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An Examination of US School Mass Shootings, 2017–2022: Findings and Implications

Antonis katsiyannis.

1 Department of Education and Human Development, College of Education, Clemson University, 101 Gantt Circle, Room 407 C, Clemson, SC 29634 USA

Luke J. Rapa

2 Department of Education and Human Development, College of Education, Clemson University, 101 Gantt Circle, Room 409 F, Clemson, SC 29634 USA

Denise K. Whitford

3 Steven C. Beering Hall of Liberal Arts and Education, Purdue University, 100 N. University Street, BRNG 5154, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2098 USA

Samantha N. Scott

4 Department of Education and Human Development, College of Education, Clemson University, 101 Gantt Circle, Room G01A, Clemson, SC 29634 USA

Gun violence in the USA is a pressing social and public health issue. As rates of gun violence continue to rise, deaths resulting from such violence rise as well. School shootings, in particular, are at their highest recorded levels. In this study, we examined rates of intentional firearm deaths, mass shootings, and school mass shootings in the USA using data from the past 5 years, 2017–2022, to assess trends and reappraise prior examination of this issue.

Extant data regarding shooting deaths from 2017 through 2020 were obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, the web-based injury statistics query and reporting system (WISQARS), and, for school shootings in particular (2017–2022), from Everytown Research & Policy.

The number of intentional firearm deaths and the crude death rates increased from 2017 to 2020 in all age categories; crude death rates rose from 4.47 in 2017 to 5.88 in 2020. School shootings made a sharp decline in 2020—understandably so, given the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent government or locally mandated school shutdowns—but rose again sharply in 2021.

Conclusions

Recent data suggest continued upward trends in school shootings, school mass shootings, and related deaths over the past 5 years. Notably, gun violence disproportionately affects boys, especially Black boys, with much higher gun deaths per capita for this group than for any other group of youth. Implications for policy and practice are provided.

On May 24, 2022, an 18-year-old man killed 19 students and two teachers and wounded 17 individuals at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX, using an AR-15-style rifle. Outside the school, he fired shots for about 5 min before entering the school through an unlocked side door and locked himself inside two adjoining classrooms killing 19 students and two teachers. He was in the school for over an hour (78 min) before being shot dead by the US Border Patrol Tactical Unit, though police officers were on the school premises (Sandoval, 2022 ).

The Robb Elementary School mass shooting, the second deadliest school mass shooting in American history, is the latest calamity in a long list of tragedies occurring on public school campuses in the USA. Regrettably, these tragedies are both a reflection and an outgrowth of the broader reality of gun violence in this country. In 2021, gun violence claimed 45,027 lives (including 20,937 suicides), with 313 children aged 0–11 killed and 750 injured, along with 1247 youth aged 12–17 killed and 3385 injured (Gun Violence Archive, 2022a ). Mass shootings in the USA have steadily increased in recent years, rising from 269 in 2013 to 611 in 2020. Mass shootings are typically defined as incidents in which four or more people are killed (Katsiyannis et al., 2018a ). However, the Gun Violence Archive considers mass shootings to be incidents in which four or more people are injured (Gun Violence Archive, 2022b ). Regardless of these distinctions in definition, in 2020, there were 19,384 gun murders, representing a 34% increase from the year before, a 49% increase over a 5-year period, and a 75% increase over a 10-year period (Pew Research Center, 2022 ). Regarding school-based shootings, to date in 2022, there have been at least 95 incidents of gunfire on school premises, resulting in 40 deaths and 76 injuries (Everytown Research & Policy, 2022b ). Over the past few decades, school shootings in the USA have become relatively commonplace: there were more in 2021 than in any year since 1999, with the median age of perpetrators being 16 (Washington Post, 2022 ; see also, Katsiyannis et al., 2018a ). Additionally, analysis of Everytown’s Gunfire on School Grounds dataset and related studies point to several key observations to be considered in addressing this challenge. For example, 58% of perpetrators had a connection to the school, 70% were White males, 73 to 80% obtained guns from home or relatives or friends, and 100% exhibited warning signs or showed behavior that was of cause for concern; also, in 77% of school shootings, at least one person knew about the shooter’s plan before the shooting events occurred (Everytown Research & Policy, 2021a ).

The USA has had 57 times as many school shootings as all other major industrialized nations combined (Rowhani-Rahbar & Moe, 2019 ). Guns are the leading cause of death for children and teens in the USA, with children ages 5–14 being 21 times and adolescents and young adults ages 15–24 being 23 times more likely to be killed with guns compared to other high-income countries. Furthermore, Black children and teens are 14 times and Latinx children and teens are three times more likely than White children to die by guns (Everytown Research & Policy, 2021b ). Children exposed to violence, crime, and abuse face a host of adverse challenges, including abuse of drugs and alcohol, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, school failure, and involvement in criminal activity (Cabral et al., 2021 ; Everytown Research and Policy, 2022b ; Finkelhor et al., 2013 ).

Yet, despite gun violence being considered a pressing social and public health issue, federal legislation passed in 1996 has resulted in restricting funding for the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The law stated that no funding earmarked for injury prevention and control may be used to advocate or promote firearm control (Kellermann & Rivara, 2013 ). More recently, in June 2022, the US Supreme Court struck down legislation restricting gun possession and open carry rights (New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn., Inc. v. Bruen, 2021 ), broadening gun rights and increasing the risk of gun violence in public spaces. Nonetheless, according to Everytown Research & Policy ( 2022a ), states with strong gun laws experience fewer deaths per capita. In the aggregate, states with weaker gun laws (i.e., laws that are more permissive) experience 20.0 gun deaths per 100,000 residents versus 7.4 per 100,000 in states with stronger laws. The association between gun law strength and per capita death is stark (see Table ​ Table1 1 ).

Gun law strength and gun law deaths per 100,000 residents

Accounting for the top eight and the bottom eight states in gun law strength, gun law strength and gun deaths per 100,000 are correlated at r  =  − 0.85. Stronger gun laws are thus meaningfully linked with fewer deaths per capita. Data obtained from Everytown Research & Policy ( 2022a )

Notwithstanding the publicity involving gun shootings in schools, particularly mass shootings, violence in schools has been steadily declining. For example, in 2020, students aged 12–18 experienced 285,400 victimizations at school and 380,900 victimizations away from school; an annual decrease of 60% for school victimizations (from 2019 to 2020) (Irwin et al., 2022 ). Similarly, youth arrests in general in 2019 were at their lowest level since at least 1980; between 2010 and 2019, the number of juvenile arrests fell by 58%. Yet, arrests for murder increased by 10% (Puzzanchera, 2021 ).

In response to school violence in general, and school shootings in particular, schools have increasingly relied on increased security measures, school resource officers (SROs), and zero tolerance policies (including exclusionary and aversive measures) in their attempts to curb violence and enhance school safety. In 2019–2020, public schools reported controlled access (97%), the use of security cameras (91%), and badges or picture IDs (77%) to promote safety. In addition, high schools (84%), middle schools (81%), and elementary schools (55%) reported the presence of SROs (Irwin et al., 2022 ). Research, however, has indicated that the presence of SROs has not resulted in a reduction of school shooting severity, despite their increased prevalence. Rather, the type of firearm utilized in school shootings has been closely associated with the number of deaths and injuries (Lemieux, 2014 ; Livingston et al., 2019 ), suggesting implications for reconsideration of the kinds of firearms to which individuals have access.

Zero tolerance policies, though originally intended to curtail gun violence in schools, have expanded to cover a host of incidents (e.g., threats, bullying). Notwithstanding these intentions, these policies are generally ineffective in preventing school violence, including school shootings (American Psychological Association Zero Tolerance Task Force, 2008 ; Losinski et al., 2014 ), and have exacerbated the prevalence of youths’ interactions with law enforcement in schools. From the 2015–2016 to the 2017–2018 school years, there was a 5% increase in school-related arrests and a 12% increase in referrals to law enforcement (U.S. Department of Education, 2021 ); in 2017–18, about 230,000 students were referred to law enforcement and over 50,000 were arrested (The Center for Public Integrity, 2021 ). Law enforcement referrals have been a persistent concern aiding the school-to-prison pipeline, often involving non-criminal offenses and disproportionally affecting students from non-White backgrounds as well as students with disabilities (Chan et al., 2021 ; The Center for Public Integrity, 2021 ).

