Bible, NIV, Mark 4:1–20). Cole and Knowles (p. 210) estimate, based on data across two continents that about 3–6% of students have BESD (behavioral, emotional, and social difficulties). That being the case, school officials, educators, psychologists, and social workers need to remind themselves of this fact and be more vigilant of the family backgrounds that some of these children come from, how this fact may affect their emotional well-being, and how this might influence the potential for future school shootings.

7.6 Mental Illness and Drug Use Just as mental illness and family factors are connected, so it is that mental illness and illegal drug use are often closely connected and, in some cases, even inextricably entangled (Compton & Manseau, 2019; Lynam & Bowers, 2014). It should be mentioned at this juncture that illegal drug usage is defined as either the consumption of either drugs defined as illegal to have in most countries or taking legal prescription drugs either beyond the amount prescribed or those not prescribed at all. There are a number of reasons why mental illness and illegal drug use (as just defined) are

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so closely related. First, clearly a lot of psychiatrists prescribe medication to their patients and those taking the drugs can either take too many or in some cases take a medicine not part of the primary prescription. Second, sometimes if one chooses to consume a particularly hard drug such as cocaine or heroin, it can cause mental and emotional damage (Compton & Manseau, 2019; Lynam & Bowers, 2014).There are large amounts of testimonies by individuals who have taken hard drugs for extended periods of time and have experienced considerable long-term emotional and mental damage, as a result (Compton & Manseau, 2019; Lynam & Bowers, 2014). One must remember that certain substances are illegal for a reason, i.e., they can either do a lot of long-term damage or alter a person’s behavior so that they could very well do great damage to themselves or other people. Taking a large amount of drugs at a time can also cause people to act in a way that many people would call mentally ill, even if someone is not. Statistics indicate that three quarters of spousal and child abuse is drug or alcohol related (Riecher-Rossier & Garcia-Moreno, 2013). Moreover, the U.S. Department of Justice indicates that about 30% of burglary, robbery, and larceny is drug-related (Caulkins & Kleiman, 2014). It is indubitably true that the effects of the illegal substances themselves and/or the amount of money it takes to support such a habit leads people to engage in all kinds of monetary crimes. Moreover, certain drugs, especially when taken in fairly large sized quantities, can cause a person to act violently and totally out of character (Hart & Ksir, 2011; Lynch, Elmore, & Kotecki, 2014). Hence, it should come as no surprise when partaking of these substances it causes someone to act violently. Police, for example, often report that people high on such drugs resist arrest, are prone to commit major crimes, and are out of control to the point of being extraordinarily dangerous (Caulkins & Kleiman, 2014; Riecher-Rossier & Garcia-Moreno, 2013). Admittedly, disentangling the relationship between mental illness and illegal drug use is very difficult. Determining which causes the other in a specific situation is also a considerable, if not impossible, undertaking. On the one hand, it is clear that consuming illegal drugs, and even prescription drugs, e.g., opioids, can cause a great deal of mental and emotional damage. On the other hand, one wonders what is a person’s disposition who would even consider taking illegal drugs. Nevertheless, although estimating the full extent of the relationship between mental illness and taking illegal drugs, including medication beyond the legal prescribed limits, would be a herculean task, just limiting the search to the known relationship produces startling results that not only raise eyebrows, but are enough to raise one’s blood pressure. According to the American Addiction Centers, just under 20 million Americans, age 12 or older, struggled with a substance abuse disorder in 2017 (Hein, 2020). Of these 20 million, 43% also reported “a mental health disorder (Hein, 2020).” If one emphasizes the very large percentage and the sheer numbers, a litany of adjectives come to mind such as frightening, daunting, etc. However, after one recovers from the initial shock of substance abuse and mental health problems being so inextricably connected in the lives of so many people, the reader then also reaches the conclusion that the relationship is entirely logical. Whether one is examining cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, ecstasy, etc., why would any person want to

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do this to themselves? Most people are intelligent enough to intellectually understand what these drugs do to you. Psychiatrists and members of the police force will freely communicate the spousal- and child-abuse that occurs from substances that are lighter then these such as consuming considerable amounts of alcohol and marijuana (Hein, 2020). For those who are knowingly battling addiction and seeing their loved ones, job situation, and emotional well-being affected, many seek help. However, these are among the 20 million who actually recognize that they have an addiction problem and the 43% who testify that they also have a mental health problem. In reality, these figures do not include those who do have a drug and mental health problem, but refuse to recognize this fact (Hein, 2020). Actually, both the figures for addiction problems and mental health problems among those people who wrestle with substance abuse is probably much higher. In acknowledging that substance abuse and mental health problems are frequently related, two questions emerge. First, which came first, the chicken or the egg? In other words, does the presence of mental illness make it more likely that an individual will develop a drug or alcohol addiction or could taking certain drugs often enough and over a prodigious amount of time trigger or add to mental illness or mental health issues? Second, to the degree that mental health problems are very common among these shooters one wonders whether students taking illegal drugs, either defined by dangerous drugs that are outlawed or taking a drug beyond the lawful limit that a prescription will allow, will exacerbate the problem.

7.7 Two Challenges in Ascertaining the Relationship Between Mental Health and Consuming Illegal Drugs There are two main challenges in ascertaining the relationship between mental health, consuming illegal drugs, and the likelihood of a school shooting. The first challenge is that unless students are caught in the act of taking illegal drugs, youths are often reluctant to admit that they consume these drugs. Hence, as long as this is the case, the tendency is going to be that the severity of the deepest problems evident are going to be underestimated. That underestimation helps no one, because in order to fully solve the problem of school shootings, one must consider the effects of these substances. When the extent of such problems are considerably underestimated, the resources committed to reducing or eliminating the problems are substantially reduced. In the long haul, if citizens of the world think that the role of mental health and mental illness problems in these school shootings are small, a spirit of complacence can set in the populace. Then when there are a string of unusual and abnormal behaviors in a student, those who could and should say something are unlikely to do so. A second challenge is that, because of the youthfulness of the shooters plus the reluctance of school officials to send troubled pre-adolescents and adolescents in

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for the counseling that they need, usually the school shooters are not diagnosed as having mental problems until after their act of violence.

7.8 Concluding Remarks for This Chapter The more the reader peruses this book, the more the reader realizes that, generally speaking, quite a few of the factors emphasized in this book were involved in most of the school shootings. The evidence is compelling and undeniable that mental problems are often at work in these school shootings. Moreover, some would argue that by definition, mental problems are at work, because to commit a mass shooting essentially epitomizes such a state. Beyond the actual contribution of mental illness and other mental problems a student might have, arises the real possibility, if not likelihood, that some of the other factors emphasized in the book name family factors (Chapter 4), character education (Chapter 5), and the regular practice of student reflection (Chapter 8) might have either prevented mental illness or at least reduced it to a place at which various school shootings would not have taken place. To the objective observer, it would be hard to argue “No,” i.e., all of the school shootings would have still taken place. To be sure, no one knows the precise number that would not have happened with a lot of love, support, humility, and affirmation in family, character education, and reflection, but to whatever extent they would, taking action is vital.

Chapter 8

A Time of Student Reflection in the Schools

8.1 The Advantages of a Time of Reflection Before the U.S. Supreme Court decisions of 1962 and 1963, that removed prayer from the public schools, a time of reflection was allowed in the schools (Matera, 2001; Moore, 2005). In 1995 Bill Clinton made a speech in Vienna, Virginia, just outside Washington D.C., in which he criticized public schools for not allowing moments of silence used for reflection in a way that is consistent with the child’s personal belief system. Such exercises can help a student conquer stress, handle their emotions better, and give them a sense of peace (Moore, 2005; Zoba, 2001). As a result, acts of violence will be less likely to occur. Robert Leahy (2008, p. 1) makes a very poignant observation when he states, “The average high school kid today has the same level of anxiety as the average psychiatric patient in the early 1950’s.” Students today need a greater peace, not a higher level of anxiety. Expressions of faith and reflection are too frequently overlooked as means to calm the extreme emotions of many individuals. For example, David Hemenway, Professor of Health Policy at Harvard University, notes the following. The faith community in Boston not only preaches about morality, but played a direct role in the 1990s “Boston Miracle,” when youth firearm deaths fell more than 60 percent. Religious leaders united, worked together with law enforcement and the community, and were often conspicuously present on the streets where and when the worst violence occurred. (2020, p. 44)

Faith has a way of drawing out the kinder, gentler, less animalistic traits of individuals (Jeynes, 1999a, 2003). The City of Chicago has also worked to involve churches, asking them to reach out to gangs and their leaders to help them act more civilized (Cagney, 2000). Church pastors and other leaders diligently sought out gangs, particularly their leaders, to urge them to reduce the violence, because the best teachers in Metro Chicago were either afraid to take a job in the area or, if they did, they moved to another area, because they were afraid of being beaten or raped, due to of the actions of the gangs in the area (Cagney, 2000). The belief that faith-based schools can draw the best out of students in terms of self-discipline, the work ethic, lovingkindness, © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 W. H. Jeynes, Reducing School Shootings, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66549-4_8

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honesty, and other qualities also caused the City of Chicago to look to religious schools as an example of what personal student behavioral traits could be key to yielding improved scholastic outcomes (Bryk, 2010; Bryk, Lee, & Holland, 2009). LeClaire (2012) argues that prayer could have changed the atmosphere of the school at Newton and asked, “Can we please put prayer back in the schools?” Mike Huckabee asserts that the American school system, in the aftermath of the 1962 and 1963 U.S. Supreme Court decisions removing prayer from the schools, no longer values spirituality (Fox News, 2012). Huckabee declares that historically when societies have dismissed the importance of religious prayer, that nation tends to go into a decided decline (Fox News, 2012). Unfortunately, with the proliferation of standardized tests, many educators seem to have a hole in their concept of the whole child. They have left out the spiritual component, the part of a child that whether the youth be a believer or not religious at all, there is a place in life to reflect and ponder, and it can yield peace.

8.1.1 Sharing Thoughts That Need to Be Shared Through Prayer and Reflection Prayer and other certain other types of reflection also give opportunity for children to express thoughts that really need to be shared. Jeff Dolgan, the Chief of Psychology at Children’s Hospital said this: “Kids need to talk about their experiences, and they need to talk about those experiences in different ways….The worst thing would be staying locked up, not being able to tell your story (Martin, 1999).” Prayer is one vital means of expression (King, 1998). In fact, Friedrich Frobel (1782–1852), the founder of the Kindergarten, asserted that the goal of the kindergarten, as he originally envisioned it, was for children to experience unity with God and unity with each other (Doherty, 1977; Downs, 1975; Froebel, 2009; Jeynes, 2006; Slight, 1961). To Froebel, a large part of that unity was fostered by communicating with God and with others. Froebel wrote, “Education consists in leading man as a thinking intelligent being growing into a self-conscious and free representation of the inner law of Divine Unity, and in teaching him ways and means thereto (Doherty, 1977, p. 5).” The communication with God was to be largely through prayer and song. There are countless times in life that people are facing challenges, whether it involves psychological challenges that could cause an adolescent to engage in shootings or the trauma of either being victimized by one or at least being traumatized by one (Langman, 2009, 2010; Scott & Nimmo, 2001). During such times people, almost more than anything desire to communicate, especially to be listened to, comforted, or consoled (Langman, 2009, 2010; McCloskey, 2017). Sometimes this desire to communicate involves other people, but at other times there can be a yearning to communicate by prayer, via another type of spiritual communication, or by reflection. The reality is, sometimes people feel that their circumstances are beyond their ability to cope (Covey, 2009; Covey &

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Covey, 2016; Palmer, 2008). In such situations many people desire to communicate with God, a force that is larger than they are, or connect with nature that they also perceive is bigger than they are (Moore, 2005; Palmer, 2008). To many of the foremost educators that have lived throughout time such as Friedrich Froebel, Comenius, Horace Mann, H. H. Horne, and Parker Palmer, they all felt that children and adults have a spiritual component (Froebel, 2009; Moore, 2005; Palmer, 2008; Palmer & Scriber, 2017). They believed that a moment of silence, time of reflection, prayer, or some other calming exercise was very important to children and for their overall well-being. To engage in such exercises would help youths avoid emotional aggression and maintain self-control, and a calm spirit.

