Are we missing clues that tell us that a child is on the verge of committing a school campus shooting? What is triggering a student to use guns to initiate a mass killing? School teachers and counselors are already in place are who are aware of troubled individuals within their student body. Although they are not in a position of, or have the credentials of psychiatrists, are they asking the right questions to identify the root causes that motivate a student to plan and carry out violence at school or perhaps even commit suicide?
Could the reason be a young person’s exposure to a number of negative social influences, such as the mental anguish caused by divorce or death of a family member? Does it start with kids playing violent video games, being bullied by classmates, constantly influenced or discouraged by fake news, or are they just unable to grasp normal learning skills? It appears that there are no easy answers except to call for the restricted access to guns, arming teachers, monitoring entry into school buildings with metal detectors or place armed police on every floor of a school building. To stop the school carnage, should educators be trained to probe for the causes of the troubled student’s emotional distress? Should the home environment be questioned; should the person’s postings on social media showing interest in guns and explosives be reported; should students’ opinions and suspicions of a classmate acting in an abnormal way be taken more seriously?
When a person shows a pattern of abnormal behavior, positive action in the form of an interdiction is needed. This avoids any intrusion of civil liberties or police action. The troubled person needs teamwork to help remove the sources of a negative mindset. Next is remedial aid to develop a positive framework of self-esteem that is success-oriented.
Today’s world is full of contradictions that are difficult for adults to sort out and must certainly be confusing to children and teens. Our current political hate generated by liberal elitists is an underlying source of distrust that provides no clear distinction between good and bad or right and wrong for our youth. Traditionally, the development of social values has been the role of religious faith and the glue that holds civil society together is based on our religious beliefs. Sadly though, our church attendance has been declining. Perhaps the role our religious leaders should adapt in developing and implementing programs that can provide a positive environment for the troubled children and teens that show a tendency for dangerous thoughts and behavior. A voluntary environment of this nature is not to confine them with other troubled persons but allow them to have a strong interface with peers who are part of a religious organization and positive experiences. Prosecution after a mass shooting does not work. Selective aid to troubled children and teenagers is needed.
Make no mistake that a troubled person is the cause of school killing fields, however it is a national issue that needs an innovative, preventive approach that reveals red flags and ensures aid to the troubled long before any disaster occurs. Perhaps non-governmental programs to help individual troubled adolescents back into the mainstream of our youth are needed. In past years, many youth organizations met the needs of the individual and helped avoid circumstances that create discontent or anti-social behavior. These religious and family support groups need to be re-established to eliminate the school killing fields.