The consequences of these policies are thus far-reaching, with not only legal ramifications, but social-emotional and academic ones as well. For example, in 2017–2018, students missed 11,205,797 school days due to out-of-school suspensions during that school year (U.S. Department of Education, 2021 ), there were 96,492 corporal punishment incidents, and 101,990 students were physically restrained, mechanically restrained, or secluded (U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights, 2020 ). Such exclusionary and punitive measures have long-lasting consequences for the involved students, including academic underachievement, dropout, delinquency, and post-traumatic stress (e.g., Cholewa et al., 2018 ). Moreover, these consequences disproportionally affect culturally and linguistically diverse students and students with disabilities (Skiba et al., 2014 ; U.S. General Accountability Office, 2018 ), often resulting in great societal costs (Rumberger & Losen, 2017 ).

In the USA, mass killings involving guns occur approximately every 2 weeks, while school shootings occur every 4 weeks (Towers et al., 2015 ). Given the apparent and continued rise in gun violence, mass shootings, and school mass shootings, we aimed in this paper to reexamine rates of intentional firearm deaths, mass shootings, and school mass shootings in the USA using data from the past 5 years, 2017–2022, reappraising our analyses given the time that had passed since our earlier examination of the issue (Katsiyannis et al., 2018a , b ).

As noted in Katsiyannis et al., ( 2018a , b ), gun violence, mass shootings, and school shootings have been a part of the American way of life for generations. Such shootings have grown exponentially in both frequency and mortality rate since the 1980s. Using the same criteria applied in our previous work (Katsiyannis et al., 2018a , b ), we evaluated the frequency of shootings, mass shootings, and school mass school shootings from January 2017 through mid-July 2022. Extant data regarding shooting deaths from 2017 through 2020 were obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, utilizing the web-based injury statistics query and reporting system (WISQARS), and for school shootings from 2017 to 2022 from Everytown Research & Policy ( https://everytownresearch.org ), an independent non-profit organization that researches and communicates with policymakers and the public about gun violence in the USA. Intentional firearm death data were classified by age, as outlined in Katsiyannis et al., ( 2018a , b ), and the crude rate was calculated by dividing the number of deaths times 100,000, by the total population for each individual category.

The number of intentional firearm deaths and the crude death rates increased from 2017 to 2020 in all age categories. In absolute terms, the number of deaths rose from 14,496 in 2017 to 19,308 in 2020. In accord with this rise in the absolute number of deaths, crude death rates rose from 4.47 in 2017 to 5.88 in 2020. Table ​ Table2 2 provides the crude death rate in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020, the most current years with data available. Figure  1 provides the raw number of deaths across the same time period.

Intentional firearm deaths across the USA (2017–2020)

Data obtained from WISQARS (2022)

Intentional firearm deaths across the USA (2017–2020). Note. Data obtained from WISQARS (2022)

As expected, in 2020, the number of fatal firearm injuries increased sharply from age 0–11 years, roughly elementary school age, to age 12–18 years, roughly middle school and high school age. Table ​ Table3 3 provides the crude death rates of children in 2020 who die from firearms. Males outnumbered females in every category of firearm deaths, including homicide, police violence, suicide, and accidental shootings, as well as for undetermined reasons for firearm discharge. Black males drastically surpassed all other children in the number of firearm deaths (2.91 per 100,000 0–11-year-olds; 57.10 per 100,000 12–18-year-olds). Also, notable is the high number of Black children 12–18 years killed by guns (32.37 per 100,000), followed by American Indian and Alaska Native children (18.87 per 100,000), in comparison to White children (12.40 per 100,000 children), Hispanic/Latinx children (8.16 per 100,000), and Asian and Pacific Islander children (2.95 per 100,000). A disproportionate number of gun deaths were also seen for Black girls relative to other girls (1.52 per 100,000 0–11-year-olds; 7.01 per 100,000 12–18-year-olds).

Fatal firearm injuries for children age 0–18 across the USA in 2020

  AN Alaska Native; – indicates 20 or fewer cases

Mass shootings and mass shooting deaths increased from 2017 to 2019, decreased in 2020, and then increased again in 2021. School shootings made a sharp decline in 2020—understandably so, given the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent government or locally mandated school shutdowns—but rose again sharply in 2021. Current rates reveal a continued increase, with numbers at the beginning of 2022 already exceeding those of 2017. School mass shooting counts were relatively low between 2017 through 2022, with four total during that time frame. Figure  2 provides raw numbers for mass shootings, school shootings, and school mass shootings from 2017 through 2022. Importantly, figures from the recent Uvalde, TX, school mass shooting at Robb Elementary School had not yet been recorded in the relevant databases at the time of this writing. With those deaths accounted for, 2022 is already the deadliest year for school mass shootings in the past 5 years.

Mass shootings, school shootings, and mass school shootings across the USA (2017–2022). Note. Data obtained from Everytown Research and Policy. Overlap present between all three categories

Gun violence in the USA, particularly mass shootings on the grounds of public schools, continues to be a pressing social and public health issue. Recent data suggest continued upward trends in school shootings, school mass shootings, and related deaths over the past 5 years—patterns that disturbingly mirror general gun violence and intentional shooting deaths in the USA across the same time period. The impacts on our nation’s youth are profound. Notably, gun violence disproportionately affects boys, especially Black boys, with much higher gun deaths per capita for this group than for any other group of youth. Likewise, Black girls are disproportionately affected compared to girls from other ethnic/racial groups. Moreover, while the COVID-19 pandemic and school shutdowns tempered gun violence in schools at least somewhat during the 2020 school year—including school shootings and school mass shootings—trend data show that gun violence rates are still continuing to rise. Indeed, gun violence deaths resulting from school shootings are at their highest recorded levels ever (Irwin et al., 2022 ).

Implications for Schools: Curbing School Violence

In recent years, the implementation of Multi-Tier Systems and Supports (MTSS), including Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and Response to Intervention (RTI), has resulted in improved school climate and student engagement as well as improved academic and behavioral outcomes (Elrod et al., 2022 ; Santiago-Rosario et al., 2022 ; National Center for Learning Disabilities, n.d.). Such approaches have implications for reducing school violence as well. PBIS uses a tiered framework intended to improve student behavioral and academic outcomes; it creates positive learning environments through the implementation of evidence-based instructional and behavioral interventions, guided by data-based decision-making and allocation of students across three tiers. In Tier 1, schools provide universal supports to all students in a proactive manner; in Tier 2, supports are aimed to students who need additional academic, behavioral, or social-emotional intervention; and in Tier 3, supports are provided in an intensive and individualized manner (Lewis et al., 2010 ). The implementation of PBIS has resulted in an improved school climate, fewer office referrals, and reductions in out-of-school suspensions (Bradshaw et al., 2010 ; Elrod et al.,  2010 , 2022 ; Gage et al., 2018a , 2018b ; Horner et al., 2010 ; Noltemeyer et al., 2019 ). Likewise, RTI aims to improve instructional outcomes through high-quality instruction and universal screening for students to identify learning challenges and similarly allocates students across three tiers. In Tier 1, schools implement high-quality classroom instruction, screening, and group interventions; in Tier 2, schools implement targeted interventions; and in Tier 3, schools implement intensive interventions and comprehensive evaluation (National Center for Learning Disabilities, n.d ). RTI implementation has resulted in improved academic outcomes (e.g., reading, writing) (Arrimada et al., 2022 ; Balu et al., 2015 ; Siegel, 2020 ) and enhanced school climate and student behavior.

In order to support students’ well-being, enhance school climate, and support reductions in behavioral issues and school violence, schools should consider the implementation of MTSS, reducing reliance on exclusionary and aversive measures such as zero tolerance policies, seclusion and restraints, corporal punishment, or school-based law enforcement referrals and arrests (see Gage et al., in press ). Such approaches and policies are less effective than the use of MTSS, exacerbate inequities and enhance disproportionality (particularly for youth of color and students with disabilities), and have not been shown to reduce violence in schools.

Implications for Students: Ensuring Physical Safety and Supporting Mental Health

Students should not have to attend school and fear becoming victims of violence in general, no less gun violence in particular. Schools must ensure the physical safety of their students. Yet, as the substantial number of school shootings continues to rise in the USA, so too does concern about the adverse impacts of violence and gun violence on students’ mental health and well-being. Students are frequently exposed to unavoidable and frightening images and stories of school violence (Child Development Institute, n.d. ) and are subject to active shooter drills that may not actually be effective and, in some cases, may actually induce trauma (Jetelina, 2022 ; National Association of School Psychologists & National Association of School Resources Officers, 2021 ; Wang et al., 2020 ). In turn, students struggle to process and understand why these events happen and, more importantly, how they can be prevented (National Association of School Psychologists, 2015 ). School personnel should be prepared to support the mental health needs of students, both in light of the prevalence of school gun violence and in the aftermath of school mass shootings.