8.1.2 The Need to Respect Children of Faith In addition to the personal benefits that accrue with the practice of prayer and reflection, many people argue that leaving room for the spiritual component of human living to have a place in the lives of students, will cause youth to treat children of faith much better than they do. Several of the shootings specifically targeted Christians. For example, the attacks at Columbine in Littleton, Colorado and West Paducah, Kentucky, among others, were particularly focused on killing Christians (Langman, 2010; Matera, 2001; Scott & Nimmo, 2000). The testimonies of students at Columbine, West Paducah, and other locales indicate that the shooters were generally bullies to the extreme, communicating to students weeks and months before the attack that they were going to kill them (Langman, 2010; Matera, 2001; Scott & Nimmo, 2000). Moreover, the future shooters would threaten these students’ scores and scores of times (Langman, 2010; Matera, 2001; Scott & Nimmo, 2000). LeBrun (2009, p. 18) fittingly states, “Research is showing us that bullies of today are much more violent than those of yesteryear.” The school shooters are, sadly, the best example of this. Then sadly, when the victims of these acts of bullying report these threats on their lives to the principals of their respective schools, the leaders usually dismiss the complaints with a statement such as, “boys will be boys (Matera, 2001; Pollack & Eden, 2019; Scott & Nimmo, 2000).” Granted, Christians are often perceived by bullies as easy targets, because Jesus Christ teaches that believers are to “turn the other cheek (Holy Bible, NIV, Matthew 5:39).” Many Christian groups really “believe their calling is to accept and absorb hostility without fighting back or falling apart (McCluskey, 2017, p. 110).” This perspective has produced a very strong trend of Christian schools having fewer fights overall and racial fights, in particular (Jeynes, 2002g). Statistical analysis of national-wide data sets also indicates that there is greater racial harmony at Christian and other faith-based schools and this could be a contributing factor to the smaller achievement gaps that these schools tend to have (Jeynes, 2014d, 2015a, 2019b). One of the Columbine victims wore a “What Would Jesus Do?” sign on her backpack, which clearly sent a message that she did not believe in fighting (Lipsher & Finley,

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1999). Bullies, especially school shooters who are the worst kind of bullies, view many Christians as pacifistic softies and wimps, who will “turn the other check” and will not fight back (Lipsher & Finley, 1999; Matera, 2001; Scott & Nimmo, 2000). Bullies often do not like Christians for another reason, i.e., they tend to be people who stand up for what they believe and are a reminder to malevolent students that their lives are focused on intimidation, preying on the vulnerable, and engaging in other hurtful acts (Jeynes, 2012a; Scott & Nimmo, 2000). At the Columbine shooting, which was especially aimed at certain Christians, Cassie Bernall stood up for her faith (McCloskey, 2017; Scott & Nimmo, 2000). The shooter at Pearl, Mississippi also hated Christians and was a Satan worshipper (Kennedy, 1997). Michael Carneal of the West Paducah, Kentucky shooting “hung out with self-proclaimed atheists fascinated with the occult” (Bowles, 1997, p. A1) and was “a proudly self-proclaimed atheist who sometimes heckled the prayer circle” (Kennedy, 1997, p. 2). It is naturally easy to claim that Christian children should not be so pacifistic. However, the roots of Christian pacifistic tendencies go very deep. Martin Luther King truly founded his Civil Rights emphasis on pacifism on the teachings of the Bible (King, 1998; King & Washington, 1986). The Puritans and Pilgrims did the same, when they ordered their people not to resist, when they suffered religious persecution in Europe (Bailyn, 1960; Bartlett, 1978; Weber, 1930). The pacifism of the Quakers goes centuries back, even to the place that they refused to even defend the city of Providence, Rhode Island, when it was attacked by Megacomet, the Native American chief. Instead they let the city almost totally burn to the ground (Schultz & Tougias, 1999; Weddle, 2001). Even special permissions given by federal governments allowing various men to be excused from military service, because of the depth of their conviction that war was an immoral act, were given with the understanding that pacifism was a deeply held religious belief (Applebaum, 2009).

8.1.3 Today’s Overemphasis on Testing A number of academics bemoan over the rigidity that has become present in American schooling. There is such an emphasis on tests to such a degree that there is little room for personal growth, other than intellectual development. Educators such as Horace Mann, William James, H. H. Horne, and others warned for many years about the consequences of failing to educate the whole person (Horne, 1931b; James, 1907/2008; Mann, 1849). Allan Bloom asserts that this departure from schools educating the whole child has caused children and adolescents to in many cases overlook the spiritual realm and not spend enough time reflecting or praying. Bloom (2012, p. 25) declares in The Closing of the American Mind, “They are unified only in their relativism and in their allegiance to equality.” He is referring to the belief of students and how but it also invites students to ponder on the possibility of the absolute. Teachers, leaders, and society at large must jettison its fear of talking about God or lose a key foundation in the discussion of right and wrong (Hartwick, 2007).

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The reality is that a schools should welcome a time of reflection and not only that, welcome pupils who reflect. That is, students who ponder about the meaning and purpose of life, what their legacy is going to be, and how they can best help people. If nations are to have students who reflect, they need teachers who reflect as well. Why not have instructors who give assignments to students regarding how they think they can best help their friends and playmates who are physically hurt, feel lonely, are depressed, and have low self-esteem? When principals and teachers do not welcome such reflective practices, what is often produces are students who might have a great deal of knowledge and technological proficiency, but they lack wisdom and compassion. Have the nation’s schools truly educated their youth if they turn out to be intellectual titans, but also spiritual infants (Covey & Covey, 2016; Moore, 2005)? Whether public school leaders want to acknowledge it or not, one reason why many families would prefer to send their children to private religious schools is because they believe that educators there more fully aim to reach the whole child (Jeynes, 2000a). These families believe that there is a hole in the secular concept of whole that tends to leave out the spiritual component of the whole child (Gatto, 2001; Jeynes, 2002a, 2002c). In the opinions of many parents, government-based schools have become too standardized in constantly testing students, teaching to the test, and focusing disproportionately on the mind without adequate attention being given to the heart (Henningfeld, 2008; Jeynes, 2006a; Jeynes & Littell, 2000).

8.2 The Need for a Moment of Silence The moment of silence in the schools can be used by students in a religious- or nonreligious way, at the discretion of the pupil. If it is used in a religious way, many studies suggest it can help students to cope with a number of stresses that are common to life. Social scientists have identified “five attributes of religious coping” (McCluskey, 2017, p. 105). They include: (1) comfort/spirituality, (2) meaning, (3) control, (4) intimacy/spirituality, and (5) life transformation. To be sure, these attributes of religious coping overlap (Pargament, Koenig, & Perez, 2000). If students are given a moment to seek peace and comfort, it may protect them from anger stress, and evil thoughts (Pargament, Koenig, & Perez, 2000). Evil is real and the number of shooters that were Satanists is deeply disturbing. It is unwise for school officials to deny that there are some of these killers and would be killers who are attempting to -cast spells on each other and put curses on one another (Cartwright, 2013). Morne Harmse was very adamant in his declaration that Satan had instructed him to kill students and that this action was just consistent with the teaching of Satanism (Cartwright, 2013). Rafael Solich in the Argentina shooting had Satanic images and clothes on his body and listened to music consistent with that orientation (Wikipedia, 2019a). Betts was Satanist, as well (Ashford, 2019). Luke Woodham, the Pearl, Mississippi killer who was a Satan-worshipper, committed one of the most horrific of these shootings killing his own mother and brother, as well as his own

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ex-girlfriend (Chalmers, 2009; Kennedy, 1997; Matera, 2001). In other words, he killed some of those people that at one time had been the very closest people to him (Chalmers, 2009; Kennedy, 1997; Matera, 2001). It reminds one of the trial of Lizzie Borden for the murder of her father and stepmother in 1892, for which Lizzie Borden remains the primary suspect to this day. Joseph Lieberman (2006, p. 18), the well-respected former Senator from Connecticut, in his book, School Shootings, calls this trend, “The Smell of Satan.” How much hate does one have to have, as Woodham did, to kill his own mother, brother, and ex-girlfriend in addition to the students? Whether it was Betts in Dayton, Ohio who declaring, “I am the servant of serpent evil incarnate,” Michael Carneal of the West Paducah, Kentucky shooting of the prayer group and Dimitrius Pagourtzis in the Sante Fe, Texas shooting getting involved in the occult, one would be extremely unwise to overlook these expressions of evil (Ashford, 2019; Bowles, 1997). It could potentially put other students and teachers at risk. The assailant at Pearl, Mississippi was a Satan worshipper and was involved in occult practices (Chalmers, 2009; Kennedy, 1997). Michael Carneal of the West Paducah, Kentucky pupil prayer group shooting was “fascinated with the occult” (Bowles, 1997, p. A1). Dimitrius Pagourtzis wore or used “hammer and sickle” symbols to recommend rebellion (Cassidy, 2018) to further certain causes, a Baphomet which is an old ancient idol, but is also a modern day occultic figure (Cassidy, 2018) Dimitrius Pagourtzis also used a symbol of “the Rising Sun” to represent Japanese practices of Kamikaze and oppressing other nations, and Japanese colonial/imperialism. The scenario surrounding Pearl had some similarities to the West Paducah, Kentucky school shooting and the Dayton, Ohio shooting. The Dayton, Ohio shooting was committed by Conner Betts, who had finished school a few years earlier and he was a gunman who opened fire at a bar (Ashford, 2019). Nine died and twenty-seven were wounded, ranking it high on the list of shootings producing the most human physical pain. Betts was a pro-Satanist, an extreme leftist, and was a strong supporter of ANTIFA (Ashford, 2019). The fact that Betts kept a notebook, which detailed his beliefs including the statement “hail Lucifer” and entries sharing that he took methamphetamine, are deeply disturbing (Ashford, 2019).

8.3 Teachers Often Fear Pupils Raising the Concept of the Spiritual Teachers often fear pupils raising the concept of the spiritual and particularly the existence of God (Moore, 2005; Schulenburg, 2011). Often when students do raise the issue, teachers are unprepared and feel the safest route is to either quickly change the subject or to avoid engaging in any meaningful conversation with the student (Moore, 2005; Schulenburg, 2011). From the teacher’s perspective such discomfort may be understandable (Moore, 2005; Schulenburg, 2011). However, it is not a wise

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strategy. Children and adolescents are smart and they will not appreciate, what they will often interpret as, the dismissive attitude of their instructors (Moore, 2005; Schulenburg, 2011). Moreover, if the youth are either religious or seeking, they will quite possibly be hurt and feel that the teacher is belittling them for their interest in faith (Moore, 2005; Schulenburg, 2011). In the minds of some teachers, they are attempting to be neutral, but if they would choose to put themselves in the shoes of those in their class, these educators are coming across as anything but neutral (Moore, 2005; Schulenburg, 2011). If a student wanted to discuss his or her cultural heritage and the teacher refused, how would that come across to the student? It would be unthinkable for a teacher to do that? Why should a child’s desire to discuss faith be dismissed? An educator does not have to engage in a long conversation, but even an affirming reply such as, “That is a very good question. I would encourage you to ask your parents about that,” establishes a welcome tone rather than a dismissive one. It is important that teachers realize that students asking the question, “Does God exist?” is as normal and almost as inevitable as even younger children asking, “Where do babies come from?” If parents hope that their children will never think about the question of why it is that suddenly babies arrive on the scene, then they are wishing for the almost impossible. Similarly, at some point in almost every child’s life, one looks around at how ordered life seems in terms of the availability of air to breathe, water to drink, and materials to make the products we use. Nearly every youth, at some point asks, “Did this happen all by chance or is there some intelligent being who created this order?” To be sure, different students will reach different conclusions. However, the teacher needs to anticipate that students will ask this question, whether at home, school, or simply in their minds. Moreover, whatever one’s own personal belief system may be, the reality is that most people in the world believe that it is simply too much to believe that the degree of order present in the solar system and on earth is all by chance (Moore, 2005; Schulenburg, 2011). Put another way, most people conclude that it actually requires more than to believe that all this order occurred by chance than to believe in the existence of a creator being (Moore, 2005; Schulenburg, 2011). Therefore, whatever one’s own personal belief is, the educator needs to respect student questions about the existence of God (Moore, 2005; Schulenburg, 2011). The teacher must be careful not to diminish pupil questions about the spiritual realm. It is important that the instructor be neutral and not lead the student in a particular direction. Nevertheless, if a pupil asks the teacher, “Do you believe in God?” or a similar question, the teacher can kindly reply and realize that one can hurt the child, if one dismisses the question as inappropriate in the school, by giving a curt reply or pretending that one did not hear the question (Moore, 2005; Schulenburg, 2011).

