School Violence

1. School Violence What causes it and how can we prevent it. Presentation by Roger Reetz

2. What we will cover. • The cost of violence • Selected school shootings • Grossman’s 5-D’s • What the shooters had in common • The “Game Over Effect” • What causes it • Brain research • A plan of action

3. The Cost of Violence • How many kids have been killed in school by fire in the last 25 years? • Zero • 1999- Year of Columbine • 35 kids killed in school • ¼ million seriously injured • 2004 • 48 kids killed in school • When it comes to violence, the problem is denial. • Denial has no survival benefit.

4. The Cost of Violence • 800 people are killed each year in workplace violence • 99% of these are preventable w/ armed corporate security. • One out of three girls and one out of seven boys are sexually abused by the time they reach the age of eighteen. • Bullying: At least 160,000 children miss school every day because they fear an attack or intimidation by other students. • Animal Mutilation: Teachers report more and more students as young as seven years old discussing the “thrills” of stabbing a kitten to death or torturing a pet.

5. The Cost of Violence

6. The Cost of Violence • In 2002, Anthony Harris and a team of scholars from the University of Massachusetts and Harvard, published a landmark study in the journal, Homicide Studies, which concluded that medical technology advances since 1970 have prevented approximately three out of four murders. • That is, if we had 1970s level medical technology, the murder rate would be three or four times higher than it is today.

7. The Cost of Violence

8. School Shootings-Paducah, Kentucky- December 1, 1997 • Fourteen year old Michael Carneal steals a gun from a neighbors house • Carneal wrapped two shotguns and two rifles in a blanket and took them to school, passing them off as an art project he was working on. He also has a .22 cal pistol. • When he arrived he inserted ear plugs and pulled the pistol out of his bag. • Fires eight shots into a student prayer meeting that is breaking up and hit eight different kids • He achieved Five head shots and three upper torso • He left three dead and one paralyzed for life. • Prior to stealing the gun, he had never shot a real handgun in his life.

9. School Shootings-Paducah, Kentucky- December 1, 1997 • Michael Carneal had acquired is killing ability at the tender age of fourteen by killing literally thousands of people in first person shooter video games • He had spent hundreds of hours playing these games. • His feet never moved during the shooting. • His first bullet went between his girlfriend’s eyes, and then he proceeded to put one bullet in every target that popped up on his “screen.” • His own sister wrote in her statement that she started to move toward her brother to tell him to stop, but then she says that she recalled thinking to herself, “He doesn’t know who I am. He’s going to kill me,” so she started to run.

10. School Shootings-Paducah, Kentucky- December 1, 1997 • Game Over Effect • He still has one round left and there are still lots of targets running and screaming all around him. • But before he can shoot one more time, the principal runs up to him and demands, “Stop!” He stops. • “Put the gun down,” the principal says, “You’ve done enough.” And the kid put the gun down. • So, right in the middle of committing a mass murder, with the capability of killing at least one more, a simple verbal command stops the killer.

11. School Shootings-Pearl Mississippi- October 1, 2007 • Sixteen-year-old Luke Woodham stabs his mother to death, then he goes to his high school and shoots nine students. • Two die, including the suspect's ex-girlfriend, seven others are wounded. • “Game Over” effect • The vice-principal has a .45 automatic in his car (a federal offense, though no one has ever pressed charges) and runs out to the parking lot to retrieve it. • this educator stands face-to-face with the kid, pointing his gun at the young man, and says, “Stop!” Amazingly, the kid stops. • A 17-year-old crazed mass murderer with a loaded gun in his hand is ordered to stop shooting people, and he does.

12. School Shootings-Jonesboro, Ark.- March 24, 1998 • Mitchell Johnson, 13, and Andrew Golden, 11, shot at their classmates and teachers from the woods. • Four students and one teacher killed, ten others wounded outside as Westside Middle School emptied during a false fire alarm. • They planned the attack to take place where students were trapped in a “kill zone”. • They fired 23 shots at over 100 yards hitting fifteen people.

13. School Shootings-Jonesboro, Ark.- March 24, 1998 • Game Over Effect • Two young killers empty their weapons into 15 people, reload and begin running over a hill toward their stolen van. • The boys are 11 and 13 years old. As they approach the van, a police officer yells, “Police! Down on the ground. Drop the weapon. Down on the ground.” • These two boys have just committed a bloody mass murder and they still have loaded weapons in their hands, but what do they do? • They obey the officer and drop their weapons.

14. School Shootings-Jonesboro, Ark.- March 24, 1998 • The mother of the 13-year-old killer in the Jonesboro school shooting sat across Lt. Col Grossman’s coffee table and told his wife and him, several months after the killings, that she finally told her son who he had killed that day. • She said her boy laid his head on the table, and sobbed, saying, “Those were my friends.” • There are no friends in violent video games; there are only targets. Points. They were committed to a state detention center under a controversial juvenile sentencing law that will allow them to walk out of jail by their 21st birthdays. • In 2005, the two boys were released and their records were wiped clean.