Research provides evidence that traumatic events, such as school mass shootings, can and do have mental health consequences for victims and members of affected communities, leading to an increase in post-traumatic stress syndrome, depression, and other psychological systems (Lowe & Galea, 2017 ). At the same time, high media attention to such events indirectly exposes and heightens feelings of fear, anxiety, and vulnerability in students—even if they did not attend the school where the shooting occurred (Schonfeld & Demaria, 2020 ). Students of all ages may experience adjustment difficulties and engage in avoidance behaviors (Schonfeld & Demaria, 2020 ). As a result, school personnel may underestimate a student’s distress after a shooting and overestimate their resilience. In addition, an adult’s difficulty adjusting in the wake of trauma may also threaten a student’s sense of well-being because they may believe their teachers cannot provide them with the protection they need to remain safe in school (Schonfeld & Demaria, 2020 ).

These traumatic events have resounding consequences for youth development and well-being. However, schools continue to struggle to meet the demands of student mental health needs as they lack adequate funding for resources, student support services, and staff to provide the level of support needed for many students (Katsiyannis et al., 2018a ). Despite these limiting factors, children and youth continue to look to adults for information and guidance on how to react to adverse events. An effective response can significantly decrease the likelihood of further trauma; therefore, all school personnel must be prepared to talk with students about their fears, to help them feel safe and establish a sense of normalcy and security in the wake of tragedy (National Association of School Psychologists, 2016 ). Research suggests a number of strategies can be utilized by educators, school leaders, counselors, and other mental health professionals to support the students and staff they serve.

Recommendations for Educators

The National Association of School Psychologists ( 2016 ) recommends the following practices for educators to follow in response to school mass shootings. Although a complex topic to address, the issue needs to be acknowledged. In particular, educators should designate time to talk with their students about the event, and should reassure students that they are safe while validating their fears, feelings, and concerns. Recognizing and stressing to students that all feelings are okay when a tragedy occurs is essential. It is important to note that some students do not wish to express their emotions verbally. Other developmentally appropriate outlets, such as drawing, writing, reading books, and imaginative play, can be utilized. Educators should also provide developmentally appropriate explanations of the issue and events throughout their conversations. At the elementary level, students need brief, simple answers that are balanced with reassurances that schools are safe and that adults are there to protect them. In the secondary grades, students may be more vocal in asking questions about whether they are truly safe and what protocols are in place to protect them at school. To address these questions, educators can provide information related to the efforts of school and community leaders to ensure school safety. Educators should also review safety procedures and help students to identify at least one adult in the building to whom they can go if they feel threatened or at risk. Limiting exposure to media and social media is also important, as developmentally inappropriate information can cause anxiety or confusion. Educators should also maintain a normal routine by keeping a regular school schedule.

Recommendations for School Leaders

Superintendents, principals, and other school administrative personnel are looked upon to provide leadership and comfort to staff, students, and parents during a tragedy. Reassurance can be provided by reiterating safety measures and student supports that are in place in their district and school (The National Association of School Psychologists, 2015 ). The NASP recommends the following practices for school leaders regarding addressing student mental health needs directly. First, school leaders should be a visible, welcoming presence by greeting students and visiting classrooms. School leaders should also communicate with the school community, including parents and students, about their efforts to maintain safe and caring schools through clear behavioral expectations, positive behavior interventions and supports, and crisis planning preparedness. This can include the development of press releases for broad dissemination within the school community. School leaders should also provide crisis training and professional development for staff, based upon assessments of needs and targeted toward identified knowledge or skill gaps. They should also ensure the implementation of violence prevention programs and curricula in school and review school safety policies and procedures to ensure that all safety issues are adequately covered in current school crisis plans and emergency response procedures.

Recommendations for Counselors and Mental Health Professionals

School counselors offer critical assistance to their buildings’ populations as they experience crises or respond to emergencies (American School Counselor Association, 2019 ; Brown, 2020 ). Two models that stand out in the literature utilized by counselors in the wake of violent events are the Preparation, Action, Recovery (PAR) model and the Prevent and prepare; Reaffirm; Evaluate; provide interventions and Respond (PREPaRE) model. PREPaRE is the only comprehensive, nationally available training curriculum created by educators for educators (The National Association of School Psychologists, n.d. ). Although beneficial, neither the PAR nor PREPaRE model directly addresses school counselors’ responses to school shootings when their school is directly affected (Brown, 2020 ). This led to the development of the School Counselor’s Response to School Shootings-Framework of Recommendations (SCRSS-FR) model, which includes six stages, each of which has corresponding components for school counselors who have lived through a school mass shooting. Each of these models provides the necessary training to school-employed mental health professionals on how to best fill the roles and responsibilities generated by their membership on school crisis response teams (The National Association of School Psychologists, n.d. ).

Other Implications: Federal and State Policy

Recent events at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX, prompted the US Congress to pass landmark legislation intended to curb gun violence, enhancing background checks for prospective gun buyers who are under 21 years of age as well as allowing examination of juvenile records beginning at age 16, including health records related to prospective gun buyers’ mental health. Additionally, this legislation provides funding that will allow states to implement “red flag laws” and other intervention programs while also strengthening laws related to the purchase and trafficking of guns (Cochrane, 2022 ). Yet, additional legislation reducing or eliminating access to assault rifles and other guns with large capacity magazines, weapons that might easily be deemed “weapons of mass destruction,” is still needed (Interdisciplinary Group on Preventing School & Community Violence, 2022 ; see also Flannery et al., 2021 ). In 2019, the US Congress started to appropriate research funding to support research on gun violence, with $25 million in equal shares provided on an annual basis from both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health (Roubein, 2022 ; Wan, 2019 ). Additional research is, of course, still needed.

Despite legislative progress, and while advancements in gun legislation are meaningful and have the potential to aid in the reduction of gun violence in the USA, school shootings and school mass shootings are something schools and students will contend with in the months and years ahead. This reality has serious implications for schools and for students, points that need serious consideration. Therefore, it is imperative that gun violence is framed as a pressing national public health issue deserving attention, with drastic steps needed to curb access to assault rifles and guns with high-capacity magazines, based on extensive and targeted research. As noted, Congress, after many years of inaction, has started to appropriate funds to address this issue. However, the level of funding is still minimal in light of the pressing challenge that gun violence presents. Furthermore, the messaging of conservative media, the National Rifle Association (NRA) and republican legislators framing access to all and any weapons—including assault rifles—as a constitutional right under the second amendment bears scrutiny. Indeed, the second amendment denotes that “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Security of the nation is arguably the intent of the amendment, an intent that is clearly violated as evidenced in the ever-increasing death toll associated with gun violence in the USA.

Whereas federal legislation would be preferable, the possibility of banning assault weapons is remote (in light of recent Congressional action). Similarly, state action has been severely curtailed in light of the US Supreme Court’s decision regarding New York state law. However, data on gun fatalities and injuries, the correspondence of gun violence to laws regulating access across the world and states, and failed security measures such as armed guards posted in schools (e.g., Robb Elementary School) must be consistently emphasized. Additionally, the widespread sense of immunity for gun manufacturers should be tested in the same manner that tobacco manufacturers and opioid pharmaceuticals have been. The success against such tobacco and opioid manufacturers, once unthinkable, is a powerful precedent to consider for how the threat of gun violence against public health might be addressed.

Author Contribution

AK conceived of and designed the study and led the writing of the manuscript. LJR collaborated on the study design, contributed to the writing of the study, and contributed to the editing of the final manuscript. DKW analyzed the data and wrote up the results. SNS contributed to the writing of the study.

Declarations

The authors declare no competing interests.

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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The Impact of School Shootings on American Students: A Research Paper and a Play

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School Shooting - Essay Samples And Topic Ideas For Free

School shootings are tragic events wherein gun violence occurs within an educational institution. Essays on school shootings could explore the sociopolitical, psychological, and cultural factors contributing to these occurrences, as well as the impact on communities and policy discourse surrounding gun control and school safety. Additionally, discussions might cover preventative measures, crisis response, and the long-term psychological and social implications of school shootings. A substantial compilation of free essay instances related to School Shooting you can find in Papersowl database. You can use our samples for inspiration to write your own essay, research paper, or just to explore a new topic for yourself.