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8.4 A Moment of Silence and Helping Students to Stand There is a lot of peer pressure that is often on the school shooters. They are often desperate to be accepted by other adolescents or pre-adolescents. Often a moment of silence or reflection can help a student gain some spiritual, emotional, and psychological context so that they are better equipped to stand on some sense of conviction in order not to be swayed so easily by the capricious actions and attitudes of their peers. As Newman and her colleagues (2004) note, “In contrast to adult rampage shootings, youth shootings are often committed by groups or with encouragement from peers (Fressenden, 2000).” Newman and her colleagues (2004, p. 72) observe, “the timing and clustering of school shootings suggests that the later tragedies took their inspiration from the earlier ones. Not all shootings are sparked by copycatting. The rampage in Pearl, Mississippi, happened not long before Michael Carneal’s shooting.” But they were largely unaware of each other. Carneal was affected by Goth peers and Luke Woodham was affected by the break-up with his previous girlfriend. Perhaps gathering their thoughts in moment of silence, reflection, or prayer could have helped them gain some proper context and peace regarding these challenges. McCluskey (2017, p. 95) notes, “Seeking spiritual comfort has been prominent in public response to rampage school shootings, as extreme acts of intentional violence bring a search for explanation and ways to respond. Religion, for many, can be a source of coping that helps them heal.” He adds, “Scholarly work demonstrates that religious coping is an effective way to deal with individual stresses. A metaanalysis of 49 studies found that positive religious coping was connected to positive psychological adjustment (Ano & Vasconcelles, 2005).” The reality is that life is not easy (Covey, Collins, & Covey, 2020). Moreover, if any age group is likely to feel the brunt of this reality, it is adolescents (Jeynes, 2014b). Often teenagers are born into situations that are simply too much for them to handle, especially when one considers the following factors that may cause them to conclude that life is simply too much for them. Eric Madfis and Jack Levine (2013, p. 87) refer to this as “uncontrolled strain.” First, often pre-adult people have not had the sufficient number of experiences nor have they developed the maturity level to equip them to deal with many of the most difficult challenges and pressures of life (Covey, Collins, & Covey, 2020). Second, life can certainly have a surfeit of challenges. Adults often encounter trials such as divorce, an act of betrayal by a friend, the loss of a job, or insufficient grades to get into the college or graduate school of one’s choice, etc. Madfis and Levine (2013, pp. 86–87) refer to the insufficient grades issue as “persistent academic failure.” Robert Steinhauser of the Erfurt, Germany shootings apparently reached the brink of what he could handle because of his belief that he had limited job prospects which increased after he was expelled from school (Heitmeyer, Bockler, & Seeger, 2013). With this in mind, Robert Steinhauser’s school shooting in Erfurt, according to student witnesses, was aimed at teachers and administrators rather than the pupils (Heitmeyer, Bockler, & Seeger, 2013). According to the student witnesses, even though two classmates died, they were shot inadvertently (Heitmeyer, Bockler, &

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Seeger, 2013). However, these great difficulties are largely a result of choices that an individual has made in terms of what relationships to pursue, how high studying in school ranks on one’s priority list, how hard a person works at one’s job, how kind one chooses to be in treating those closest in relationships both personally and at work, etc. The other attack that probably ranks, along with Erfurt, as the most infamous German shooting involved Tim Kretschmer, in Winnenden, Germany in 2009 (Bockler, Seeger, Sitzer, & Heitmeyer, 2013a; Heitmeyer, Bockler, & Seeger, 2013; Hoffmann & Roshdi, 2013). Tim Kretschmer (age 17) struggled with a future that in his eyes seemed like a bridge to nowhere. He had just graduated with poor grades and could not get an apprenticeship. However, the reader will likely think, “But hundreds of millions, if not billions, of people have experienced such circumstances and they do not commit murder.” In fact, some might even react by thinking, “I should be so fortunate to be raised in one of the wealthiest countries in the world with some of the best schools….” To be sure, that is a valid reaction, which raises the question, why did Tim Kretschmer commit these mass murders and not other adolescents facing far worse circumstances? Part of the reason is that some teens develop a greater level of resilience than others (Duckworth, 2018; Peck, 2014). Often that resilience comes through hope and hope can come through a moment of silence, in which one can reflect or pray (Duckworth, 2018; Peck, 2014). These exercises often promote the proper perspective on life and when that is procured, new hope and steadfastness of purposes arise (Duckworth, 2018; Peck, 2014). Within the above context, however, what is generally much harder to handle is being born into a horrific family situation that is totally beyond one’s control (Jeynes, 2020). A child might have a mentally ill parent, an alcoholic mother, a drug pusher for a father, or a brother who belongs to a gang (Covey & Covey, 2016; Peck, 2014). From any of these causes or others, a child may be subject to physical and verbal abuse, even to the point of being in danger (Langman, 2010; Peck, 2015). What is so disheartening is that these circumstances often cannot be attributed to choices the child has made, but rather are due to gruesome circumstances into which a child was born (Langman, 2010; Peck, 2015). If one gets a divorce, is betrayed by someone who seemed to be a friend, or did not get a job or gain admission to a given university, that person can generally conclude, “Next time I will act differently. I have learned from my mistakes.” This declaration can be a source of relief and comfort. It is potentially such a source of relief that Peter Cetera’s and Amy Grant’s 1986 song asserting what they would do “next time I fall in love,” surged to the #1 song on both U.S. and Canadian charts (Wikipedia, 2020c). However, many of these school shooters are born into a nightmare that is due to no choice of their own. They were unable to say, “Next time I will be born into a family without a mentally ill parent, or an abusive sister, an alcoholic mother, a drug addicted father, or a gang-infested neighborhood.” As hard as it is for a person to confront the consequences of his or her own choices, it is usually much harder to feel utterly helpless continuing to live in an ongoing nightmare that one was powerless to prevent and is forced to accept (Jeynes, 2014b). There is a term in psychology called “learned helplessness” in which a person concludes that they have totally lost control

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of their circumstances. If a child has been born into an environment in which their primary challenges are due to totally to circumstances they were born into rather than those that resulted from their own decisions and actions, the likelihood of a youth developing an outlook on life of “learned helplessness” is maximized (Covey, 2009; Langman, 2010). As its name implies, the experience of “learned helplessness” can be a devastating one, particularly if it continues for an extended period of time (Covey, 2009; Langman, 2010). Often “learned helplessness” leads a child or adolescent into bouts with depression (Covey, Collins, & Covey, 2016; Langman, 2010). This can lead to students taking anti-depressants, which ironically studies have shown are sometimes linked to school shootings (Davey & Harris, 2005; Katz, 2005). To the extent that this is true, however, the causal connection is unclear. That is, is it that anti-depressants that perhaps over-stimulate the nervous system and give it a proclivity toward overaggressive acts or is it the depressive state that existed before taking anti-depressants that is more closely associated with school shootings? On the one hand, research suggests that an individual’s personal characteristics are more valuable in predicting behavior than taking prescription drugs (Langman, 2010; Peck, 2015). On the other hand, it is well documented that prescription drugs can influence behavior. Hence, it appears logical to conclude that anti-depressants, with their tendency to stimulate, might add to the problem (Davey & Harris, 2005; Katz, 2005). There is little question that there is a strong association between a person struggling with depression and having a lack of peace in their lives. Might a moment of reflection whether it is in the form of the acknowledgement of the spiritual, a moment to gather one’s thoughts, or a time to get a hold over one’s emotions contribute to preventing a child from being overcome by his or her emotions (Jeynes, 2014c)? There have been many treatises (Hart & Ksir, 2011) written that Americans, particularly the young and seniors, are overmedicated (Hart & Ksir, 2011).That being the case, it might well be that offering students a moment of reflection might contribute to a reduction in the incidence of depression among youth.

8.4.1 What If a Student Is Religious and Prayerful? In the educators’s pursuit to support youth, one of the most complex situations that one must deal with is when a pupil shares that prayer is an important part of his or her life (Harris, Harrison, & McFahn, 2012; Lee & O’Gorman, 2005). Oxford dictionary (2017) defines prayer as “a solemn request or expression of thanks to God or another deity.” This is distinguished from the dictionary’s (Oxford Dictionary, 2017) definition of “meditation” which involves a “focus of one’s mind for a period of time, in silence or with the aid of chanting.” A good number of instructors feel uncomfortable when students bring up the self-discipline of prayer. Naturally, it is important that the educator not proselytize (Lee & O’Gorman, 2005). However, what is a teacher to do when a student already practices prayer and faith (Koenig, 2005;

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Lee & O’Gorman, 2005)? Yes, one is to maintain fairness and neutrality, but it is easy to mistake silence for neutrality (Byfield, 2008; Lee & O’Gorman, 2005). A majority of individuals, K-12 students and adults, will interpret silence or a comment that avoids the topic as negative (Canda & Furman, 2010; Hein, 2010; Holloway & Moss, 2010). There has been a significant amount of quantitative research by Harold Koenig at Duke University and others indicating that the practice of prayer is associated with positive well-being and behavior including improved mental health, etc. (Baldwin et al., 2016; Boelens, Reeves, Replogle, & Koenig, 2012; Koenig, 2005; Koenig, Permo, & Hamilton, 2017). If student prayer can help these young people decrease the likelihood that they will take illegal drugs, reduce their alcohol consumption, increase demonstrations of kindness and pro-social behavior, and improve their academic success, all of which are likely to reduce the chances that a student will initiate a school shooting, at the minimum school leaders will not want to discourage students from praying (Barro & McCleary, 2003; Byfield, 2008). The evidence suggests that it is likely that while praying and after that action students may be experiencing personal strength and encouragement because of their faith (Barro & McCleary, 2003; Byfield, 2008). On the other hand, if there is no evidence of a relationship between prayer and undesirable behavior, then at the minimum educators would not want to in any way encourage a child of faith not to pray.

8.4.2 The Possible Relationship Between Prayer and Mindfulness A number of researchers believe prayer helps students to focus on life, have selfdiscipline, engage in socially-constructive behavior, and on the classroom lecture or information that is shared with them (Stead, 2016, 2017). This consequently would help them do live more constructive lives and do better in school. Increased focus could also help youth to apply themselves more diligently in life generally and in, for example, doing their homework (Maxwell, 2013; Stead, 2017). However, as plausible as that may sound, it is also possible that prayer could conceivably cause young people’s minds to wander onto more spiritual pursuits, which could potentially dampen their focus. It is therefore important to determine what relationships exist between student prayer and various outcomes and whether they are positive, negative, or neutral.

8.5 Concluding Thoughts Prayer and reflection can often neutralize some of the most destructive forces in life including stress, factors that compromise a person’s mental health, and lack of

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self-discipline. A moment of silence in the schools, that can be used by the students in a way consistent with their world views, can help students embrace calm, peace, and a proper perspective. In too many countries around the world educators are far too focused on students as test-takers and not addressing the needs of the whole child. The child is more than the mind, they also have hearts. Some of the greatest problems facing children and adolescents today are spiritual, not merely intellectual. If school shootings are to be reduced, educators and others need to respect a child’s entire being.

Part III

Looking Towards Solutions

Chapter 9

Beyond Simplistic and Narrow Proposals

The results of the meta-analyses, as well as other statistical analyses, together with an analysis of historical trends indicate that there is no one simple solution to the problem of school shootings (Zagar, Grove, & Busch, 2013). If the country is to see genuine long-lasting progress on this issue, it will take a multifaceted and comprehensive approach. Granted, it is a human tendency to point the finger at others and claim that “If only schools would take action” or “If only this piece of legislation would be passed,” then the problem will be solved. Yes, schools and new legislation are key parts of the solutions. However, it is vital that Americans go beyond this notion of simple solutions and blaming others and (1) view the problem more comprehensively and (2) decide to do what one can do to improve the situation (Muschert, 2014; Muschert & Sumiala, 2015; Zagar et al., 2013). It is not only schools or laws or families or broader society that must change. It is all of these institutions that must participate. To focus on only one of these institutions will produce only partial solutions that by themselves are insufficient. Schools shootings can be substantially reduced if this nation engages in a comprehensive approach.

9.1 Putting Oneself in the Shoes of Others and Civil Dialogue In order to reach some comprehensive and effective solutions, it is vital that people rise above their personal circumstances and attitudes and put themselves in the shoes of others. Moreover, if there are to be meaningful solutions, it is also important that people “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” These attitudes are absolutely essential if civil and meaningful dialogue is to take place. One of the barriers to coming to meaningful solutions is that too many people come a variety of

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perspectives and are used to reading and hearing only their view point and therefore are closed to the thoughts of others. Nations work best when they are open to at least hearing out the thoughts of a variety of people from different perspectives (Jeynes, 2007a; McCloskey, 2017). The school shooting issue is no exception.

9.1.1 Civil Dialogue and Gun Control Of all the possible solutions covered in this book, the most emotionally-charged of them all is probably gun control (Squires, 2012). There are a variety of reasons for this, including the tearful testimonies of people encountering gun violence of one type of another, the Second Amendment, and because guns are the most tangible and almost omnipresent part of the debate. Violence, including guns, is often the lifeblood of countless Hollywood and other entertainment productions (Horowitz, 2015; Medved, 1992). Far more people are killed on television each year than in real life (Horowitz, 2015; Medved, 1992). Gun violence often dominates newspaper and internet headlines (Horowitz, 2015; Squires, 2012).

