The main storyline from the recent school shooting in Connecticut has quickly settled into the well-worn groove of the national gun control debate, with political actors on both sides of the issue reframing their positions in light of this most recent tragedy. Some celebrate New York’s further restrictions on the availability of certain guns and extended gunfree zones, while others celebrate Utah’s arming of classroom teachers. Yet school safety is about so much more than who has what guns and where they can legally use them.
A secondary storyline debates the appropriate treatment of people who suffer from mental illness, offering instant analysis and blanket solutions regarding an issue that is both large and complex. Some want to deny basic freedoms to those with documented struggles and some want to deny the societal dangers of uncontrolled psychoses. And yet school safety is about so much more than how many people are confined to mental institutions (or prisons), how many prescriptions are written, or how many mental health professionals are available.
It is not as though these debates are not important (although they might be more important if we could get past the debate-like focus on winning and strive to develop approaches that serve society more effectively). Rather, it is that these debates pull our attention away from many of the things that could have a more immediate— and potentially more significant— impact on school safety. There is a certain level of comfort we can achieve when we accept the issue as too big, too complex, or too far away for us to do anything about. It’s easier for us when we believe “they” have to do something about it.
Instead, let’s look at actions each of us can take right here, right now. The odds of a student being involved in a mass shooting are infinitesimal compared to the odds of a student being bullied, neglected, or abused. The number of sociopaths who will attack a school pales in comparison to the number of adults who struggle with alcoholism, substance abuse, or one of the many manifestations of mental illness (e.g. depression, anxiety, or anger) and create dysfunctional home situations for students.
Study after study shows that a failure to intervene during the early stages of these issues leads to ever-worsening outcomes. In many cases, problems are perpetuated from generation to generation and their effects multiplied. These are most often the issues that lie at the root of the most common school safety challenges, and they are things we can do something about—here and now.
We need to stop waiting passively for a government program that will “fix” our mental illness problem and start caring for the guy next door, the co-worker down the hall, or the customer we see each week who needs someone to help them get the help they need. We must take the personal risk to reach out and make our community stronger—and safer—by lifting one another up when we’re down. If you don’t feel you can help directly, then call someone who can.
We need to forget about gun-free zones for a minute and start establishing insult-free zones, harassment free zones, and ostracizing-free zones. We need to start caring about students who spend their day in fear of verbal and social attacks as much as physical assaults. A meaningful relationship with a caring adult is one of the most powerful factors in student success, and each of us can be that person to someone. Talk to your local school and find ways to connect with students. Connect outside of school, for that matter. The key is connecting.
A common theme in anti-bullying programs is that the most effective deterrent is a unified student body that says to potential bullies, in effect, “Stop. We don’t treat each other that way.” We need a community that reacts to the threats to our students by saying, “Stop. We don’t treat each other that way.” Some of the ways we do that will be through programs, laws, and the intervention of trained professionals. The most important way we can do that, however, is through our individual engagement with students, families, and organizations seeking to build a community filled not only with safe places, but with safe people, committed to building a healthier, safer environment for all of us.
Each month a representative of our local schools will offer thoughts in Issues in Education. This month’s s contributor is Peter James, Director at Great Expectations School.
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