Prevention of School Shootings

Out of the 235 mass shootings that occured in 2018, 23 of them took place at schools. School shootings are becoming more common today than they were before. Many people believe that something must be done to prevent these shootings. People want to know how many times do school shootings need to happen before something is finally done. The U.S has had back to back school shootings in 2018. It doesn't seem like this phenomenon is slowing down any, so […]

School Shootings and Gun Control

Killing people for pleasure or killing people because a person has mental problem should be an issue to look into. Gun control in schools are a dangerous and devastatin. Kids who go through shootings/ anxiety and PTSD. Gun control in schools and why it should not be a law. Gun controls in schools is a big problem and should be addressed by the community and the state. The history behind guns and gun control can be very interesting. Gun control […]

Do Video Games Promote Violence?

The Internet is rife with articles about the potentially harmful consequences of play. Psychologists and parents have been arguing the pros and cons of this topic for decades now namely whether video games encourage violence, social isolation and obesity, or on the other hand, promote cognitive growth, perception, care, memory and decision-making. Questions flood our mind making it near impossible to truly answer that question: Can a video game truly promote a violent glimpse into a future reality? Summarized below […]

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School Shootings as a Serious Social Problem in America

From coast to coast, we are recovering from recent school shootings, leaving devastating impacts on all Americans. Ask yourself, how many more school shootings do we need before we start talking about this as a social problem, and not merely a random collection of isolated incidents? Society has proven that school shootings can happen anywhere, at any time, and can happen to students of all ages, ethnicity, and religions, as well as teachers and administrators. Small, rural villages have had […]

Effects of School Shootings

School shootings has only recently become a national concern. Just in the past few years' school shootings have become almost ""normal"" and many people will agree with that statement. There are people who believe that those who commit the school shootings are actually victims themselves, and have been bullied. Others believe there is no correlation between the students who do the school shootings because they believe they grew up in a supportive family, with no significant family issues. Within this […]

Violence and Video Games

The latest debate that is long standing in country today is the big debate does or is video games harmful to our children. Do they allow our children to become harmful to their selves or others, there have been studies internationally looking at the ages from nine to nineteen from 2010 to 2017, over 17,000 adolescents found playing video games led to increased physical behavior over time. There were 24 studies done from countries including U.S., Canada, Germany and Japan […]

Political Solutions to the Epidemic Crisis of Mass Shootings and School Shootings

Abstract There have been a numerous amount of mass shootings and school shootings over the last few years. This paper identifies three possible solutions to the political problem, stating both the pros of all three solutions and the flaws found within two solutions. First, Congress passing a law requiring people to have mental evaluations before purchasing a gun as studies show more than half of the incidents that have occurred the perpetrators have physiological instability. Second, a Federal law that […]

Will School Shootings Ever End?

Numerous school shootings that have been reported have made parents fear for their child's life. Many students are intimidated and are traumatized from being bullied. Parents go about their lives providing the safety their children need and when something bad happens at their child's school, they question whether they should send their kids to school or not. If schools aren't safe, as some researchers say, then is there any place in the world for anyone to be safe? Much research […]

Examining the Deep Impact of U.S. Gun Violence on American Society

U.S. gun violence has had put a struggle on american living and the quality of it. Its put America into a spiral of fear, a lot of people don't know the extent of how its effecting are lives and the way we live. Schools have built there security, airports and all other large businesses and or public businesses have also done the same. Laws have been getting stricter and stricter but simply some people just dont listen and obey those […]

School Shootings in America

Why Do the Shooters Shoot? In this paper, I will select a crime to examine and analyze sociologically. I will also suggest a remedy for addressing this social problem at either a local or national level using sociological ideas and previous examples of intervention to justify my argument. One of the most disturbing and researched crimes in America is a mass shootings, particularly – school shootings. The endless reasons for these crimes have lawmakers and enforcement officials, throughout the country, […]

School Shooting and the Impact on the Survivor’s Mental Health

Abstract This research paper focuses on the worst school shootings in the United States and their impact. It provides readers with a brief description of each tragedy, background information on the shooter, and the undetected impact on the survivors. I was able to use various news outlets, such as CNN, ABC, Youtube, Nightline, and other reliable sources to gain knowledge on this topic. Due to recent incidents that took place in my community, I could relate to the subject matter […]

Why Gun Violence Increasing

Gun violence has had a drastic increase over the years, leaving the United States desperate for laws to be implemented concerning the well-being and safety of citizens. Terrifying events surrounding gun violence have left researchers with no option but to investigate gun laws and regulations. Only some states require permits in order to purchase a firearm and background checks are required by federal law to anyone purchasing a gun as well. A citizen at the age of 21 is legal […]

School Shootings: what Can we Do?

Why are school shootings so common in the United States? Students shouldn't be scared to go to school and parents shouldn't have to worry when sending their children off to school every day. Are there ways to reduce the number of school shootings for the future? Some researchers believe that there may be warning signs to look out for in assassins that have malignant fantasies before they commit the pending crime (Robertz). Observing these actions and identifying them as warning […]

School Shootings are Devastating

“The national conversation since the February 14 Parkland, Florida, school shooting that left 17 people dead has been dominated by gun control.” (Burger 1) This quote shows how school shootings are devastating because 17 students or teachers died in the Florida shooting. Numerous people have died in school shootings. The first school shooting to ever happen in the US was on July 26, 1764, in Pennsylvania. A school master was killed following nine or ten children that also died, only […]

Is Arming Teachers Really the Best Solution to School Shootings?

School shootings have been happening more and more frequently over the past few months. There's been many debates on why school shootings are happening, how we could stop them or at least reduce the problem, and overall how we can keep students more safe. However, guns are not the solution. Many school shootings happen throughout the school day and most of the time the shooter is someone who either went to the school or still attends. Many people say it […]

School Shootings are Bad

Everyone is concerned about mass shootings. I think everyone in the country can agree that they are horrible, and we all wish they'd never happen again. Unfortunately they will continue to happen and may increase in frequency. There is a large group of Americans who feel like gun control and confiscation is the answer. While I agree that it's important to prevent or minimize the casualties of future shootings, I strongly disagree with the above mentioned method. The constitution guarantees […]

Research on Video Games and Violence

The day and age we live in are getting more violent and aggressive. Since 2013 there have been at least 300 school shootings. As of 2018, there have been at least ten school shootings. As a result, parents and others have blamed the increase of such horrific acts on violent video games. Some of these video games may include the widely known "Call of Duty franchise, "Halo, "Grand Theft Auto, and "Destiny. Though video games may be correlational to violence […]

The Tragedies of High School Shootings

It is heartbreaking and horrifying feeling when we watch young students on TV or in person running out of their schools, fearful for their lives to be taken away. School shootings are terrifying incidents that make us wonder what if we or our loved ones may face these types of situations. People have been calling for an action to address the increasing number of mass school shootings in the United States during the past decades. In one study that was […]

Arming Teachers and School Shooting

Imagine it is one-thirty in the afternoon and you are walking through a busy high school. You are likely imagining hearing the melody of children laughing, lockers closing, and feet shuffling through the hallways. The last thing you are expecting to hear is running, screaming and the ringing of bullets flying through halls. Now stop imagining, as a result of the increase of guns in America this nightmare has become a reality. Students already have enough to worry about, on […]

Eric Harris School Shooting

On April 20,1999, 17-year-old Dylan Klebold and 18-year-old Eric Harris committed a mass shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. At 11:10, “The two then walked into the school cafeteria, where they placed two duffel bags each containing a 20-pound propane bomb set to explode at 11:17 a.m.” (History.com, 2009) These students entered the school around 11:00am and killed 13 people, injured over 20 people, and then ended the massacre by committing suicide. These boys are classified as mass […]

Effect of School Shooting in Florida

School shootings have become more common over the years, in 2018 alone there have been seven school shootings. There have been a total of fifty-seven school shootings in thirty-six different countries between 2000 and 2010 (Chicago Tribune). School shootings have lead to both social and political change. There have been several studies regarding the attendance as well as the performance of the students academically. The Florida school shootings have lead to a change in New York politics and has led […]

Combating Gun Violence

A school shooting is an attack at an educational institution, such as a school or university, involving the use of firearms. The first recorded school shooting in the United States took place in 1840, when a law student shot and killed his professor at the University of Virginia. Despite that crime rates in the United States are declining, and homicide specifically is especially rare, many people believe that school shootings are becoming epidemic, occurring more frequently than the have in […]

