K-12 School Shooting Database

I wrote this in February and after the Supreme Court ruling this afternoon, it’s sadly coming true.

Danger of dismantling public education

Schools—and school shootings—sit at the center of a complex web of interconnected social and political issues. Federal policy decisions impact every part of a student’s day from a free breakfast in the morning to paying the salary of a school police officer who might (or might not) arrest them for misbehavior depending on the policies decided by elected officials.

This means that every discussion of student safety, school security, and education is inherently political because schools are public institutions governed by elected politicians at the local, state, and federal level.

The Department of Education has very little power to control curriculums or what teachers do in their individual classrooms. Most federal dollars fund school police officers, support students with disabilities (e.g., care aid for a paralyzed kid in a wheelchair), give free/reduced lunches for low-income kids, and grants to cover operating costs at the poorest (mostly rural) school districts.

Aside from the disabled kids who won’t be able to eat, drink, or use the bathroom all day without the federal funding for the staffer who cares for them at school, dismantling the Department of Education is part of a more dangerous pattern. Over the last century, authoritarian rulers changed the foundational structure of public education as they took control of countries across the world.

Danger of dismantling public education Federal dollars go to school police and security, assisting disabled students, free lunches for low-income kids, and keeping the lights on in the poorest, rural school districts.

'Love Island' can help prevent school shootings

This viral reality TV show is a case study in social exclusion, in-group/out-group conflicts, emotional regulation, and the power of personal narratives.

Underneath the glittery drama is a case study of human behavior. The show is essentially a social experiment that’s packed with lessons about belonging, emotional regulation, peer intervention, and the desire to be seen. Surprisingly, these themes echo many of the same factors that can either contribute to the crisis of a teen spiraling towards violence or show how peer connections can prevent situations from escalating.

'Love Island' can help prevent school shootings This viral reality TV show is a case study in social exclusion, in-group/out-group conflicts, emotional regulation, and the power of personal narratives.

Ep 43. Forensic psychologist explains the Nashville school shooter's journals

Last week the FBI released 112 pages of handwritten journal entries from the Covenant School shooting in Nashville, TN in March 2023.

Ep 43. Forensic psychologist explains the Nashville school shooter's journals Last week the FBI released 112 pages of handwritten journal entries from the Covenant School shooting in Nashville, TN in March 2023.

When there are 98,000 public schools in the United States, why do some campuses have multiple shootings while the vast majority have zero?

Somehow 214 schools have had two or more shootings on campus since the 1960s. 42 schools have three or more shootings! This means that these 42 schools account for almost 5% of all shootings that I’ve recorded nationwide.

This happens because gun violence isn’t equally distributed.

Shootings happen more often in ‘unforgiving places’. These unforgiving schools are in neighborhoods that are above the national average poverty rate, above the national average in crime, and below the national average for graduation rate.

Looking at the situation leading to a shooting on campus, escalations of disputes are by far the most common circumstance at the schools with 2 or more incidents.

For example, this week in Memphis, TN, three gunmen in ski masks killed two male students outside Booker T. Washington High in Memphis at dismissal. Around 3pm, a car pulled onto the street in front of the school. Three masked people with automatic rifles got out and opened fire on the students.

In an interview with local news, an adult man said “there’s nothing open around there, there is nowhere for the kids to go”. A student who knew the victims said “everybody is beefing” and kids are carrying guns instead of having a place to play. That sounds like an unforgiving place.

Schools with multiple shootings are 'unforgiving places' When there are 98,000 public schools in the United States, why do some campuses have multiple shootings while the vast majority have zero?

Hours before I planned to publish an article that I've been working on for months, there was another school shooting at Florida State University. Just two days prior, there was a mass shooting at a Dallas high school.

FSU immediately hit the target for non-stop network news coverage. There were videos of students running and bleeding bodies. There was "unspeakable horror" to talk about.

In 1999, TIME magazine printed a cover with smiling color photos of the Columbine school shooters surrounded by the partially obscured images of their victims in tiny black and white thumbnails. This overt glorification of these teenage boys is excused by one word in all caps and bright red: MONSTERS.

The word "monster" carries a complex and multifaceted history, rooted in both etymological origins and cultural symbolism. Its evolution connects to ideas of critique, demonstration, and revelation, while also carrying religious connotations that blur the boundaries between fear, reverence, and warning.

On Good Friday, we need to examine what this word really means. The Latin root monstro (to show, to point out, to advise, or to teach) also gives us the word "monstrance" in Catholic tradition. A monstrance is a sacred vessel used to display the consecrated Eucharist bread in a way that makes the host (bread) visible to the congregation. The monstrance functions as an instrument of revelation by holding up a symbol of the divine for all to witness.

This religious context adds a double-edged dimension to the term "monster." On one hand, the monstrance reveals the holy, the divine, and the good. But on the other hand, the "monster" defies both conventional form and social conformity. This reveals the dual nature of the monstrous: something that simultaneously attracts and repels. The monster draws attention to itself while serving as a warning of some underlying moral or existential crisis.

https://k12ssdb.substack.com/p/columbines-monsters-next-door-and