9.1.2 An Even-Tempered Open-Minded Discussion About Guns and Three Schools of Thought With all the above reasons, and more, in mind it is no surprise that guns are the most emotionally-charged aspect of the debate. Hence, to the extent that having an even-temper and being open-minded on any of these possible solutions is key, it is especially so with different perspectives over guns. In the broadest sense of the term, there are three general perspectives regarding the place of guns in this debate. As much as individuals from each of these schools of thought may not want to hear it, each side has a point. To the extent to which people understand this fact, there is hope for a comprehensive solution. On the contrary, to extent to which people cling to the notion that only their narrow slice of the solution will suffice as the total answer, true long-lasting progress will prove elusive. The first school of thought is that stricter gun control laws are the key to dramatically lowering the frequency with which these shootings take place (O’Leary, 2012; Squires, 2012). Their argument is that there are simply too many guns in the world and that more laws should be passed so that adolescents will have less access to them (O’Leary, 2012; Squires, 2012). Whatever one’s view point, it is hard to argue that there are too few guns in the country and especially that there are too few illegal ones. In addition, it is hard to argue against the notion that a larger quantity of guns makes it more likely ceteris paribus (all other things being equal) that death or injury by gunfire is more likely to take place. The increased chances of injury or death by

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gunfire might be by accident or as a result of some degree of intentionality, but the logic of this argument is apparent. Nevertheless, this school of thought also has a major weakness. That is, the laws are generally already on the books that are designed to make it difficult for adolescents to legally obtain guns. The laws are far more lenient for adults. Even though passing additional legislation specified for youth might give one’s citizenry a good feeling about itself that it is taking action to tackle the problem, logically speaking nearly all of the lax laws apply to adults. This approach would be far more lucid if it was focused on adult gun crimes. However, there are a large number of people who advocate passing additional gun control laws as a solution to these school shootings, seemingly almost out of habit rather than a result of really thinking things through. As a result, those who support the approach of simply passing additional gun control laws, without considering the unique situations that adolescent and pre-adolescent gun shootings bring to the table, can come across as either simplistic and uninformed. The fact that the overwhelmingly number of teenage school shooters obtain their ammunition illegally and generally are too young to have a record of illicit actions that would raise flags with a background check, generally means that simply passing laws will not be enough. As has been stated in other places in this book, this does not mean that the government should not pass additional gun control laws, but it does mean that those who propose this as the only solution, should not be surprised if many others perceive them as narrow-minded and ignorant. To the extent that these individuals insist that there is only one solution, the gun control laws that they advocate come across as “one trick ponies,” who only know one thing. This is really unfortunate, because to the extent that intelligent gun control that considers the unique aspects of school shootings is part of the solution, these more narrowly-focused individuals actually hurt the effort for intelligent gun control rather than help. Reducing the availability of guns can reduce school shootings, but the way to reduce that availability must include “smart guns” that will fire only if they are used by the owner and increasing the punishments for those who are in some sense responsible for youth illegally obtaining guns. This would apply to people such as parents, friends, and gun sellers. If advocates of gun control are to be received as having a place at the table in terms of offering solutions, parroting “talking-points” that they have heard others regularly propound as a solution to adult gun violence will not suffice. Instead, the gun control approaches for school shootings must be compassionate, sophisticated, and situation-specific. The second school of thought is by people who assert that if more law-abiding people had guns in hand, the active school shooters could be stopped earlier and many lives could be saved (Doherty, 2008; Whitney, 2012). Supporters of this approach often point to the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and complain that the ratio of criminals that have guns and those law-abiding citizens that have guns is unacceptably high (Doherty, 2008; Whitney, 2012). They assert that gun controls take firearms out of law-abiding citizens, whereas the criminals will always find ways to procure guns. Most would disagree, at least in part, with some of these declarations, but the first point does highlight an interesting irony. That is, less gun access probably

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does reduce the chances of school gun shootings. However, once a given shooting begins, guns in the right hands almost certainly save lives. Unfortunately, there is often such acrimony that exists between those that support gun control on the one hand and Second Amendment advocates on the other, that few are willing to acknowledge this point. And yet it is this realization that may likely be the key to: (1) creating some unity in the gun control debate and (2) forwarding intelligent gun control efforts that more fully consider the unique nature of school shootings. The third school of thought is that focusing on guns may help to some degree, but it is a band-aid solution and real solutions must focus on the character of one’s heart. One of the best ways to describe this perspective is to quote the motto of Penn, an Ivy League university. It reads: “Laws without morals are useless” (Wikipedia, 2020f). The idea is that one can have all the great laws in the world, but if the hearts of the people are not right, then there is not much good that fine laws do. That is, a lot of social scientists believe it will avail little if a nation simply changes the laws, unless the hearts of people undergo a tremendous change (Covey & Covey, 2016; King, 1998; Peck, 2014). The assertion here is that if various adolescents are of the heart and inclination to commit acts of violence, they will. If a society passes laws meant to restrict one type of violence, these crazed individuals will commit choose to engage in a different kind of violence, which is likely to be more violent than the first. For example, if one passes gun laws, mendacious students will find their way to get around current laws regarding explosives, for example (Bockler, Seeger, Sitzer, & Heitmeyer, 2013b; New York Times, 2017; Oksanen et al., 2013). There is a trend in these school shootings that increasingly students are trying to simultaneously set off explosives at the school, so that they can produce much more damage than acts of shooting can (Bockler et al., 2013b; New York Times, 2017; Oksanen et al., 2013). For example, the most infamous school shooting in Finland’s history was undertaken by Pekka-Eric Auvinen (Oksanen et al., 2013). He actually attempted to set the school on fire, while he was doing the shooting, but he could not get the fuel ignited (Oksanen et al., 2013). Had Auvinen succeeded in setting aflame the fuel, probably far more students would have died (Oksanen et al., 2013). Currently, student shooters are better at shooting, on average, than they are at igniting explosives. However, passing only gun control legislation without considering also better controlling explosives could produce some very severe unintended consequences. Explosives can produce much more damage than guns typically do. It is important to dissuade adolescents and pre-adolescents from using both guns and explosives (Oksanen et al., 2013).

9.2 All Parts of the Brain, Not Merely One It is ironic that in this day and age, people routinely refer to the right- and left-side of the brains, with the assumption that it is okay to have one side predominate, and more or less, let it go at that. The purpose of the author here is not to debate that specific point, but rather point out that it is hard to miss the symbolism in that debate.

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Whatever happened to the emphasis on using the whole brain? On some of these issues it is really unwise to use only part of the human brain. The whole brain is needed. Too many people can relate to only one of the solutions presented in this book and maybe two or three, but cannot imagine to embracing four, five, or maybe all of them. Until a majority of people can understand the potential contributions of at least four of these solutions, it is going to prove very difficult to come up with a solution to these school shootings. Perhaps, as Joseph Lieberman shared, it begins with the family, but then character education, guns, mental illness, the news media and Hollywood, and a moment of reflection are all major factors. The strategy must be a comprehensive one.

9.3 Additional (Secondary) Solutions 9.3.1 Additional and Heightened School Security Measures The solutions that could reduce school shootings are not limited to those that have been discussed thus far. There are clearly other possibilities as well. However, the solutions that have been presented thus far are clearly the most salient ones, with other possible contributing factors maintaining a secondary role. Nevertheless, one should consider these secondary contributors as possible supplements to the primary means of attempting to reduce these school shootings that have already been addressed. McCluskey (2017, p. 137) notes, “Schools’ hard-security efforts were outlined as a contrast to the latest school shooting, typically as newspapers outside the shooting area reassured local residents that their schools were prepared. Types of hard security included armed security guards or law enforcement, metal detectors, and limiting access. To be sure, there is hardly a consensus on such harsh measures.” Many people view such hardline measures as simply reflecting a society that has lost its emphasis on such qualities as love, compassion, respect, and self-discipline rather than anything that even remotely resembles a solution (Covey, 2009; Covey, Collins, & Covey, 2016). Nearly all would agree that this is a rather band-aid type approach, which serves only to potentially try to get some type of a handle on a situation that appears out of control rather than a strategy that serves to get at the heart of the problem. Moreover, it seems logical to think that getting at the heart of the problem is a prerequisite for producing any real long-term improvements (Langman, 2010; Peck, 2014; Pollack & Eden, 2019). Nevertheless, using armed security guards may ease the tension between those who insist that reducing the number of guns is a must and those who believe that who find some advantages in having at least some people available who carry guns and can put an early end to the student using the firearms. Having highly trained people with guns certainly has a degree of safety that normally is not associated with having these guns available to the general public (McCloskey, 2017). There

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is some evidence from overseas that such a middle of the road approach on guns might be an opportunity to build common ground between gun control supporters and others who are Second Amendment advocates. For example, Switzerland has a large number of its citizens who possess guns (Noack, 2018). However, many of Switzerland’s armed individuals are “citizen soldiers.” Conscription is required for Swiss males. After their time of service, the men are allowed to keep their semiautomatic rifles (Noack, 2018). What is necessary, however in these cases, is that those desiring to keep their gun are required to receive annual training lessons in the use of that gun (Noack, 2018). Those people who desire to purchase a gun must go through a week long background check (Noack, 2018). Hence, most Swiss homes have a weapon, but the training and the requirements are very intensive (Noack, 2018). Band-aid solutions, particularly when meant to solve a major issue, not only do not solve the problem at hand, but in many cases also exacerbate the problem, because the substantial action that is needed is not undertaken. In other words, band-aid remedies not only fall well short of what is necessary, but also they are frequently a great waste of time. Band-aid answers often spawn the erroneous impression that a major problem has been confronted and a sophisticated strategy has been implemented. Often bandaid solutions delay the arrival of the actual solution. Especially when it comes to addressing some of the unwieldly problems of the day, such as school shootings, this trend can have some weighty ramifications (Langman, 2010; Pollack & Eden, 2019). One of the best examples of a band-aid solution at a crucial period in history was the Versailles Treaty (1919) following World War I (Rubenstein & Roth, 2003). The European powers, outside of Germany, were determined to see Germany pay a substantial price for its aggression during World War I (Kissinger, 1994). This is reflected in the Treaty of Versailles (1919), which stipulated that Germany face huge restrictions to ensure it would not rise to power again (Johnson, 1997; Kissinger, 1994). Unfortunately, the Versailles treaty was too strict and virtually guaranteed that Germany would seek vengeance (Johnson, 1997; Kissinger, 1994; Rubenstein & Roth, 2003). In fact, Marshal Ferdinand Foch, a key French commander and Supreme Allied Commander in World War I declared, regarding the Treaty of Versailles, “This is not peace. This is an armistice for twenty years” (Wikipedia, 2020b). The primary reason why increased security is not presented as one of the primary solutions has most to do with the fact that the evidence available that increased security measures have that much of an impact is not particularly convincing. There is a certain degree of irony to this because: (1) logic would appear to dictate that increased security should help and (2) the presence of security guards and police creates an atmosphere of reassurance, peace, and a feeling of safety (McCluskey, 2017). However, the Sandy Hook shooting likely rates alongside Columbine as the most infamous of the school shootings to date and yet Sandy Hook had high levels of school security (Trump, 2011). Santee’s Santana High School received magnificent ratings for their level of campus security (School Had Prepared, 2001). The principal even had SWAT training, a deputy sheriff served part-time in the school, and a number of crime supervisors would patrol the campus (School Had Prepared, 2001).

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One reason why most people do not view security efforts as a key solution is because it is really a band-aid solution and does not really address the heart of the teenage massacre problem (Langman, 2010; Peck, 2014). It is much like building more prisons that may in many cases essentially unavoidable, because rapists, murderers, and extortioners are in many cases so dangerous that they are a threat to the general population. However, incarceration does not get at the heart of the problem in terms of preventing crime (Langman, 2010; Shepherd, 2018). Similarly, increasing security probably saves lives at certain schools, but like building prisons, it is largely a band-aid solution designed to protect people rather than solve the core problem. There is no question that there are a lot of mixed emotions when it comes to implementing these rather harsh measures. On the one hand, there is a group within society, as has been addressed earlier in this book, that believes that the presence of armed trained personal will not only discourage the use of guns in attacks, but make it more likely that the aggressor will be gunned down in the opening moments of an attack, which will ultimately save lives (Trump, 2011). Numerous people also feel more comfortable in the presence of employees trained as security guards to take such action as is necessary, as opposed to randomly present people with legal gun permits. These latter individuals may be trained in some sense of the word, but their response generally will not be coordinated with a large group and therefore may not have as much strategic benefit as an organized group of trained security employees. Most people would feel more comfortable with an organized group of security guards than hoping that that are other armed people present, who can take the appropriate action. Nevertheless, a copious number of people will object to a school that with all these security- devices and people in place, stating that it is run more like a prison than a school. In addition, a surfeit number of weapons present from these security guards could yield more chances of stolen weaponry and might actually increase the incidence of school shootings rather than reduce them. With all this said, virtually everyone agrees that this rather severe approach does not address the heart of the problem and the causes of these shootings. Therefore, there seems to be a growing consensus that identifying the heart of these issues and then taking action to address the heart of the issue should be paramount. Beyond these patent issues regarding armed security, there are also subtler issues which numerous Americans do not like to discuss, but in reality must be discussed, if society is to ascertain the degree to which increased security would be a welcome option in American schools. Two issues in particular are actually in most respects ones that are at antipodes from each other, but likely require some real dialogue in order to resolve. First, since the 1960s there has developed some real anti-police bias among many elements of society (Cooley, Schirn, Shannon, & Hawkes, 2017; Webb & Ellroy, 2005). Some elements of this bias against police may be somewhat justified, which this book will address in a moment (Cooley, Schirn, Shannon & Hawkes, 2017; Webb & Ellroy, 2005). However, most fair-minded people would agree that this bias has gone too far (Cooley et al., 2017; Webb & Ellroy, 2005).