Tragedy and the Meaning of School Shootings

""The phenomenon referred to as ""school shootings"" pertains mainly to those shootings where the school is deliberately chosen as the site of violence, the violence is perpetrated by a current or former student, and the targets are chosen symbolically or at random with the intention of causing as many deaths as possible"" (Travers, McDonagh & Elklit, 2018). One of the most recent concerns in education today is school safety protocols to prohibit an intruder. Over the past few decades, school […]

School Shootings have Become a Big Problem after Columbine

Many schools employed security guards, installed metal detectors and cameras, and permitted teachers to be armed. However, doing this did not change most outcomes. The problem is not allowing people to enter, it is a problem within the school. Students do not even feel safe at schools anymore they believe they have to sneak in guns to protect themself, and parents fearing for their children as well. Teachers and parents should become aware of the symptoms (bullied, distanced, negativity, and […]

Today’s Real World Challenge: High School Shooting

  My topic is school shootings. School shootings are when someone invades a school or university and shoots (injures or kills) a student or faculty member of that school. I chose this topic because I feel that this is a real problem in the real world today that needs to stop. Innocent people are dying and being sent to hospitals for problems that they didn’t even start, that they aren’t even involved in. I also know that I would hate […]

Blatant Morals and School Shootings

With bullets flying claiming the lives of innocent students and wounding others in the process, a pool of emotions surfaces. In abundance, the community shouts(demands,questions,) for answers while grieving in pain. Dating back to the first reported school shootings that took place we stumble upon the gruesome discovery of the ""Enoch Brown"" massacre in 1764. ""Four Delaware (Lenape) American Indians entered the schoolhouse near present-day Greencastle, Pennsylvania, and shot and killed schoolmaster Enoch Brown and nine children (reports vary). Only […]

Students Protest and Addresses Gun Violence

A schools' biggest fear is having a shooter come onto campus. There has been so many incidents on the news that people are trying to find solutions for this issue. Students need to feel safe while they are learning. I have found three articles of school shootings that go into detail about what took place on those days. Each author has had an interesting stand-point about what should happen next. In this paper, i will be comparing the authors perspective […]

Rise of School Shootings

School shootings have been on the rise and are more prevalent than ever before. "In less than 18 years, we have already seen more deaths related to school shootings than in the whole 20th century. One alarming trend is that the overwhelming majority of 21st-century shooters were adolescents, suggesting that it is now easier for them to access guns, and that they more frequently suffer from mental health issues or limited conflict resolution skills,". (Katsiyannis et al., 2018) This leaves […]

The Impact of School Shootings

There has been a significant increase in school shootings. This has prompted the debate of whether metal detectors, security guards, and gated entrances should be utilized to enforce school safety. There is a decline in school shootings in certain states. These states have chosen to allow extended measures to increase school safety. Others argue that there is not enough money in the budget to spend on additional safety measures for school security. Should money be put aside for school safety […]

Persuasive Speech on Gun Control to Prevent School Shootings

It's called school, not a shooting range. Students should be focusing on their educations, not living in fear of being harmed in the environment they consider safe. According to CNN, "The US has had 57 times as many school shootings as the other major industrialized nations combined." If this isn't a glaring pointer that our gun laws must be updated and renovated to create a safer country for our successors, then what is? Every day, children go to school wondering […]

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How To Write an Essay About School Shooting

Introduction to the topic of school shootings.

When writing an essay about school shootings, it is crucial to approach the topic with sensitivity and a deep understanding of its complexity. School shootings are a tragic form of violence that have profound impacts on communities, families, and the public at large. In your introduction, it's important to define what constitutes a school shooting, acknowledging the gravity and sensitivity of the issue. Offer a brief overview of the increase in these incidents in recent years, setting the stage for a thoughtful exploration of their causes, impacts, and potential preventive measures. Your introduction should establish the tone for the essay, which should be respectful, informative, and reflective.

Examining the Causes and Motivations

The first major section of your essay should explore the potential causes and motivations behind school shootings. This involves delving into complex factors such as mental health issues, access to firearms, societal influences, and possible warning signs exhibited by perpetrators. It's important to present a balanced view, acknowledging that there is rarely a single cause for such actions and that they are the result of a combination of factors. Utilize relevant research, case studies, and expert analyses to support your discussion. This exploration should provide readers with a deeper understanding of the multifaceted nature of the problem, moving beyond simplistic explanations.

Impact on Communities and Policy Implications

Next, focus on the impact of school shootings on communities, survivors, and society at large. Discuss the immediate and long-term psychological, emotional, and social consequences these events have on students, teachers, families, and communities. Explore how school shootings influence public policy, particularly in relation to gun control, school safety measures, and mental health resources. Analyze different policy responses and their effectiveness, drawing from examples in various regions or countries. This section should highlight the ripple effect of school shootings, underscoring the importance of comprehensive and informed policy responses.

Concluding with Solutions and Reflections

Conclude your essay by summarizing the main points and offering reflections on potential solutions to prevent future school shootings. Discuss the importance of a multi-faceted approach that includes enhancing school security, improving mental health support for students, responsible gun ownership, and community awareness. Reflect on the societal changes necessary to address the root causes of such violence. Your conclusion should encourage readers to think critically about the issue and consider their role in contributing to safer school environments and communities. A well-crafted conclusion will not only bring closure to the essay but also inspire a sense of responsibility and hope for a future where school shootings are a thing of the past.

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Parkland School Shooting, One Year Later

School shooters: understanding their path to violence is key to prevention.

Rhitu Chatterjee

Credit: Ariel Davis for NPR

It's hard to empathize with someone who carries out a school shooting. The brutality of their crimes is unspeakable. Whether the shootings were in Uvalde, Columbine, or Parkland, they have traumatized students and communities across the U.S.

Psychologist John Van Dreal understands that. "Someone went out of their way to target and kill children who look like our children, teachers who look like our teachers — and did it for no other reason than to hurt them," says Van Dreal. "And that's very personal."

Van Dreal is the director of safety and risk management at Salem-Keizer Public Schools in Oregon, a state that has had its share of school shootings. In 2014, about 60 miles from Salem, where Van Dreal is based, a 15-year-old boy shot one student and a teacher at his high school before killing himself.

WATCH: In A Post-Parkland America, Teens Talk About Gun Culture

But even though it's hard, psychologists like Van Dreal and law enforcement agents as well spend a lot of time thinking about what it's like to be one of these school shooters. Understanding who the shooters are, they say, is key to prevention.

How many school shootings?

To gain insights, the interested parties look to the past.

Tallying up all shootings and instances of school violence is difficult , researchers say; there's no official count, and various organizations differ in their definitions of school shootings.

For example, an open source database put together by Mother Jones suggests there have been 12 mass shootings (where four or more people died) in schools since the Columbine High School shooting in Colorado in 1999, and 134 children and adults died in those attacks.

Here's How To Prevent The Next School Shooting, Experts Say

Psychologists and law enforcement agencies have been analyzing how these sorts of multivictim attacks came to be, because of what they tell us about many other people who are at risk of becoming violent in schools and the ways we might intervene early, before anger becomes violence.

In the two decades since the Columbine High School shooting, researchers have learned a lot about school shooters. For one thing, many are themselves students, or former students, at the schools they attack. A significant majority tend to be teenagers or young adults.

"There's no one thing, [but] maybe a couple of dozen different things that come together to put someone on the path to committing an act of mass violence," says Peter Langman , a clinical psychologist in Allentown, Pa., and the author of two books and several studies about school shootings.

Multiple factors contribute in each case

Most shooters in these cases had led difficult lives, the studies find.

"Adolescent school shooters, there's no question that they're struggling and there have been multiple failures in their lives," says Reid Meloy , a forensic psychologist who has consulted with the FBI.

Many struggle with psychological problems, Meloy says.

Criminal Justice Collaborative

Despite heightened fear of school shootings, it's not a growing epidemic.

"We know that mental health issues are very much in the mix," he says. "The child might be just, you know, very depressed. We also found in one of our early studies that you've got this curious combination of both depression and paranoia."

Studies by the FBI and the U.S. Secret Service have also found that many of the shooters were feeling desperate before the event.

"Whether or not they've been diagnosed, or whether or not they're severely mentally ill, something is going on that could [have been] addressed through some kind of treatment," says Langman.