15. School Shootings-Red Lake, Minnesota- March 21, 2005 • Jeffrey Weise, a 16-year-old student started out by killing grandfather (police officer) and grandfather’s girl friend. • He did this to get grandfather’s weapons and body armor. • Two unarmed security officers observed him park grandfathers patrol car on the curb in front of the school and get out with the weapons. • One went to sound lockdown. • One stayed to try to talk down shooter • Conversation lasted about 2 seconds, ending with two 12 gage shotgun slugs and one dead security guard.

16. School Shootings-Red Lake, Minnesota- March 21, 2005 • Shooter headed down the hall trying each classroom door • School policy was to have all doors lock at all times • When lock down was called out, all teachers had to do was shut the door. • Shooter tried to break door windows by couldn’t. • At the end of the hall, shooter reached library where he was able to break door window. • The teacher had students “move” to another room. • The teacher then tried to block door with her body • Shooter reached around door jam and killed the teacher then made entry

17. School Shootings-Red Lake, Minnesota- March 21, 2005 • Shooter killed a total of seven at school plus grandfather and grandfather’s girlfriend. • Police officers where on scene in 8 minutes because teachers used cell phone to call for help.

18. School Shootings-Virginia Technical College- April 16, 2007 • Cho Seung-hui, who police say is responsible the shootings, was a loner, according to a university official. 33 dead (including shooter who committed suicide as police entered the building), 16 injured • "From what I heard, he chained up some of the doors so people couldn't get in and he basically was just going to every classroom trying to get in, and just started shooting inside classrooms," Jenkins said. • "He said every single person in the room was shot, killed and was in the ground. He laid on the ground with everyone … he played dead and he was OK."

19. School Shootings-Virginia Technical College- April 16, 2007 • "There wasn't a shooting victim that didn't have less than three bullet wounds in them," said Dr. Joseph Cacioppo of Montgomery Regional Hospital. • There was 100 wounds recorded. • "Cho's favorite video game was Counterstrike," making it the violent shooter game of choice of the authors of the two worst school shootings in world history (V-Tech first, Erfurt, Germany second). 

20. Bomb Threats • There has never been a bomb found in an American Classroom based on a phone tip. • Stated in the Gift of Fear by Gavin DeBecker • Never evacuate a school based solely on a phone call • Classroom is the safest place. • Do not evacuate to parking lots • 500 lb car bomb vs. 30 lb backpack bomb • Jonesburg, AK. students pulled fire alarm to get students outside to gun them down sniper style.

21. Grossman’s 5 D’s • Denial • Get rid of it. • When it comes to violence, the problem is denial. • Denial has no survival benefit.

22. Grossman’s 5 D’s • Deter • Armed officers on campus are the best deterrence • North Valley Jewish Community Center- Los Angeles- August 10, 1999 • Buford O'Neal Furrow, Jr. entered a Jewish daycare and shot five people. • He went to three other schools before this one but did not attack them because they had armed officers there. • He exited the interstate for gas and found the North Valley Jewish Community Center. • It did not have armed security.

23. Grossman’s 5 D’s • Detect • Be observant of people watching the school. • If someone calls asking if there is armed security in your school • Note the caller ID and time • Report it • Have police do a follow-up visit • Watch students writings/projects • All the school shooters had a persistent theme of violence in their school work .

24. Grossman’s 5 D’s • Delay • Go into lockdown • Grossman suggests that in the event of a Fire Alarm, ignore the alarm until you see physical proof of fire (remember Jonesboro). • All classroom doors should be locked all the time. • Move • Move away from violence • Move to a secure location • Must be secure enough to wait for armed response. • Do not evacuate to parking lots (car bombs) • Move again if necessary

25. Grossman’s 5 D’s • Destroy • Take out shooters as quickly as possible.

26. What all 19 school shooters had in common • There is not a profile of a school shooter, only common actions • white • black • rich • poor

27. What all 19 school shooters had in common • Shooter had a gun in school • “Gang pants” designed to conceal weapons & merchandise • School should strictly enforce dress code • How hard is it to bring a gun to school?

29. What all 19 school shooters had in common • Shooter had a grievance about a real or perceived injustice • Some were bullied • Some were not bullied

30. What all 19 school shooters had in common • Persistent theme of violence in their school work • Columbine shooters made movie of a mock school shooting as part of a school project. • They wore black trench coats and used toy guns. • Teacher turned tape over to principal • Principal failed to take action • He is now being successfully sued. • He is personally and professionally ruined. • Don’t be afraid of being sued for restricting/reporting student writing • Be afraid of being successfully sued for not turning it in when something happens.

31. What all 19 school shooters had in common • Shooters all had an obsession with media violence. • Video games, TV, movies

32. What all 19 school shooters had in common • None of the school shooters was in varsity sports. • None of them had trained extensively in the strict discipline of a martial art. • (One had earned a yellow belt, the lowest rank which took only a few weeks, and after dabbling briefly he dropped out.) • None of the school killers was in Junior ROTC. • None of them was a competitive shooter, a very demanding sport with draconian punishments if you fire at the wrong time or in the wrong direction.

