“In her own work, Peterson and her fellow researchers have found variation in how trained law-enforcement officers even respond to hypothetical situations, like a student drawing of a violent act.

That’s why Peterson favors a “slight rebrand” of threat assessment, preferring to call it “crisis management” instead.

A student may be in an emotional or mental health crisis, or they may face difficult life circumstances, like the death of a parent or social rejection. Those crises warrant a response, even if they aren’t attached to an imminent threat, Peterson said.