But most never got that treatment.

The role of mental health problems

Mental health issues don't cause school shootings, Van Dreal emphasizes. After all, only a tiny, tiny percentage of kids with psychological issues go on to become school shooters.

But mental health problems are a risk factor, he says, because they can decrease one's ability to cope with other stresses. And studies have shown that most school shooters have led particularly stressful lives.

Many, though not all, of the perpetrators have experienced childhood traumas such as physical or emotional abuse, and unstable families , with violent, absent or alcoholic parents or siblings, for example. And most have experienced significant losses.

For example, the defendant in the case of the Parkland, Fla., shooting in 2018 had lost his adoptive mother to complications from the flu just a couple of months before the school attack. His adoptive father had died when he was a little boy.

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If you're often angry or irritable, you may be depressed.

Feeling like an outcast at school may also play a role. Initial media reports suggest that the perpetrator in Uvalde had been bullied and harassed at school for years for a speech impediment.

"A lot of these people have felt excluded, socially left out or rejected," says Van Dreal. Studies show that social rejection at school is associated with higher levels of anxiety, depression, aggression and antisocial behavior in children.

A 2004 study by the U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Department of Education found that nearly three-quarters of school shooters had been bullied or harassed at school.

Marginalized kids don't have anchors at school, says Van Dreal. "They don't have any adult connection — no one watching out for them. Or no one knows who they are anymore."

And the absence of social support at the school, Meloy says, is a big risk factor.

"People who do these kinds of targeted attacks don't feel very good about themselves or where they're headed in their lives," says Van Dreal. "They may wish someone would kill them. Or they may wish they could kill themselves."

For example, Dylan Klebold, one of the perpetrators of the Columbine shooting, had been depressed and suicidal two years prior.

"About half of the school shooters I've studied have died by suicide in their attack," says Langman. "It's often a mix of severe depression and anguish and desperation driving them to end their own lives."

Of course, most people who feel suicidal don't kill others.

This story is part of a series from NPR's Science desk called " The Other Side of Anger. " There's no question we are in angry times. It's in our politics, our schools and homes. Anger can be a destructive emotion but it can also be a positive force.

Join NPR in our exploration of anger and what we can learn from this powerful emotion. Read and listen to stories in the series here.

So what makes a small minority of kids who have mental health issues and thoughts of suicide turn to violence and homicide?

Meloy and Van Dreal think it's because these individuals had been struggling alone — either because they were unable to ask for help or their cries went unheard when the adults in their lives didn't realize the child needed support.

When despair turns to anger and a desire for revenge

When someone has been struggling alone for a while and failing, their despair can turn into anger, the researchers say.

"There's loss. There's humiliation. There's anger. There's blame," says Meloy.

That sort of anger can lead to homicidal thoughts, Van Dreal says.

They start out fantasizing about revenge, says Meloy.

"So the fantasy is one where the teenager starts to identify with other individuals who have become school shooters and have used violence," he says.

These days, Meloy adds, it's easy for a troubled kid to go online and research how previous shooters planned and executed their attacks.

Easy access to guns — one of the biggest risk factors — then turns these fantasies into reality.

Psychologists say these attacks can be prevented — they are often weeks or months in the planning.

The keys to prevention are to spot the earliest behavioral signs that a student is struggling, Langman says, and also to watch for signs that someone may be veering toward violence.

Some signs can seem obvious in hindsight. "So, I've stopped being the kid who went to Boy Scouts, and church and loved his grandmother," Van Dreal says, "and now I want to be that kid with camouflage who's isolated and attacks people and hurts them."

But sometimes, even professionals who see the signs miss their significance.

About a year and a half before he attacked students at Columbine High School, Dylan Klebold, who was a gifted student, started to get into trouble.

He and some friends hacked into his school's computer system. Then, a couple of months later, he and his friend Eric Harris broke into a van and stole some equipment. They were arrested at that point and sent to a diversion program — an alternative to jail for first-time juvenile offenders — that offered counseling and required community service.

Sue Klebold , Dylan's mother and subsequent author of the book A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy , told NPR she was upset and concerned to see the sudden change in her son's behavior. She says she asked the diversion counselor if his behavior meant something and whether he needed a therapist. The counselor asked Dylan if he wanted therapy and Dylan said no.

Sue Klebold says she never realized how deep the problem was.

"The piece that I think I failed [in] is, we tend to underestimate the level of pain that someone may be in," Klebold told NPR. "We all have a responsibility to stop and think — someone we love may be suffering, may be in a crisis."

Beware pitfalls in the search for a solution

The solution, according to psychologists who study kids who become violent, isn't to expel or suspend a student like Dylan — though that is what happened to him in the fall of 1997 after he hacked into his school's computer system.

A student like that who's expelled "can now be bored, can be isolated at home, can be living in a dysfunctional family and can be ruminating and thinking all the time about how he's going to avenge what has happened to him," says Meloy.

Eric Harris, who was Dylan Klebold's friend and fellow killer that day at Columbine, didn't seem depressed. But he was self-absorbed, lacked empathy and was prone to angry outbursts, according to those who analyzed his journals and earlier behavior.

While Klebold's journals were "full of loneliness and depression," Langman says, the writings of Harris were "full of narcissism and rage and rants against people — a lot of contempt."

Harris' contempt extended to himself. Significant surgeries during his early teen years to correct a birth condition contributed to self-loathing, Langman's study of Harris' journal suggests.

"I have always hated how I looked," Harris wrote in his journal. "That's where a lot of my hate grows from." In his last journal entry, Harris refers to himself as "the weird looking Eric KID."

"Anyone contemplating getting a gun and killing people needs to be seen as a person in crisis," says Langman.

Time and time again, psychologists and educators have found that surrounding a young person with the right kind of support and supervision early on can turn most away from violence.

Connecting with these students, listening to them and supporting them, getting them the help they need, these researchers say, can help prevent future attacks and make schools a safer place for all children.

• school shooting
• developmental psychology
• chronic stress
• gun violence

School Shootings: Conceptual Framework and International Empirical Trends

• First Online: 01 January 2012

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• Nils Böckler 5 ,
• Thorsten Seeger 6 ,
• Peter Sitzer 5 &
• Wilhelm Heitmeyer 6  

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An exploration of the phenomenology and global prevalence of school shootings, also serving as an introduction outlining the conceptual framework of the volume. The central approaches and terminology of school rampage research are introduced. An empirical survey of global prevalence reveals international trends and fundamental characteristics of perpetrators and attacks. The findings show that school shootings are a historically growing phenomenon occurring predominantly in modern Western societies, committed overwhelmingly by male adolescents at secondary schools. The chapter concludes with an overview of the contributions in the volume outlining the specific perspectives of each author.

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Contemporary Society and the Phenomenon of School Rampage Shootings in the United States: A Theoretical Approach to Understanding

Violence in the School Shooting Film

School Shootings in the U.S. – Where to Begin

Schülein ( 1998 , p. 96, translated) identifies a number of central requirements for interdisciplinary cooperation that appear exceptionally relevant in this connection: “Interdisciplinarity demands the capability to transcend boundaries and to tolerate transgressions. In other words, to accept that there are other ways of seeing the world and that others may relativize that which is central to one’s own perspective.” Such dialog is worthwhile and potentially extremely fruitful because innovative ideas and research activities can arise specifically out of controversy and interdisciplinary exchange (Dornes 2007 ). This observation can also be regarded as the motto for this book, which brings together authors from different countries, professions, and scientific disciplines to present their specific perspectives and findings for discussion.

Interestingly, more recent empirical research shows that (rampage) school shootings frequently mingle individual motives (such as personal revenge for experiences of humiliation) with ideological and political motivations, creating a complex set of motives that is not always clear-cut (Larkin 2009 ; Böckler and Seeger 2010 ; Muschert and Ragnedda 2010 ).

Note that this criterion excludes incidents committed by individuals who are not current or former students of the institution. Such cases are classified as general “classical rampage” (or, if the perpetrator is a teacher or other member of school staff, as “workplace violence”).

“Rampage” derives from the verb “to ramp,” meaning “rage, storm, rush about” ( Pocket Oxford Dictionary , 1978). Similarly the German term for rampage attack, “Amok,” originates etymologically from the Malay “amuk” meaning “frenzied” or “attacking furiously” (also the origin of the English term “to run amok”). The related Malay verb “mengamuk” designates a spontaneous violent attack on random victims (Faust 2007 ).