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9.3.2 Tensions Need to Be Substantially Reduced Currently there are tensions between the police and some in black communities in various places around the world, including African Americans in the United States. Clearly one should not discriminate on the basis of the color of one’s skin nor on the basis of the color of one’s police uniform. This is the teaching of Reverend Martin Luther King (1998). Both kinds of prejudice are wrong. The nations of the world cannot afford to allow these tensions to persist, because to the extent to which key elements of the world’s people are not cooperating, it potentially places children’s lives at risk in the case of a school shooting, as well the as the lives of people in a variety of situations (Cooley et al., 2017; King, 1998; Webb & Ellroy, 2005). Admittedly, some people have a tendency to complain and grumble about the shortcomings of the police (Ehrensaf, 1997; Fauteux, 2011; Holy Bible, NIV, I Corinthians 10:10). Surely, the psychological fitness and unspoken motivations of some police need to be addressed. However, the frictions need to be healed, because the absence of a police presence in future school shootings is a frightening thought. Wendy Seth, a parent from Tampa is just one example of a parent who complains about an insufficient police presence (Blair, 2012). She states, “There is no excuse in this day and age for there not to be a police presence at the elementary level” (Blair, 2012, p. 5). Just as a comprehensive approach is needed for the school shooting problem, it is also needed to reduce tensions between the police and black communities worldwide (Cooley et al., 2017; Webb & Ellroy, 2005). First, technology, just as in the case of smart guns can also help provide one solution in this case. It is only logical that every person on police patrol should wear a bodycam. This would help both the citizenry and the police themselves. This will help provide a fuller story in the way that personal videotaping cannot provide, because they often only catch the police reaction, but not the events leading up to that reaction. Second, there should be a broader international and nation discussion between members of black communities in various nations and the police (Cooley et al., 2017; Webb & Ellroy, 2005). In the United States, it is both a disappointment and a surprise that neither President Obama nor President Trump initiated such a discussion. Biden also has shown no historical inclination to have that discussion. Both the African American community and the police feel disrespected by each other. Greater mutualcommunication and respect need to prevail (Lawrence, 2000). Third, both the Black Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter movements reflect a belief among members of each group that they are not fully loved and appreciated. Perhaps this is another indication that after so many decades of largely being out of the vast majority of schools in the West, character education is needed once again. Children need to learn how to love, respect, and support people. Otherwise, they will not know how to do so when they are adults. Hence, it is only to be expected that if children are not taught these qualities through family and schools when they are young, they are unlikely to show sufficient amounts of these qualities when they are adults.

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The debate about whether there should be a police presence in the school is likely to persist because of another issue. That is, teachers insist that they should be the ones that work to protect children in the schools. Beth Fairweather, a first grade teacher in Tampa declared, “I don’t think I could live with myself if a child in my class got shot and I didn’t do anything” (Brown, 2006, p. 5). There is no reason to doubt the sincerity of that teacher. However, any time that there is violence among adolescent students, it can be a frightening situation. This is one reason why studies addressing the efficaciousness of bullying programs indicate that they did not work or have little impact (Jeong & Lee, 2013; Merrell, Guelder, Ross & Isava, 2008). Contemporary efforts to reduce bullying focus primarily on having discussions to develop a consensus among the participants that bullying is wrong (Jeong & Lee, 2013; Jeynes, 2008a). However, this approach, albeit well-meaning, generally does not work, because virtually all people believe that bullying is wrong. The primary issue involved in preventing the worst kinds of bullying is not having wrong opinions, but rather teachers often fear bodily harm. The worst kinds of bullying in major metropolitan areas are often undertaken by youth that are pre-gang or actually in gangs. Moreover, these most deleterious bullying acts of often performed by adolescents. These teenagers are often larger and bulkier than the instructors themselves. To the degree this is true, how much more does this principle apply to school shootings. That is why even though Beth Fairweather insists that she would defend the students, she almost insists that a police presence is needed at schools.

9.4 Coronavirus and School Shootings Generally, it is not an easy task to find something positive about the coronavirus. However, there are clearly two good developments that come to mind. First, because most everyone was homeschooled as a result of the pandemic, the number of school shootings plummeted to nearly zero (Lewis, 2020). As schools closed in March of 2020, what this yielded was the first March in the United States without a school shooting since 2002 (Lewis, 2020). This fact is a testimony to how frequent school shootings are and that the United States, in particular, has accepted school shootings as a regular, albeit unfortunate, part of the American national fabric in the modern era (Lewis, 2020). It is sad that school shootings have become so frequent in the United States that in contrast to the twentieth century, it makes more news when there is not a school shooting than when there is. The second development is that crises cause societies to once again embrace what is most important in life. That is, life is not about possessions, wealth, fame, popularity, momentary highs, and getting ahead of others. It is about love, kindness, loyalty, purpose, family, and calling. Sometimes it takes major disruptions to remind people of these facts. Taking these two developments, one can hope that the coronavirus will help people to take this “pause” to re-evaluate what is really important in life and think about how

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schools can change. Perhaps the increase in temporary homeschooling will stimulate both higher levels of parental involvement and higher levels of appreciation for that involvement by teachers. It could also lead educators to reacquaint themselves with the salience of character education which emphasizes the moral qualities just described in the last paragraph. Sometimes, these crises bring out the best of people. However, although the number of school shootings is down, the coronavirus has also brought out the worst in people. Overall, murders, violence, and shootings are way up. In fact, most would probably say that the gang violence and shootings has surged to such vast numbers, that it more than outweighs the benefits of virtually no school shootings. Be that as it may, the pause in school meetings provides a real opportunity to consider a comprehensive plan to reduce school shootings that incorporates the recommendations made in this book. If the school landscape can be improved along these lines in the near future, perhaps this will increase the chances of the adult landscape improving in the more distant future.

9.5 Concluding Comments The further one studies this book and the data that appear therein, the more it is apparent that a comprehensive solution is needed to address the challenge of school shootings. As much as people have discussed how to reduce school shootings, the irony is that they have only continued to surge (Cohen, Azrael, & Miller, 2014). Two of the reasons that these aggressions have increased so much in frequency is because the legislative solutions have tended to be one- or two-dimensional. In reality, the world and the United States, in particular, need to use the six primary solutions propounded here as well as probably a couple of other secondary ones shared in this chapter as well. The need is to think broadly, rather than narrowly, and to address the question of why it is that school shootings were so few prior to the early 1960s and so many now. What attitudes and practices were widespread then, but are missing now? Why are rates of mental illness and suicide rising? Accepting school shootings as a part of normal modern life is not loving and compassionate toward victims, potential victims, and humanity as a whole. It is time to act. Victory can be won.

Chapter 10

A Comprehensive Set of Solutions That Together Hold Much Promise

The author concludes the book in this chapter, with a real sense of optimism. Yes, school shootings are a major problem. However, this nation has encountered major problems before and overcome those obstacles (Jeynes, 2007a). In this chapter a tone of optimism emerges beginning with the assertion that probably the most important key in reducing school shootings is recognizing that it is a comprehensive approach that is needed (Brown & Merritt, 2002; Scott & Nimmo, 2000; Zagar, Grove, & Busch, 2013). In the past, the tone of the school shooting debate has tended to be preoccupied with a singular solution. Once the nation’s leaders recognize that this large a problem requires a broader range of solutions, then progress will be achieved. Yes, gun control legislation specifically focused on youth is needed. Yes, character education that focuses on shared values (e.g., honesty, responsibility, and love) and anger management needs to be taught in the schools. In addition, community organizations and the nation at large need to offer more counseling support to encourage healthy family relations and help troubled youth (Jeynes, 2012d). Families, schools, and several institutions need to more become more proactive when it comes to taking action on bullying (including on social media), monitoring the level of violence in video games and television, and in taking decisive action when there are obvious warning signs that students are being threatened with violence (Roy, 2009; Zagar et al., 2013). What is so important, however, is that society concurrently focus on many solutions, not merely one. In a sense, it is something of a surprise that there is so much resistance to a comprehensive solution. In another sense, it is not a surprise because human beings appear to have a proclivity toward simplistic solutions (Doinick, 1998; Squires, 2012; Armstrong, 2002). Moreover, many individuals show a resistance to ideas that they are either not accustomed to or run contrary to their perspectives (Armstrong, 2002; Squires, 2012). Sadly, when people adhere to simplistic solutions or cannot bear to hear answers that are different than what they are used to hearing, they hinder progress on this issues. Interestingly enough the people that tend to advocate simplistic solutions the most and to are resistant to ideas different than theirs are individuals from both sides of © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 W. H. Jeynes, Reducing School Shootings, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66549-4_10

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the gun debate. Pro-gun control people have some interesting ideas, but they tend to see solutions to school shootings through an extremely narrow prism. They often view gun control as the only viable solution and this is totally false. When one has the view that there is only one solution and none other, it impedes progress on the issue of school shootings for two reasons. First, it blocks the consideration of other factors and solutions that are every bit as viable as the one being articulated by the advocate. Second, when one has such a limited perspective on the issue it gives others the impression that one is either narrow-minded or lacks wisdom, because he or she views the world so simplistically. Similarly, on the other side of the coin, there are individuals who have been raised in a very pro-gun community. Pro-gun communities are often not urban and do not particularly have high crime rates. Therefore, those raised in pro-gun communities are more conversant with enjoyment and protection that guns can bring rather than the danger (Doherty, 2008; Whitney, 2012). However, when these that are very pro-gun and are therefore likely to support conceal and carry permits hear other perspectives from those that live in urban areas, where life is generally quite a bit less safe, they often close their minds. They need to better understand what it is like to be raised in a high crime urban area (Doherty, 2008; Whitney, 2012). Even though gun control may not even be the most important of these issues, what is indubitably true is that it is people on both sides of this issue that are the most convinced that either implementing more gun control laws or encouraging conceal and carry laws is the key to resolving the school attack problem (Doherty, 2008; Strong, 2002; Squires, 2012; Whitney, 2012). Moreover, although this book advocates a comprehensive approach and points to a comprehensive set of solutions, the author acknowledges that there are secondary factors that one should also consider when seeking to address this problem. For example, when students change schools, seldom are their records passed on to their new educational locale. As Newman and her academic partners (2004, p. 87) note, “This too is a way of preserving the clean slate. There is no institutional memory of disciplinary problems…. Discarding information that does not violate school code practically ensures that only seriously disruptive students will be identified. The student with a history of minor incidents will go unrecorded.” It is evident that in order to apply the solutions that are needed to reduce school shootings, people in the various societies most affected by school shootings are going to need to not only need to open their minds, but also open their hearts.

10.1 The Need to Open One’s Mind Numerous people opened this book hoping that the evidence would point to simply one solution to the problem of school shootings. The reality is, however, that the evidence does not point in that direction. Moreover, it is probably the case that school shootings have increased in frequency and severity over the decades partially because

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the solutions that have been most implemented are either not the most important, are not enough, or both. It is time to get beyond this simplistic mentality. The number of school shootings has increased from one about every twenty years to one about every twenty days. In order for the frequency of such acts of violence to surge at such an exponential rate, it is hard to imagine that such an increase could be due to one factor alone (Cohen, Azrael, & Miller, 2014). Similarly, if the causes were multifaceted, it only makes sense that the solutions will also be complex. It is only natural that human beings are enamored with simple solutions. Quick and simple solutions are the ideal and what every human being yearns for, but while they are relatively common at the individual level, when one is seeking to address problems in a nation of millions, the challenges usually become more complex. When school shootings occur, there is a natural human tendency to respond in fear (Harris-Perry, 2013). However, often when people respond in far, the results are not constructive. Melissa Harris-Perry, in The Nation, warns against “the perils of fear-driven lawmaking” (p. 10). Harris-Perry (2013, p. 10) adds, “While I agree with the need for action, I also urge us to reflect before we act.” She states that Americans “should act with caution, lest we worsen the very problems we hope to ameliorate” (p. 10).

