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