A serious methodological problem of data collection arises here. In many cases, the perpetrator’s exact motives are almost impossible to reconstruct reliably from media reports, making scientific quality criteria of reliability and validity hard to fulfill.

One central weakness of this operationalization is certainly its broad focus, encompassing cases that were long planned and involved a large number of victims (such as Columbine, Erfurt, or Blacksburg) alongside incidents of violence that occurred in affect and more or less spontaneously with a significantly smaller number of victims (e.g., Pinellas Park or the Campbell County High School shooting). To what extent these different constellations are based on similar socio- and psycho-dynamics is a matter for further research.

The following sources also turned out to be very useful: the National School Safety Center’s school-associated deaths database (United States; lists only cases since 1992), the privately-run website www.columbine-angels.com , and the free online encyclopedia Wikipedia. Information from the latter two sources was included only if confirmed elsewhere (newspaper reports, etc.).

2000s: Figures for 2001–2010.

Placing the number of school shootings in relation to the total student population further relativizes the findings and shows them in a more realistic light. For example, there were about 11.7 million students at general and vocational schools in Germany in 2009/2010 (Statistisches Bundesamt 2010 ), and two recorded school rampage attacks in 2009, putting the percentage of perpetrators in the school population at 0.07%.

Muschert and Peguero ( 2010 , p. 119) refer to a “Columbine effect”: “a term that refers to how school rampage shootings change the way we think about school violence and security.”

Nevertheless, the probability of a child or adolescent being killed in a school shooting remains minuscule. In the United States, as the country with by far the largest number of cases, less than 1% of murders of young people aged between 5 and 18 years occur in the school context (Modzeleski et al. 2008 ).

This underlines the absence of a specific profile of attack or perpetrator (O’Toole 1999 ; Vossekuil et al. 2002 ; Borum et al. 2010 ). Instead, cases must be regarded as heterogeneous and subjected to accordingly differentiated analysis (Hoffmann 2007 ; Scheithauer and Bondü 2011 ). Using the empirical data, it may prove possible to develop subtypes or a typology of incidents and perpetrators (see also Langman in this volume).

Three of the 120 recorded incidents involved two perpetrators.

The age of 7 of the 123 perpetrators could not be ascertained. One was just 11 years old.

Empirical findings to date suggest that most school shooters were academically good or very good at school. According to Vossekuil et al. ( 2002 ), only 5% were failing in advance of their attacks. This says nothing, however, about subjective experience of pressure to achieve that perpetrators may have found stressful or burdensome. Heitmeyer ( 2002 ) points out that adolescents from prosperous and achievement-orientated backgrounds are often under considerable parental pressure to at least maintain the social status of their family (see also Heitmeyer et al. 1998 ). School shooters generally come from white middle-class families that are lacking in support and emotional recognition (McGee and DeBernardo 1999 ; O’Toole 1999 ; Fast 2008 ). These observations suggest that further research on perpetrators’ family relationships would also be worthwhile.

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Böckler, N., Seeger, T., Sitzer, P., Heitmeyer, W. (2013). School Shootings: Conceptual Framework and International Empirical Trends. In: Böckler, N., Seeger, T., Sitzer, P., Heitmeyer, W. (eds) School Shootings. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5526-4_1

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School Shootings, Protests, and the Gun Culture in the United States

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Susan Olzak, School Shootings, Protests, and the Gun Culture in the United States, Social Forces , Volume 102, Issue 1, September 2023, Pages 116–138, https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soad019

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Scholars document that attitudes toward guns and gun policy reflect deeply entrenched cultures that overlap with ideological affiliations and party politics. Does exposure to dramatic events such as school shootings and protests regarding gun control affect these patterns? I explore two aspects of the gun culture: attitudes favoring (or rejecting) stricter gun policies and the number of memberships in a key organization supporting the expansion of gun rights, the National Rifle Association (NRA). I first argue that school shootings are significant triggering events that become associated with attitudes favoring gun restrictions. A second argument holds that while triggering events such as school shootings reinvigorate the growth of a gun-rights organization, school shootings that are also accompanied by gun-control protests will decrease growth in that organization. To examine these ideas, I combine information from national exit poll data on respondents’ attitudes toward gun policy with state-level information on the counts of recent school shootings, gun-policy protests, existing laws restricting gun use, and membership in the NRA. To minimize problems associated with observational data, the analysis of public opinion applies Coarsened Exact Matching techniques followed by analysis using mixed-level logit. The second analysis uses data on gun control protests, school shootings, and NRA memberships in states over time. Results show that conservatives (but not liberals) exposed to more school shootings favor more restrictive gun policies. The second, longitudinal analysis found that there is a significant interaction effect between increases in school shootings and gun control protests that diminishes NRA memberships significantly.

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Home > Theses and Dissertations > Honors Theses > 1345

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Understanding school shootings using qualitatively-informed natural language processing.

Quan K. Do , University of Central Florida Follow

Prior literature has investigated the connection between school shootings and factors of familial trauma and mental health. Specifically, experiences related to parental suicide, physical or sexual abuse, neglect, marital violence, or severe bullying have been associated with a propensity for carrying out a mass shooting. Given prior research has shown common histories among school shooters, it follows that a person's violent tendencies can be revealed by their previous communications with others, thus aiding in predicting an individual's proclivity for school shootings. However, previous literature found no conclusions were drawn from online posts made by the shooters prior to the mass shootings. This thesis applies NVivo-supported thematic analysis and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to study school shootings by comparing the online speech patterns of known school terrorists versus those of non-violent extremists and ordinary teenagers online. Findings indicate that out of all the possible NLP indicators, conversation, HarmVice, negative tone, and conflict are the most suitable school shootings indicators. Ordinary people score eight times higher than known school shooters and online extremists in conversation. Known shooters score more than 14 times higher in HarmVice, than in both ordinary people and online extremists. Known shooters also score higher in negative tone (1.37 times higher than ordinary people and 1.78 times higher than online extremists) and conflict (more than three times higher than ordinary people and 1.8 times higher than online extremists). The implications for domestic violence prediction and prevention can be used to protect citizens inside educational infrastructure by linking the flagged accounts to the schools or colleges that they attend. Further research is needed to determine the severity of emotional coping displayed in online posts, as well as the amount of information and frequency with which weapons and killing are discussed.

Thesis Completion

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Amon, Mary Jean

Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering (B.S.I.E.)

College of Undergraduate Studies

Interdisciplinary Studies

Degree Program

Industrial Engineering

Access Status

Open Access

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Recommended citation.

Do, Quan K., "Understanding School Shootings Using Qualitatively-Informed Natural Language Processing" (2023). Honors Undergraduate Theses . 1345. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/honorstheses/1345

Since May 18, 2023

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Digital Commons @ USF > Office of Graduate Studies > USF Graduate Theses and Dissertations > USF Tampa Theses and Dissertations > 6866

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

School shootings in the united states from 1997 to 2012: a content analysis of media coverage.

Victoria N. Iannuzzi , University of South Florida Follow

Graduation Year

Document type, degree name.

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Degree Granting Department

Criminology

Major Professor

Kathleen M. Heide, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Ráchael A. Powers, Ph.D.

Lyndsay N. Boggess, Ph.D.

school shooting, media and crime, mass murder, juvenile offender, rarity theory

This study is a content analysis of news articles of school shooting incidents that occurred within the United States between 1997 and 2012. This paper was designed to (a) address the current profile of school shooting offenders and offenses, (b) assess a proposed typology of school shootings, (c) consider common case processing characteristics for offenders of school shootings incidents, and (d) address the potential for offender and offense characteristics to affect the amount of media coverage an incident receives. The database of “Major School Shootings in the United States Since 1997” by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence was used to compile a sample of 101 incidents in which a single offender committed a school shooting. To the extent possible, media accounts were used to corroborate details of each school shooting incident. Data pertaining to the offender characteristics, case processing characteristics, offense characteristics, characteristics regarding a typology, and media coverage characteristics were examined. The current profile and typology were, for the most part, upheld. Six variables proved to be significantly related to the total amount of media coverage an incident received: mental health history, school-related mass murder type, offender/victim type, total victims injured or killed, region of the U.S., and year of incident occurrence. Of these variables, three remained significant in a regression analysis: the school-related mass murder type, region of the U.S., and year of incident occurrence were predictive of the amount of media coverage an incident received. Implications and limitations of this study are discussed, and directions for future research are suggested.

