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Roundup: Another US School Shooting, Whole Nation in Soul-searching
Some were shocked, others were panicked, and still others were apprehensive, but most were asking: Why this again? Why?
After the tragic shooting Monday at a California high school that killed two and wounded 13, the whole nation of the United States has plunged into soul-searching for the cause of repeated campus violence and for measures to protect kids from violence.
No End of Gun Violence in Sight In the Monday shooting at the Santana High School, Santee, near San Diego, Charles Andrew Williams, a 15-year-old ninth-grader, cold-bloodedly fired a handgun at his innocent schoolmates while smiling.
Two were killed and 13 others including a policeman and counselor were injured in the shooting, which once again shocked the whole nation and aroused strong emotion and reaction at schools nationwide.
"Every kid in America is wondering, 'Can this happen at my school'?" said Jim Copple, a former high school principal in Wichita, Kansas, and now vice president of the National Crime Prevention Council.
The Monday shooting is a scenario which has occurred repeatedly on US school campuses in recent years.
In 1999 alone, there were four incidents of high-school shootings across the country, in which 16 students were killed and dozens of others wounded.
On December 6, 1999, four people were shot and wounded by a 13- year-old gunman at the Fort Gibson Middle School in Oklahoma;
On November 19, 1999, one person was killed by a 13-year-old gunman at Deming Middle School, Deming, New Mexico; and
Six students were injured on May 20, 1999, by a 15-year-old gunman at the Heritage High School, Conyers, Georgia.
And the most painful tragedy took place on April 20, 1999, at the Columbine High School, Littleton, Colorado, in which two teenage students shot and killed 15 schoolmates and wounded 24 others.
A Systematic Failure? Since the repeated school shootings in 1999 and earlier, the US government and schools nationwide have taken steps to heighten alert against school violence and prevent students from access to firearms, yet gun violence continues to haunt the country's campuses. Many agree that this is a systematic failure.
First, the repetition of campus shootings is an apparent result of the failure to establish an effective early warning system against any possible sign of planned violence. As in Monday's killing, the gunman had talked with friends about taking a gun to school, but his words were dismissed as a joke. And one adult hearing about this failed to take any precaution or inform the school authority.
Second, more adult care is lacking for troubled or unpopular students, and this could make them to give vent to their anger in a violent way. Following the Columbine High School shooting two years ago, an increasing number of programs have been introduced to let students address school safety issues, but the role of adults in taking care of students calls for special attention.
Parents and teachers must not disregard young people's concerns and fears, said Joanne McDaniel, acting director of the Center for the Prevention of School Violence, a national outreach program based in North Carolina.
"What's more important is that parents and staff in schools listen to what the students have to say," she said. "It's important that they don't blow off those fears ... They have to have a dialogue, to let them talk through what their fears are."
"We as caring adults need to reach out to young people who we feel are at risk," said John A. Calhoun, president and CEO of the National Crime Prevention Council, the nation's leading community crime prevention organization.
Furthermore, the easy access to guns by teenagers is another major reason for the campus shootings. The United States, where many people love guns, has long been stuck in a tug-of-war between gun-lovers and anti-gun advocates.
The gun control debate has already become a complex political issue and a gun ban seems to be almost impossible. The latest incident will probably revive the contentious debate across the country in the coming weeks.
Need for Real ChangeFollowing the incident Monday at Santana, experts acknowledged the need for a real change in regard to school safety and campus violence.
Tonya Aultman-Bettridge of the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence said things should be done to create a sense of security in schools, besides taking measures such as having police on campus, installing metal detectors or instituting conflict resolution programs.
"We really need to talk about the need for a real climate change -- creating a warm school environment where it's safe, where it's comfortable for them," said Bettridge, who has studied trends in school violence and worked with schools nationwide to combat youth violence.
However, the difficulty in addressing school violence is undoubtedly huge in view of the systematic failure in education and government policies.
Copple of the National Crime Prevention Council stressed the importance for adults and educators to detect any warning signs sent by certain students so as to take preemptive measures. "When someone is sending a warning sign, students, parents and teachers need to key in on those types of clues," he said.
But while some say it is important for people to take warnings seriously and pay attention to the people around them -- looking for sudden changes in demeanor, abusive behavior and other signs of abnormality -- most experts say there is not a tell-all character profile for school shooters.
They believe that the key is communication -- a dialogue involving all students, those who match up with some of the warning signs and those who are simply concerned about school safety. "We want adults involved in the lives of kids, and we want kids involved in the lives of their communities," said Copple.
Since a gun ban seems to be elusive, some experts called for parents to take the responsibility of preventing kids from access to firearms. Calhoun of the National Crime Prevention Council urged all communities "to support policies and programs that keep guns out of the hands of children, support schools that foster safe and caring environments."
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