10.2 The Need to Open One’s Heart In addition to having an open mind, it is also vital to have an open heart. Sadly, in recent decades the willingness of people of opposing viewpoints to engage in civil conversation has declined. It is well for people to eagerly remind themselves to, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you (Holy Bible, NIV, Matthew 7:12).” Unfortunately, there are always those who hold on dearly to just one cause and one solution to each national and international problem. Worse than this, however, is that they view those who believe differently as having an IQ fifty points lower than their own. What is especially ironic, and yes even humorously so, is that they view themselves as being tolerant, but also view anyone who believes differently as grossly intolerant (Squires, 2012; Talbot, 2018). To be sure, this perspective epitomizes intolerance and that is probably putting it mildly.

10.3 Specific Steps that Need to Be Taken to Reduce School Shootings Whether one is in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, or Australia, there are certain steps that societies need to take to reduce school shootings (Bockler, Seeger, Sitzer, & Heitmeyer, 2013a). (1) The Need For More Love and Civility in Addressing How to Solve this Problem

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Humorously, but honestly speaking, one might say that character education is even more foundational than it might initially seem, in order to resolve this debate. The primary way the need for character instruction was integrated into this book was by asserting that teachers need to partner with parents to inculcate children the importance of love, compassion, respect, loyalty, responsibility, and kindness (Coleman, 2004; Matera, 2001). However, the world’s societies can also use these traits even when dialoging about solutions to school shootings (Langman, 2010). There is not much love in the world these days and politicians are setting a very poor example of concurrently seeking after love and truth. One can pursue both at the same time. In fact, one must. Love with the absence of truth is no longer love. And yes, too often the truth is spoken in such anger and hostility that it is no longer truth. The lessons of a strength in unity, the grandfatherly ways of President of Reagan, the collaborative approach of President Clinton, and the actions that led to the end of the Cold War seem long forgotten. When President Reagan and Speaker “Tip” O’Neill would have their differences, Reagan knew that the way to reach a compromise was by inviting O’Neil for a game of golf. O’Neil loved golf and even has a golf course named in his honor. Clinton knew that Speaker Newt Gingrich could be a source of support at crucial times and was willing to trust Gingrich, when the situation called for acting together. In the 1980s and 1990s it appeared that in many nations around the globe, key lessons had been learned. Unity was vital, building consensus was key, dictatorships were evil, and self-centered policies were hurtful. Alas, this era is a reminder that lessons learned apply only to a generation and the passing on these lessons to the next generations is far from guaranteed (Jeynes, 2002e, 2007a). The reality is, many learn from their experiences, but few learn from history. Today, twenty to forty years after these events, it is clear that the world is both run and dominated by another generation that is not conversant with these lessons of history. In the United States, whatever their accomplishments, Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump seem more adept at dividing the country rather than valuing unity (Noonan, 2011; Wall Street Journal, 2011). This is probably due to both their personalities and lack of experience in high political office (Noonan, 2011; Wall Street Journal, 2011). It is facile to totally blame these political leaders, but it the citizenry must also take part of the blame, because at some point the voters became convinced that experience in high level politics was detrimental rather than an asset. It was part of a trend that included voting in Al Franken as Senator as well as Governors -Jesse Ventura and -Arnold Schwarzenegger. The lessons of the post-Cold War era have not been well learned by the new generation in other parts of the world either. Whether one supports Brexit or not, the roots of British disenchantment are obvious. To many outsiders (and apparently many in Europe as well), Angela Merkel of Germany and French leaders have used the E.U. largely for their own benefit (Carter, 2015; Reuters, 2017). Economies such as Greece and Spain, which used to flourish, due largely to currency advantages before the introduction of the Euro in 1999, were in a downward spiral fifteen years later (Carter, 2015). To many, outside of Brussels, the headquarters of the EU comes

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off with an attitude of lording it over others that infringes upon sovereign rights of too many of its citizens (Carter, 2015; Reuters, 2017). Similarly, in the immediate post-Cold War era there seemed to be a much greater consensus than now that dictators were not good for the citizenry. However, that has changed with General Secretary Xi Jinping, who essentially has proclaimed himself dictator of China and Vladimir Putin, who has found one way or another to rule Russia for many years (Hay, 2013; Zimmerman, 2016). In recent years, much of the world has moved toward more of a confrontational mode of politics, in which character, cooperation, and love are emphasized less and bullying and insisting on one’s way are emphasized more. Civility and building a consensus are not emphasized as much as they once were (Germond, 2013; Hay, 2013; Zimmerman, 2016). The reality is if the nations of the world are to reduce school shootings, character, cooperation, civility, and love are clearly needed. To be sure, people will not agree on everything, but vital helps should be agreed on. For example, it is important for people to understand that a comprehensive approach, as discussed in this book, is clearly necessary. Regarding guns, politicians came together in 1986, under President Reagan, to ban machine guns and again in 1994, under President Clinton, to vote for a temporary assault weapons ban (Himelfarb & Perotti, 2014; Lettow, 2013). Admittedly, there were controversial components to both those bills, but the banning of machine guns in 1986 and a 10 year ban on assault weapons were huge advances. Not surprisingly, given the political environment of the 2008–present period, very little has been accomplished at the federal level since these times. A change in attitude is needed. Also, in many respects love and character should be woven into almost every aspect of the solutions to these school shootings. If the efforts to reduce these violent acts are to have their desired impact, the motivation in these initiatives must be love. For example, in some of the most infamous and deadly shootings, people complained that the school authorities did not care enough about the safety and the welfare of the students before and after they were victims of the attack. For example, in the Parkland, Florida shooting the school officials clearly needed to show much more love in protecting the pupils and then following up on their welfare. Even though Cruz had threatened to kill students and others countless times causing the police to visit him an incredible forty-five times, the police never arrested him (Pollack & Eden, 2019). Moreover, even though Cruz attempted suicide three times, he never received counseling (Pollack & Eden, 2019). In a school atmosphere in which countless students feared that Cruz would kill them, on the day of the shooting there the school gate was not locked. After the killings, parents complained that the school placed more emphasis on protecting Cruz by not arresting him than on protecting their children from Cruz (Pollack & Eden, 2019). In addition, love, character, and integrity need to be apparent after the campus mass shootings as well. At the Parkland, Florida school shooting, parents complained that school officials never visited their children and the families nor sent them notes, cards, or even emails expressing their love and sympathy. Lisa Olson, mother of a son, who was shot in both arms spoke for the parents of the victims when she said, “The district’s first concerns should be MSD students and families that have been

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most affected and injured. Photo ops and press conferences seem to be the district’s focus rather than focusing on those who were suffering…. It wasn’t easy for our family to see some in this room being more impressed with posing with (basketball star) Dwyane Wade than (concerned with) checking on the children who couldn’t even make it to school that day…. The complete lack of communication from the district is why I am here today…. The district really should be embarrassed by these failures. Even the president of the United States, the first lady, the governor, the attorney general, and a senator had time to hug my son. But not my school district and not my principal” (Pollack & Eden, 2019, pp. 16–17). Similarly April Schentrup and Philip, who had lost their daughter Carmen in the shooting complained that, “My family and other victims’ families didn’t get cards, letters, or even emails of condolences from the any board members. April was a principal of a Broward County elementary school and complained that this district was so cruel to her in her loss that, “My time off to mourn my daughter’s death was docked (from my pay)” (Pollack & Eden, 2019, p. 22). If love, character, and compassion are not woven into every aspect of dealing with these shootings and preventing them, then the effort will be lost. Loving and caring must be at the core of every solution. (2) Those at the Extremes of the Gun Laws Debate Need to “Cool it” and Listen Compassionately to the Other Side in the Search for Areas of Consensus The school shooting debate is the “emotional football” that it is, largely because of the stands taken by those at the extremes of the gun debate. Very little progress will be made if both sides insist on shouting at the other. Beginning by listening is a much more mature strategy. Part of the reason why this part of the school shooting debate is so emotional is because a good number of people carry with them their own personal experiences. Hence, if any progress is to be made individuals involved in this debate need to compassionately listen and then realize how extreme views on this issue can come across to others. The compassionate listening needs to begin by understanding that there are simply too many guns in the world, to the point that it is really quite scary. It is not even precisely known just how many guns there are, because so many are illegal (O’Leary, 2012; Squires, 2012). Granted, that point may seem to support gun control and it does. However, it is also true that one of the most gruesome and horrifying events one can have is being killed, having a close family member die, or being raped because there was virtually no possibility of effectively defending oneself (Doherty, 2008; Whitney, 2012). Both of these perspectives are real and they are valid. Reaching a consensus on this central point is absolutely essential if school shootings are to come down. There is also a need for people at the extremes of the gun debate to realize how they often come across to people who might not entirely agree with their perspective. For example, there are some people who oppose gun control so strongly that they do not even allow for the possibility of banning assault weapons. To those who would disagree, this perspective comes across as naïve, overtly distrustful of government taking away U.S. Second Amendment rights, and too emotional (Squires, 2012). This

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causes those who disagree to dismiss other points, other than the issue of assault weapons, that are worthy of consideration. For example, the inability to defend oneself is a valid issue (Doherty, 2008; Whitney, 2012). Another valid argument is that when governments are on the road to oppressing and controlling the masses, they often begin by removing the right to bear arms (Doherty, 2008; Whitney, 2012). However, to oppose the ban of assault weapons seems unreasonable to opponents. Similarly, there are those that support gun control so strongly that they do not even allow for the possibility of there being a comprehensive solution. To them there is only one answer to school shootings and that is strict gun control laws. To those who would disagree, this perspective comes across as narrow-minded, too emotional, and uneducated (Doherty, 2008; Whitney, 2012). This causes those who disagree to dismiss other points, other than the issue of assault weapons, that are worthy of consideration. The fact that there are too many guns in the world is a valid concern. Some elements of gun control, such as an assault weapons ban have wide support. People realize that assault weapons, semi-automatic firearms, and other similar weapons can do a lot of damage in a short amount of time. Whether it is in Parkland, Florida or Yemen these weapons can kill large numbers of people in a short amount of time. In Yemen, for example, Mohammad Anman killed 6 and injured 12 fairly rapidly, largely because he was illegally able to procure a Kalashnikov assault rifle (Wikipedia, 2019f). If tempers in the gun debate would cool, eyes would open to see how important the family is to this issue. To the extent that the overwhelming percentage of the worst mass shootings were undertaken by children from either fatherless homes or from dysfunctional families, it becomes virtually impossible to argue that one needs to avoid talking about family issues to address this problem. Joseph Lieberman (2006, p. 1) was likely right when he said, “It begins with the home.” Admittedly, it may be the case that there are numbers of people who come from fatherless- and dysfunctional-homes that do not want fingers pointed at them. Moreover, there are other countless millions of people who also want to avoid pointing fingers at families and therefore desire to point their fingers in other directions. Nevertheless, one must ask if the world’s citizenry is really helping today’s children and tomorrow’s children if they purposely avoid discussing the place of the most influential institution on the face of the earth: the family. It is timely to state here what needs to be acknowledged as true. Given that the family is the world’s most central and influential institution, any attempt to reduce school shootings without duly considering the place of the family will yield no solution at all. Perhaps that is why to this point in time, there has really been no solution at all. If people are willing to listen and have reasonable views, building a consensus becomes possible. (3) There Needs to be an Emphasis on Changing Youths’ Hearts for the Better, not merely Changing the Laws There is a major temptation to want to fix almost any problem in one of two ways, i.e., either “throw money at it” or pass a law. To be sure, these are often both appropriate and worthy actions. However, in most cases in life these two actions

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alone certainly do not constitute the entirety nor even the majority of best options available. There are many other strategies that can be employed that address the heart of the issue of trying to prevent adolescents from wanting to kill one another (Matera, 2001). It is a bit ironic, because historically-speaking many of the finest politicians and lawyers who originally sought to make a difference by changing the laws, concluded instead that the way to make change was to focus on children’s hearts (King, 1998; Horne, 1931b; Mann, 1849; Pestalozzi, 1898, 1916). For example, Horace Mann (1796–1859) always wanted to make an impact on society. For this reason, in his earlier days he studied law. However, once he had practiced law for a while he became disillusioned. Mann claimed that education was a better means to change society than law. His reasoning was that the law dealt with adults, who were already getting stubborn in their ways. Education sought to reach with children. Mann asserted, “Men are cast-iron, but children are wax” (Mann, 1907, p. 13). Mann asserted that the means for extricating man from evil rested not in the law, but rather in education. In this sense, Mann transformed from an Old Testament to a New Testament type of individual. Like the emphasis on fulfilling the laws in the Old Testament, Mann had previously believed that the law was the key to making people upright (Mann, 1907). However, Mann soon realized that the New Testament emphasis on training and teaching was the best means of truly changing society (Mann, 1907). Dating all the way back to the Israelites fleeing hundreds of years of slavery at the hands of the Egyptians and Plato a thousand years later, to some of the most influential global educators over the last few hundred years, character education was viewed as the best way to enable children’s hearts to become more virtuous and strong (Dupuis, 1966; Ulich, 1968). As Robert Ulich (1968, p. 30) notes: Both Pestalozzi and Comenius were so intrinsically religious that their piety shines through every one of their works…. Finally, for both, education was not merely a way of teaching and learning, but the human attempt to participate in the divine plan to unfold the best in individual man and in humanity as a whole.