Scholar Commons Citation

Iannuzzi, Victoria N., "School Shootings in the United States from 1997 to 2012: A Content Analysis of Media Coverage" (2017). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations. https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/6866

Since October 06, 2017

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In Context: Here’s what JD Vance said about school shootings being a ‘fact of life’ (transcript)

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A memorial is seen at Apalachee High School on Sept. 7, 2024, in Winder, Ga. (AP)

A day after a 14-year-old student with an AR-style weapon killed four people at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance answered a reporter’s question about the shooting.

"In the wake of the Georgia school shooting yesterday, I wanted to ask you, what specific policies do you support to end school shootings like this?" CNN reporter Kit Maher asked during a Sept. 5 campaign stop in Phoenix.

Soon after, Vance’s answer — which included the phrase "fact of life" —  became fodder for his critics.

"JD Vance responds to the deadly shooting in Georgia by saying school shootings are just ‘a fact of life’ and attacking common sense gun safety reform," Kamala HQ, the Harris campaign’s social media account, wrote Sept. 5 on X . Harris reshared it on her campaign account. Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, said Sept. 7 at a Human Rights Campaign National dinner, "It’s ‘a fact of life’ that some people are gay. But you know what’s not a ‘fact of life’? That our children need to be shot dead in schools. That’s not a fact of life."

Some news coverage also focused on Vance’s use of the words "fact of life" in his answer.

MSNBC anchor Joy Reid shared an Instagram post with her more than 890,000 followers that showed the words, "School shootings are a fact of life," attributing the quote to Vance. Students "need to risk getting shot at school and suck it up," Reid wrote in the post’s caption.

The Associated Press deleted an X post and updated an article and headline about Vance’s comments. Both originally said, "JD Vance says school shootings are a ‘fact of life,’ calls for better security."

"This post replaces an earlier post that was deleted to add context to the partial quote from Vance," The AP said in a Sept. 5 X post . The new headline: "JD Vance says he laments that school shootings are a ‘fact of life’ and calls for better security."

Vance, meanwhile, accused Harris of lying about what he said. And, on Fox News Digital , Vance’s campaign accused the AP of lying, too: "Senator Vance said exactly the opposite of what The Associated Press claimed," spokesperson William Martin said.

Harris has called to ban assault weapons and increase background checks. She also supports red flag laws to reduce gun violence. Harris’ campaign rival and Vance’s running mate, former President Donald Trump, accepted the National Rifle Association’s endorsement in May, and has vowed to roll back gun regulations put in place by Biden.

A reader asked us what Vance said. Here is Vance’s full response to Maher’s question, in context. We have bolded the portions that are relevant to the controversy:

"What happened in Georgia is just an awful tragedy and I know we've got a lot of parents and a lot of grandparents in this room. I mean, I cannot imagine, you know, little kids so excited to go back to school. God love them. And they're at their first week back from the summer and an absolute barbarian decides to open fire and take their lives, and also a couple of teachers. We gotta, we gotta think about these people if you're the praying type, and I know I am, we gotta hold them up in prayer. "We gotta be hoping for the best for these, for this incredible community because no parent should have to deal with this. No child should have to deal with this. And, yes, after holding these folks up in prayer and giving them our sympathies, because that's what people deserve in a time of tragedy, then we have to think about how to make this less common . 

"Now, look, the Kamala Harris answer to this is to take law-abiding American citizens’ guns away from them. That is what Kamala Harris wants to do. But we have to ask ourselves, we actually have, have been able to run an experiment on this because you've got some states with very strict gun laws and you've got some states that don't have strict gun laws at all. And the states with strict gun laws, they have a lot of school shootings and the states without strict gun laws, some of them have school shootings, too. So, clearly strict gun laws is not the thing that is going to solve this problem.

" What is going to solve this problem? And I really do believe this is, look, I, I don't like this. I don't like to admit this. I don't like that this is a fact of life. But if you're, if you are a psycho and you want to make headlines, you realize that our schools are soft targets, and we have got to bolster security at our schools so that a person who walks through the front door … we, we've got to bolster security so that if a psycho wants to walk through the front door and kill a bunch of children, they're not able to.

"And again, as a parent do I want my kids’ school to have additional security? No, of course, I don't. I don't want my kids to go to school in a place where they feel like you've got to have additional security. But that is increasingly the reality that we live in.

"And a, and a bunch of my colleagues in the Senate, we actually worked on legislation that would give schools more resources to bolster their security because if these psychos are gonna go after our kids, we've got to be prepared for it.

"We don't have to like the reality that we live in, but it is the, the reality that we live in. We got to deal with it. "

Our Sources

WFAA, JD Vance full speech at rally in Phoenix , Sept. 5, 2024

Joy-Ann Reid, Instagram post , Sept. 6, 2024

MSNBC, ‘Screw you’: JD Vance’s ‘heartless’ dismissal of school shootings as a ‘fact of life’ decried , Sept. 6, 2024

The Associated Press, X post , Sept. 5, 2024

The Associated Press, JD Vance says he laments that school shootings are a ‘fact of life’ and calls for better security , Sept. 5, 2024

The Associated Press, JD Vance says school shootings are a ‘fact of life,’ calls for better security , archived, Sept. 5, 2024

The Associated Press, A 14-year-old student fatally shot 4 people in a rampage at a Georgia high school, officials say , Sept. 5, 2024

Kamala Harris, X post, Sept. 5, 2024

Kamala HQ, X post , Sept. 5, 2024

Kamala Harris campaign, Ensure safety and justice for all , Sept. 9, 2024

Tim Walz, X post , Sept. 5, 2024

C-Span, Gov. Tim Walz Remarks at Human Rights Campaign Dinner , Sept. 7, 2024

J.D. Vance, X post , Sept. 5, 2024

USA Today, Tim Walz slams JD Vance comment that school shootings are a 'fact of life' , Sept. 7, 2024

The Guardian, Backlash for JD Vance after calling school shooting a ‘fact of life’ , Sept. 6, 2024

Fox News, Vance spox blasts AP for 'brazenly lying' with out of context school shooting quote: 'Lost all credibility' , Sept. 5, 2024

The White House, Statement from President Joe Biden on Shooting at Apalachee High School in Georgia , Sept. 4, 2024

The Washington Post, More than 383,000 students have experienced gun violence at school since Columbine , Sept. 6, 2024

The New York Times, Accepting N.R.A. Endorsement, Trump Pledges to Be Gun Owners’ Ardent Ally , May 18, 2024

PolitiFact, Ask PolitiFact: What are red flag gun laws and do they keep people safe? , June 10, 2022

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JD Vance says he laments that school shootings are a ‘fact of life’ and calls for better security

JD Vance talks about Georgia School shooting at Arizona rally

Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, speaks at a campaign event, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024 in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, gestures to supporters at a campaign event, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, speaks at a campaign event, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, arrives to speak at a campaign event, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

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PHOENIX (AP) — Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance said Thursday that he lamented that school shootings are a “fact of life” and argued the U.S. needs to harden security to prevent more carnage like the shooting this week that left four dead in Georgia.

“If these psychos are going to go after our kids we’ve got to be prepared for it,” Vance said at a rally in Phoenix. “We don’t have to like the reality that we live in, but it is the reality we live in. We’ve got to deal with it.”

The Ohio senator was asked by a journalist what can be done to stop school shootings. He said further restricting access to guns, as many Democrats advocate, won’t end them, noting they happen in states with both lax and strict gun laws. He touted efforts in Congress to give schools more money for security.

“I don’t like that this is a fact of life,” Vance said. “But if you are a psycho and you want to make headlines, you realize that our schools are soft targets. And we have got to bolster security at our schools. We’ve got to bolster security so if a psycho wants to walk through the front door and kill a bunch of children they’re not able.”

Vance said he doesn’t like the idea of his own kids going to a school with hardened security, “but that’s increasingly the reality that we live in.”

He called the shooting in Georgia an “awful tragedy,” and said the families in Winder, Georgia, need prayers and sympathy.

Earlier this year, Vice President Kamala Harris , the Democratic presidential nominee, toured the bloodstained Florida classroom building where the 2018 Parkland high school massacre happened. She then announced a program to assist states that have laws allowing police to temporarily seize guns from people judges have found to be dangerous.

Harris, who leads the new White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, has supported both stronger gun controls, such as banning sales of AR-15 and similar rifles, and better school security, like making sure classroom doors don’t lock from the outside as they did in Parkland.