The tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on Feb. 14 was a heartbreaking event, like every other school shooting that has happened over the past two decades. It is hard to believe, but every student in our K-12 schools now, was born post-Columbine. There is not a student in school today that knew a time and a life before such events.
I recognize the importance of bringing and keeping an issue such as student safety to the forefront and I pray it isn’t forgotten by a single community across the country. As well, I commend all of the young people for their willingness to push for action so these tragedies become a thing of the past.
Recent conversations all across the country seem to be focusing on what schools can do, in a physical sense (school resource officers, metal detectors, etc.), to help prevent such things from happening and rightfully so. Whatever can be done, should be done to help our students and staff feel and be safe at school. Our actions however, cannot stop here. If we are going to truly prevent tragedy, we have to be willing to pursue the root causes of such behavior. What makes a student see such an act as a feasible thing to do? What can we, as a community do to identify the potential for such behavior and most importantly, what can we do to stop it before it happens?
There is a tremendous psychological and sociological context here that needs to be examined. The psychological context connects with the individuals who commit such acts while the sociological context links itself with the environment in which these individuals themselves grow, learn and develop over time. A number of studies have already done this work for us.
One that stands out for me, The Safe School Initiative: Implications for the Prevention of School Attacks in the United States, was written not long after Columbine, in 2002 in collaboration between the United States Department of Education and the United States Secret Service. The study focused on examining the thinking, planning and other behaviors of students who carried out school attacks and concluded that many of these behaviors were in fact identifiable beforehand.
Proactively speaking, we need to ensure we have cultures of trust in our schools and community that promote a willingness to come forward with concerns and a commitment to follow up on these concerns accordingly. Signs of trauma, difficulty dealing with loss and personal failures, as well as feelings of persecution by others were all consistently found among perpetrators of such acts (Vossekuil, et. al, 2002). There appears to be a culture of hurt that exists for young people who act in such a way. This in no way makes their actions permissible, but raises such questions: What can we do to find ways to improve life within our community for young people who are struggling? How can we better understand the impact of life today on young people?
As we work to understand the full scope of this problem, we need to take full advantage of the resources we have at our disposal within the Lawrence community. We need to build on conversations that are happening in the community. In March, Lawrence High School student leaders met with Mercer County freeholders, Lawrence Township police, Lawrence Board of Education members and school district administrators. Parents and school officials met at Slackwood Firehouse in February. Superintendent Edwards, Mayor Bobbitt and community leaders were also part of discussions at the February Direct Link meeting.
In addition, Mercer County School Superintendents collaborated on “A Call to Action” for parents at Rider University in January which examined mental health and suicide in children. While the conversations are productive, we need to find ways to extend these conversations to actions. Our legislators, child development experts as well as mental health professionals are in the Lawrence community to support our needs and the needs of our children.
Most importantly however, we need to bring our children themselves into the fold. With all of the resources that exist in our community, our students themselves are the greatest resource we have to help solve such problems. They can guide us to a better understanding of what it means to be a child growing up in today’s world. Their involvement and our collective work together can help ensure the tragedy that occurred in Parkland, Florida and so many other schools across this country never comes to the Lawrence community. Make no mistake, the work is difficult, but together we can help move toward a safer, better world with purpose and commitment to our children.
Dauber is a Lawrence Board of Education member, as well as the principal of West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North and the Legal Chair of the NJ State Board of Examiners.
from the schools,