There is clearly merit in trying to improve national laws. However, merely changing laws will not solve a problem that is much more complex than mere external behavior (Horne, 1931b; Mann, 1849; Pestalozzi, 1898, 1916). Too often, the way a major problem in the modern world is by applying a band-aide solution rather that addressing the root and crux of a given problem. As Penn, an Ivy League university’s motto reads, “Laws without morals are useless.” (Wikipedia, 2020f). Educators should also value a time of reflection. To the extent that eye witness accounts and social scientists repeatedly report that the youths committing these firearm atrocities are deeply angry youths who hold ceaseless grudges and refuse to forgive others, classrooms need to provide time in the classroom to connect with the higher goals and principles in life, so that they can reach a place of peace, calm, and kind-heartedness. (4) Bills Should be Written that are Likely to Pass rather than those that are Mostly for Show

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If constituents do not know the following truth already, they should. That is, not every bill that is written and introduced is designed to pass. Bills are considered for a number of reasons. The list is too long to be exhausted here. However, in addition to those the politicians are attempting to pass into law, there are several prominent alternative reasons. They include: (a) a politician showing his or her constituency that the government leader supports a particular position, (b) the bill is introduced to shame people on the other side of the aisle so that a person can basically say, “See, they did not vote for a bill that would clearly benefit the country,” or (c) the bill is propounded to bring to light where various leaders stand on an issue. In the solid majority of cases in which (a), (b), or (c) is the motive, the bill is purposely worded in a way that when it is promulgated, it is understood beforehand that it will not pass. Instead, the primary goal is one of the three above or, given that this list is not designed to be exhaustive, some other goal that is not listed. The purpose in stating the above is not to state that the above approaches are totally wrong. Rather, at least on the issue of school shootings, the nations that have difficulty with school shootings cannot afford to waste time or play political games regarding an issue that is costing lives and affecting the well-being and sense of peace of countless people living in many communities. The reality, then, is that what is needed is a bill that will pass that may not satisfy everyone, but will constitute a comprehensive bill that addresses the concerns of many. The gun component should begin where: (1) there is the most consensus and (2) where the data are most supportive and then build up from there. The greatest consensus appears to exist on smart guns in which only a certain person or people can use the gun. For example, this will prevent a prowler from using the owner’s gun. People from a variety of perspectives can agree on the utility of this approach. Another area that has reasonably good consensus is the banning of assault weapons (Himelfarb & Perotti, 2014; Lettow, 2013). The 1986 gun law under President Ronald Reagan was more of a breakthrough than is often acknowledged in this regard, with the banning of machine guns. The ten year banning of assault weapons under President Clinton was a similar victory. What is needed now is a permanent restoration of the part of the 1994 act. Per the addressing of these issues earlier, background checks might work for adult aggressors, but they are unlikely to have much of a positive effects unless the protocol changes regarding what information is released on children, preadolescents, and adolescents. If that protocol does change, then background checks might reduce school shootings. However, in any bill specifically designed to reduce school shootings attempts to pass background checks should only be included if it is apparent that its inclusion will not hinder passage (Himelfarb & Perotti, 2014; Lettow, 2013). The chances of passage will also be enhanced if the what is probably the strongest argument in favor of gun possession is considered. That is, when there is someone available to defend the students against the shooter, fewer people generally get killed (Doherty, 2008; Whitney, 2012). Although some people would feel uncomfortable with concealed carry laws, in this regard, perhaps there is room for increased police patrols of schools, an increased police presence at the school itself, or concealed carry laws applicable to a very limited number of people, who are well trained and

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would be of great use in limiting the carnage done by a school shooting. What type of individuals would be in the third group would be determined by each individual state. (5) There Needs to be an Awareness that Some of the Most Important Components of the Effort to Reduce School Shootings Rest Outside the Jurisdiction of the Government The contemporary definition of leadership has somehow changed. Today, leadership is often defined by how large and broad a bill one can pass to tackle a problem. If a politician can state that he or she passed a massive bill that supposedly would tackle a problem, the response is designed to be something along the lines of, “What more can one do than that?” Decades ago, however, the definition of leadership had more to do with inspiring others to become their best rather than spending as much money as possible on a particular government bill. But the great leaders of history seldom led with their wallet, they led with their heart. Whether it was Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Margaret Thatcher, Nelson Mandela, Ronald Reagan, or John F. Kennedy, these leaders knew that government alone could only do so much. They knew that their mission as leaders rested beyond merely that task (Anderson, 2017). Instead, they knew they needed to inspire people to become all that they could be. Prime Minister Winston Churchill knew that “Never was so much owed by so many to so few.” President Reagan referred to the United States as “a city set upon a hill.” President Kennedy inspired others to live up to their potential when her declared, “Ask not what your country can do for you- ask what you can do for your country.” The reality is that for the problem of school shootings to abate, it will take the cooperation of many people in each nation to take action. Parents will need to live up to their responsibility of loving and caring parents. Schools will need to focus of teaching character, integrity, and how to handle anger and disputes without getting bitter. This is particularly true when life’s worst challenges, such as the coronavirus, frustrate millions of people. Even if governments support the idea of character education, for this instruction to truly have an impact, educators will need to go the extra mile in being passionate about it and making sure it is taught. In addition, the entertainment industry, the news media, and social media will need to act much more responsibly and help to instill core values than is currently the case. Adults in every capacity of life need to, by their example and their words, encourage students to live up to their fullest potential. If adults are concerned about youths who have not learned to control their anger, the adults themselves need to set excellent examples of people who are loving and calm, who have learned to pray or reflect in the midst of life’s difficulties to help them become that way. (6) People in Broader Society Need to Do a Better Job of Living up to their Responsibilities As one reads through the various accounts of the events leading up to each of the many school shootings, one cannot help reach the conclusion each time that some

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things went terribly wrong. Usually there were several developments that concurrently went wrong to make possible these terrible acts of aggression. To resolve the challenge of frequent school shootings many people need to do a better job of living up to their responsibilities. When these acts of aggression take place, many people are left asking questions such as the following: How can Hollywood produce such sick films that serve as a model for these school shootings (Horowitz, 2015; Lieberman, 2016; Medved, 1992)? How can the entertainment industry produce such sadistic music that encourages individuals to rape, kill, and destroy? How could the police let that adolescent get away which such murderous behavior, well before the shooting has taken place? How could these threats of bodily harm and killing be taken so lightly? That boy obviously has a huge problem and is a threat to all those around him, why do people not report this? How could the principal not take action? How can schools justify not offering character education in the schools, when there are so many evil people? How can schools not encourage a time of reflection, so that a spirit and attitude of peace and calm can come upon many stressed out students? Over the last fifty-or sixty-years societies have changed all over the world. Some of those changes have been positive and others have not. One of the less than positive changes has been groups of people who wanted to work for change, decades ago would commonly speak in terms of “We need to do this?” However, now people frequently speak in terms of, “The government needs to do this and the government needs to do that.” However, the citizenry needs to realize that the government is not God. The government can only do so much and its resources are limited (Himelfarb & Perotti, 2014; Lettow, 2013). Simply passing bills and spending more money is going to fall well short of solving the problems associated with such a frequency in these school-based acts of violence (Horowitz, 2015; McCloskey, 2017). The reality is that all facets of society must pitch in. Certain elements of the entertainment industry, whether they are performers, producers, or directors have certain portions of their work that are so hateful and destructive, whether it is toward women, police, or the middle class. And yet when these songs, for example, and productions are played, when there is reference to killing, murdering, rape, it attracts the future assailants like a magnet (Langman, 2010; Primack, Gold, Schwartz, & Dalton, 2008). A fair number of the shooters even cite some of these entertainment productions, whether it is Basketball Diaries, Jeremy, or Natural Born Killers. There is evidence that music can not only influence violent behavior, but also promiscuous and sexual behavior, as well (Primack et al., 2008). Primack et al. (2008) found that degrading sexual content is very common in music and in certain kinds of music, such as rap, more than others, i.e., country. Primack and his colleagues (2008) note that there is evidence that youths who listen to music with degrading sexual content are more likely to initiate sexual intercourse at an early age. Naturally, no one concludes that Hollywood or the music industry actually intended for any of these productions to contribute to a large number of dead bodies being sprawled out along a given campus. Rather, much of it stems from two forces in particular. First, these productions make money. There is a reason why the Bible states: The love of money is the root of all evil (Holy Bible, NIV, I Timothy 6:10).

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Second, there are apparently some performers, directors, and producers in the entertainment industry who pride themselves on opposing innocence, virtue, and wholesome values (Horowitz, 2015; Medved, 1992). One might say that these individuals have a rebellious streak in them (Horowitz, 2015; Medved, 1992). Moreover, most of these individuals would likely admit to possessing a rebellious streak. However, they would argue that only the mentally disturbed would respond to their so-called “artistic works” by killing large groups of people. They would say that probably less than one tenth of one percent of teens are going to respond to their production by hurting groups of people. The problem with their argument, however, is that even if one concedes it is less than one tenth of one percent of teens who commit these horrific acts, they fail to consider the scores, hundreds, and yes even thousands of people that are affected. With each student who dies countless family members, friends, and community members are affected. With all the pain that such twisted productions produce, is it really worth it just to earn some money and stir up some “enjoyable rebellion?”

10.4 Concluding Thoughts Yes, some rely on their left brain more and others on their right brain. And yes, men are from Mars and women are from Venus so to speak. However, the time has come for people to think comprehensively, use one’s entire brain, and act comprehensively, beginning in the home. It is time to work towards a society that seeks consensus and not division. It is time to listen and have compassion and love toward one another. This is a problem that can diminish significantly if people care and take action for some of the most defenseless: children.

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Index

A Africa, 6, 55, 58, 167 shootings in, 3, 6, 58, 167 African American, 130, 162 Agape, 8, 92 Algerian, 12 Allaway, Edward Charles, 20 Anman, Mohammad, 171 Anti-Christian shooters, 127 Anti-religious shooters, 18 Argentina, 27, 145 shootings in, 27, 145 Asia, 6, 29, 52, 167 shootings and school mass attacks in, 13, 167 Assault, 7, 13, 26, 57, 60, 61, 63, 65, 71, 112, 169–171, 173 against teachers, 6 in the Netherlands, 6 Atheist, 12, 32, 144 Australia, 55–58, 167 Australia Shooting and the National Firearms Agreement of, 56 Port Arthur Shooting, 57 Auvinen, Pekka-Eric, 19, 61, 158 Axes, 4, 51, 52

B Barcelona, Spain, 25, 124 Basketball Diaries, 7, 132, 175 Bath Township Elementary School in Michigan, 20 BBC, 7, 25, 124, 125 Beslan Massacre, Russia, 20 Beth, Alaska, 8 Betts, Conner, 27, 145, 146 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 W. H. Jeynes, Reducing School Shootings, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66549-4

Brazil, 3, 11, 12, 19, 51 shootings in, 3, 12 Brown, Enoch School, 9, 10, 13, 18, 23–25, 111, 118, 126, 163, 165 Bullying programs, 117, 163 shooters bullied students and others, 25, 31, 112 shooters were bullied or teased, 112

C California, xv, 5, 9, 20 shootings in, 5, 9, 20 California State University, Fullerton, 20 Canada, 3, 19 shootings in, 3, 19 Carneal, Michael, 8, 27, 44, 91, 127, 132, 144, 146, 148 Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 9 Character education, 14, 32, 33, 35, 53, 85– 87, 90, 91, 93–104, 115, 120, 136, 139, 159, 162, 164, 165, 168, 172, 174, 175 Chardon, Ohio, 11 China, 3, 51, 52, 58, 66, 107–110, 169 copycat effect (fighting against), 110 shootings and attacks in, 3, 52, 58, 110 Cho, Seung-Hui, 17, 28, 70, 126 Christian schools, 143 Christian students, 8 Civilian gunman, 12 Clinton, Bill, 14, 61, 67, 131, 141, 168, 169, 173 CNN, 5, 30, 69, 70 Coldwater, Michigan, 9 Cologne School Massacre, Germany, 18 207