33. What all 19 school shooters had in common • None of the school killers had a hunting license, another activity that requires strict discipline and adherence to the law. • Did you know that if you shoot at a deer from your car, you would lose your car, your gun, your money, and your hunting license? • For all you golfers, what would happen if the first time you cheated, they took your clubs and your cart, and banned you from ever golfing again? • There wouldn’t be any golfers left!

34. What all 19 school shooters had in common • It should be mentioned that there was one disciplined activity in which several of the school shooters did participate (although several of them later dropped out). • That was band. But no one is sure what to make of that. • This is a puzzle that many good people have examined with sincere concern, developing theories involving such factors as the absence of discipline in some band programs, possible bullying in the band environment, and the non-athletic nature of this activity.

35. What all 19 school shooters had in common • “In the end, the profile of the school killer is that of a sad little kid who is obsessed with violent movies, TV, and/or video games, but who will not participate in an activity in which he might be hurt or have to submit to discipline.”

36. Game Over Effect • We have never before seen mass murderers stop just because someone tells them to. • Could it be because these killers are still kids, and their training teaches them to accept interruptions? • When a kid plays a video game and his mom tells him to stop, the kid puts the game on “pause,” and then looks up to see what she wants. • Kids are used to the “game over” feature, and they are used to a verbal command telling them when it is time to pause.

37. Game Over Effect • It is important that we do not assume that all shooters will stop just because you tell them to. • I believe the two killers in Littleton, Colorado, would never have stopped just because someone told them to. • The killer in Springfield, Oregon, gunned down 24 kids. It was not a verbal command that stopped him, but a high school senior, an Eagle Scout and wrestler, who sucked up the killer’s bullets but still tackled the shooter and wrestled the gun away. • Never assume that all will stop on command.

38. So what causes it? • In July, 2000, a joint statement was made to the US Congress by the AMA, the APA, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. • What they said was: "Well over 1,000 studies point overwhelmingly to a causal connection between media violence and aggressive behavior in some children."

39. So what causes it? • Violent Video Games • Grand Theft Auto • Postal II • Redneck Rampage • Kingpin: Life of Crime • Halo • Duke Nukem • The list goes on.

40. So what causes it? • In a 2001 study, Stanford University has demonstrated less TV equals less violence. • 50% decrease in verbal aggression, • 40% decrease in physical aggression, • just by encouraging kids to turn off their TVs and video games

41. So what causes it? • In the 1950’s the per capita murder rate double in the US. • Trend • From east to west • From large cities to rural areas • From whites to blacks • Dr. Brandon Centerwal, M.D., an epidemiologist, was asked by the CDC in 1981 to investigate. • He considered every possibility that any research evidence had ever suggested might reasonably be the cause • Found that everywhere this occurred TV was introduced 15 years before.

42. So what causes it? • Why 15? That is how long it takes kids to grow up. • We exposed them to violent media between the ages of two and six, which convinced them that the world is a dark and violent place, and then 15 years later, when they are teenagers or in their early 20s, we reap what we sowed. • Dr. Centerwall stated that if, “television technology had never been developed, there would today be 10,000 fewer murders each year in the United States, 70,000 fewer rapes, and 700,000 fewer injurious assaults.”

43. So what causes it? • Since 1950 there has been more than 3500 research studies conducted in America on the effects of media violence. • One random sample of almost 1000 studies found that all, save only 18 demonstrated there is a tangible correlation between violent entertainment and violent behavior. • Twelve of those eighteen were funded by the television industry.

44. So what causes it? • The popular preschool show “Power Rangers” has about two hundred acts of violence per hour. • The adolescents who committed the horrendous crimes in Jonesboro, Paducah, and Littleton, were weaned on GI Joe and She-Ra- cartoons averaging 25 acts of violence per hours. • Most children who are traumatized and brutalized through their exposure to violent media do not become violent, but they do become depressed and fearful. • Those who do become violent turn into bullies.

45. Indiana University Brain Scan Research • Mid brain (4-F’s) • Fight • Flight • Feed • Fornicate • Violent imagery is the addictive ingredient for TV/video games • It feeds the mid brain

46. Indiana University Brain Scan Research • Right brain • Artistic side • (my right brain is broken) • Left Brain • Logic side • Has no activity for violent videogame players (intense playing) vs. high activity for non-player.

47. Indiana University Brain Scan Research • The brain scans I will show you next show that media violence stunts or "retards" kids' brain development: • children with violent TV, movie, and video game exposure had reduced cognitive brain function. • Media violence also makes violent brains: • violent TV, movie, and video game exposure had an effect on normal kids that made their brain scans the same as children with documented, diagnosed Aggressive Behavior Disorder.

48. Indiana University Brain Scan Research

49. Indiana University Brain Scan Research

50. Indiana University Brain Scan Research • This second set of brain scans shows brain activity during a decision making exercise, called Go-No-Go.