“Our research shows that a crisis is really a change in behavior from baseline. So it’s just the student acting differently than they normally do and then any sort of fascination with school shootings, with past shootings, with violence, any sort of leakage about threatening violence towards themselves or others. But really, that crisis is a noticeable change in behavior. And it’s always easier after the fact to identify that. But what we advocate for is teams and systems in schools so it doesn’t fall on any one person’s shoulders to be the one to evaluate how serious this is. But you want a crisis response team with mental health professionals, teachers, administrators, law enforcement, people who can say, OK, how serious is this, and how quickly do we need to intervene and with what?”
Dr. Jillian Peterson sits down to talk with David Folkenflik about preventative methods to stop school shootings before they occur through the use of warning signs.
Author: David Folkenflik
Source: NPR