208 Columbine shooting in Littleton, Colorado, 9, 71 Commonalities in school shootings, 29, 32 Communist, 65 Communist Manifesto, 12 Compassion, 29, 32, 66, 87, 88, 94, 106, 110, 113, 124, 145, 159, 168, 170, 176 Comprehensive approach, 16, 155, 162, 165, 166, 169 Conant, James, 15 Conyers, Georgia, 9 Copycat effect, 110, 111 Courts, too lenient, 30 Crime, 5, 12–14, 30, 43, 48, 55, 57, 58, 63, 64, 67, 86, 107, 119, 128, 130, 137, 157, 160, 161, 166 student crime, 11, 13, 50 Cruz, Nikolas, 17, 25, 29, 30, 58, 61, 64, 70, 87, 169

D Deming, New Mexico, 9 Dewey, John, 15, 90 Drugs, 13, 16, 17, 29, 33, 46, 48, 69, 86, 103, 110, 117, 119, 125, 134, 136–138, 149–151 Dunblane shooting, 6 Dutch, 7 shootings in, 7 violence against teachers, 6

E Edinboro, Pennsylvania, 9 Effect sizes, 33–36, 77–80, 94–103 El Cajon, California, 9 Erfurt, Germany, 4, 19, 148, 149 Europe, 6, 55, 56, 58, 66, 85, 110, 111, 118, 125, 126, 132, 144, 167, 168 shootings in, 6, 58, 85, 110, 111, 118 European Union (EU), 168 Evil, 27, 28, 30, 87, 88, 109, 135, 145, 146, 168, 172, 175 Explosives, 20, 71

F Failing grades, 13, 23 Faith-based schools, 16, 141, 143 Fallon, Luke, 8 Family, 8, 9, 23, 24, 29, 33, 42, 44, 46, 47, 54, 59, 70, 72, 74–76, 80–84, 87, 89, 91, 108, 114, 117, 119, 120, 125, 136,

Index 139, 149, 159, 162, 163, 165, 170, 171, 176 troubled, 24, 165 Fayetteville, Tennessee, 9 FBI, 10, 26, 30 Female shooters, 5 Female victims, 19 Finland, 3, 19, 44, 111, 126, 158 shootings in, 19, 111, 158 Firearms (Amendment) Act of 1987, UK, 6, 61 Firearms (Amendment) Act of 1997, UK, 6, 61 Fort Gibson, Oklahoma, 9 France, 12, 46, 125 shootings in, 125 Fryberg, Jaylen Ray, 12

G German Government, 4 German strategy, 4, 128 Germany Cologne School Massacre, Germany, 18 copycat effect (fighting against), 110 Emsdetten in Germany, 132 Erfurt, 4, 19, 148, 149 shootings in, 3, 4, 43, 127, 128, 148 Treaty of Versailles, 160 Winnenden, 4, 43, 58, 127, 128, 149 World War I, 160 Gill, Kimveer, 19 Girlfriend, 8, 11, 13, 18, 23, 24, 135, 148 Goiania Goias, Brazil, 12 Golden, Andrew, 9, 44, 83, 88, 109, 113 Goths, 44, 91, 109, 127, 148 Grades, 4, 13, 18, 34, 36, 51, 75, 79, 94, 135, 148, 163 Great Britain, 6, 61 Firearms (Amendment) Act of 1987, 6, 61 Firearms (Amendment) Act of 1997, 6, 61 shootings in, 6. See also United Kingdom (UK) Grudges, 10, 85, 87, 172 Gun control laws, 6, 14, 41, 43–48, 50, 53–55, 58, 59, 74, 156, 157, 166, 171 Gun Free Schools Act, 14 Guns gun control laws, 14, 41, 43–48, 50, 53–55, 58, 59, 74, 156, 157, 171 semi-automatic, 10, 46, 61, 64

Index smart guns, 59, 60, 67, 157, 162, 173 stole, 9, 43, 44, 59

H Hamilton, Thomas, 6, 18, 151 Hard rock music, 109, 110 Harmse, Morne, 27, 51, 52, 109, 145 Harper-Mercer, Christopher, 18 Harris, Eric, 9, 11, 14, 17, 25, 50, 53, 71, 126, 133 Hate, 27, 56, 87, 109, 144, 146 Heath High School prayer group, 8 History of school shootings, 3 Hollywood, 24, 108, 111, 114–117, 120, 121, 132, 156, 159, 175 Hungerford shooting, 6

I Inner city, 5, 86 Israel, 20, 56 shootings in, 20

J Japan, 52, 56, 58, 110, 116 copycat effect (fighting against), 110 shootings in, 58, 110, 116 Jesus, 8, 143 Jewish school, 12 in France, 12 Johnson, Mitchell, 9, 24, 25, 83, 87, 109, 133 Jonesboro (Stamps), Arkansas, 8, 83, 109 Judeo-Christian, 86, 102

K Kehoe, Andrew, 20, 51 Kelley, Devin, 12, 28, 70 Kerch of the Crimea, Russia, 11 Kidnap, 18, 19, 57 Kill, 4–12, 17–20, 24–26, 28, 42, 43, 46, 50– 53, 56, 61, 63, 70, 71, 87, 92, 105, 107, 111, 120, 123–126, 133, 135, 143, 145, 146, 156, 169–173, 175, 176 King, Stephen, 7 Kinkel, Kip, 9, 50 Klebold, Dylan, 9–11, 17, 25, 50, 53, 71, 126 Knives, 4, 51, 52 Korean Christian College, 20 Kretschmer, Tim, 4, 43, 58, 127, 128, 149

209 L Lake Worth, Florida, 9 Lane, Thomas, 11 Lanza, Adam Peter, 11, 17, 26, 28, 70, 127 Large schools, 14–16, 128 Las Vegas shooting, 69 Leniency in Courts, 30 Lepine, Marc, 19 Limitations of Meta-analysis, 36 Littleton, Colorado, 9, 71, 132, 143 Los Angeles, California, 12 Loukaitis, Barry, 7 M Ma’alot Massacre in Israel, 20 Major, John, Prime Minister, UK, 6 Malik, Tashfeen, 20, 46, 71 Manson, Marilyn, 10, 27, 109 Mask of Sanity, 10 Mateen, Saddiqui, 20, 70 Media, 5, 9, 13, 48, 49, 58, 59, 86, 91, 92, 105–108, 110–114, 117–121, 131, 134, 159, 174 Mein Kampf , 12 Mental Illness and Mental Health, 24, 26, 28, 29, 54, 58, 117, 119, 123–139, 159 identifying each in Germany and Switzerland, 128 Merah, Mohammed, 12 Meta-analysis, 33–36, 76, 79, 93, 94, 99– 104, 148 Mexico, 12, 19 shootings in, 12, 19 Middle East, 6, 107 shootings in, 6 Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, 12, 19 Moses Lake, WA, 7 Mount Morris Township, Michigan, 9 N Native Americans, 18, 144 Natural Born Killers, by Oliver Stone, 7 Netherlands, 6, 32, 108 shootings in, 32, 108 violence against teachers, 6 New Bedford, Massachusetts, 10 Newtown, Connecticut, 11, 17, 26, 48, 70, 135 Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, 11 No Right to Remain Silent, 28, 126 North America, 55, 58, 132, 167 shootings in, 58, 167

210 O Obama, Barack, vii, 27, 49, 60, 63, 64, 162, 168 Oikos University, 20 Oliveira, Wellington, 19

P Paddock, Stephen, 20, 69, 70 Pagourtzis, Dimitrius, 11, 26, 27, 71, 146 Palestine Liberation Terrorists, 20 Parker, Gabe, 12 Parkland, Florida, 7, 12, 17, 25, 26, 29, 58, 61, 64, 70, 87, 107, 111, 169, 171 Pearl Jam’s video Jeremy, 7 Pearl, Mississippi, 8, 27, 144–146, 148 Police, 4, 5, 8, 10, 16–19, 25, 26, 46, 50, 52, 54, 61, 62, 70, 71, 106, 111, 125, 127, 137, 138, 160–163, 169, 173, 175 Porta in Barcelona, Spain, 25, 124 Port Arthur, Australia Shooting, 56, 57 Prayer, 8, 27, 31, 44, 86, 92, 141–144, 146, 148, 150, 151 Prayer meeting (Kentucky), 8 Prisoner, 18, 32 Psychopathic, 29, 58 Psychotic, 29 Pulse shooting, 20

Q Quality rating, 33, 36, 95, 96

R Rage (novel by Stephen King), 7 Ramsey, Evan, 8 Randomization, 36 Reagan, Ronald, 61, 67, 168, 169, 173, 174 Red Lake, Minnesota, 11 Reflection, 139, 141–143, 145, 148, 150, 159, 172, 175 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 19 Rizwan, Syed, 20, 46, 71 Roberts, Charles, 11, 18 Roseburg, Oregon, 12, 18 Rosly, Vladislav, 11 Roy, Lucinda, 17, 19, 28, 30, 31, 110, 118, 123, 124, 126, 128, 130, 165 Rural area, 4, 5, 48 Russia, 3, 20, 72, 169 shootings in, 3, 20, 72 Ryan, Michael Robert, 6

Index S Saari, Matti Juhani, 19, 44, 123, 126 San Bernardino, California, 20, 46, 71 San Diego, California, 5 Sandy Hook Shooting, 17, 28, 58, 93, 126, 132, 160 San Francisco, California, 12 Santee, California, 9, 11 Sante Fe, Texas, 11, 26, 71, 146 Satan, 52, 145 Satan worshipper, 8, 27, 51, 144–146 Scandinavia, 111 shootings in, 111 Scaring people, 8, 13 School officials, 26, 64, 126, 129, 136, 138, 145, 169 School size, 14, 16 Seifert, Walter, 18, 19 Shooters, 13, 17, 21, 23–32, 37, 44, 47, 50, 54, 58, 61–63, 67, 70, 72, 73, 83–85, 87, 88, 91–93, 106–108, 110–114, 117–119, 123, 124, 126–133, 135, 138, 139, 143–145, 148, 149, 157, 158, 173, 175 Steinhauser, Robert, 4, 19, 148 Shootings actual number is underestimated, 138 Solich, Rafael, 27, 145 Solutions to school shootings, 14, 32, 166, 168 comprehensive approach, 16, 155, 162, 165, 166 South Africa, 3, 27, 51, 109 shootings in, 27, 109 South America, 13, 55, 58, 110, 167 shootings in, 13, 58, 167 Spain, 25, 124, 168 shootings in, 25, 124, 168 Sparks, Nevada, 12 Spencer, Brenda, 5, 72, 125 Springfield, Oregon, 9, 50, 92 Stamps, Arkansas, 8 Steinhauser, Robert, 4, 19, 148 Stone, Oliver Natural Born Killers, 7 Suburban area, 4, 5, 48 Surge in school shootings, 3, 86 Sutherland Springs, Texas, 70 Suzano, Brazil, 11 Sweden, 125, 126 shootings in, 125, 126 Sword, 4, 51

Index T Television media, 5, 108, 111, 112, 119, 124, 125, 131, 132, 156, 165 Terrorism, 20 Toulouse, France, 12 Treaty of Versailles, 160 Troubled family, 24, 165 Trump, Donald, 27, 49, 60, 63, 64, 160–162, 168

U Umpqua Community College, 12, 18 United Kingdom (UK) Dunblane shooting, 6 Hungerford shooting, 6 shootings in, 3 United States, 3, 4, 6, 7, 14, 15, 17, 23, 32, 34, 42, 45, 48–50, 52, 56, 58–60, 65, 66, 72, 84, 85, 107–111, 118, 125, 128, 130, 131, 133, 162–164, 168, 170, 174 shootings in, 3, 4, 7, 17, 23, 48, 49, 52, 56, 60, 72, 110, 163 Urban area, 4, 5, 7, 13, 48, 86, 166

V Video games, 4, 10, 17, 23, 27, 28, 105, 108, 120, 132, 165

211 Violence, 5, 7, 12–16, 23, 29, 31, 41–44, 46– 48, 51–57, 62, 70, 74, 81, 83, 85, 86, 91, 92, 101, 105–109, 114–116, 118, 120, 126, 131–135, 139, 141, 148, 156–158, 163–165, 167, 175 Virginia Tech University Shooting, 17, 28, 126

W Warning signs, 4, 10, 23, 30, 31, 165 Weise, Jeffrey, 11, 18, 133 West Paducah, Kentucky, 8, 27, 44, 91–93, 127, 143, 144, 146 Williams, Charles Andrew “Andy”, 11 Winnenden, Germany, 4, 43, 58, 127, 128, 149 Woodham, Luke, 8, 145, 146, 148 World War I, 56, 109, 160 Worship of Evil, 27 Wurst, Andrew, 9

Y Yemen, 171 shootings in, 171

Z Zero Tolerance Policy, 14, 43