As our nation reels from the devastating event of the school shooting in Florida this week (number 18 in 2018, according to CNBC and other media outlets), it’s easy to point fingers and blame the gun industry for making the guns, law makers for what they are or aren’t doing to control gun access, the perpetrator for his mental health issues and his alleged obsession with guns and knives and death, the leadership of the school, the parents….the list goes on.
But, as Dr. Mary Schoenfeldt, renowned expert and author of numerous books on school violence prevention and school violence aftermath, said the media and the blame seekers miss the most vital point. “The perpetrators (of school violence) don’t usually expect to go home. Their actions are a result of suicide ideation. They’ve made a decision to die because it’s easier than living…and while they are out there, they might as well take some others with them. Suicide and violence sometimes become the best option, in the minds of someone in psychic pain. My guess is this young man, like all of the others, had used options to cope until that moment when those options didn’t work anymore.”
Schoenfeldt texted with PsychCentral.com while on her way to the airport. She often arrives within 24 hours of a school shooting to help the school with their trauma response and to work with the survivors and their families.
Schoendfeldt commended the faculty and administration and first responders at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High saying that they had saved many lives because “the school had practiced shelter in place, lock down and coordinated evacuation. Had they not had these systems in place, the death count would have been much higher.”
The media widely reported quotes from the shooter’s classmates and former teachers, who used words to describe him like “weird” and “troubled” or “always in trouble”. The school itself sent out a vague note to teachers asking them to keep an eye on him, before he was expelled from school. Friends and former friends saw him post photos of guns and knives and make comments like “cost me $30” and “my arsenal” on social media. The death of his adoptive mom last November (the second of his parents to die) seemed to be common knowledge among the community. And yet no one seemed to see this coming.
It’s far cry from another event that occurred on Wednesday, when a school violence plan was thwarted in Everett, Washington, because of the actions of a grandmother. The Seattle Times reported that the grandmother called the police after she was alarmed upon reading her 18-year-old grandson’s journal detailing what he learned from other school shootings and how he planned to carry about an attack on his former school, taking pressure bombs and black-powder filled grenades, plus his guitar case holding his semi-automatic rifle to school. (The grandmother looked in the case for the gun and turned that over to police.)
Schoenfeldt said she applauds that grandmother. “School violence is not just a school issue. It is a family and a community issue, where everyone needs to be paying attention to prevent school violence.” Schoenfeldt reminds parents that sometimes kids come home from school and talk about something they witnessed during the day or about a conversation they had with a friend that made them uncomfortable. This may be the child’s way of asking for help or for an intervention, and parents need to read and understand the cues to know when to step in and call the school, another parent, the police or whomever.
In the days that follow, coping skills and the support of community and mental health professionals are essential, not only for recovery from the trauma but also to ensure that this latest event doesn’t serve as an example to other students, like the Everett teen, who might think this is a good way to exact revenge while dying himself. Â
PsychCentral.com has a wealth of resources on the politics and psychology of school shootings, school shootings and grief and PTSD, and tips for parents on talking to your children, because in order to prevent further acts and to heal from this one, it will take people feeling connected and communities coming together.
1 comment
Jill, great article. I enjoyed your insight, but I have to disagree with suicide ideation in this particular case. Nicholas Cruz seemed angry, intent on hurting as many people as possible. His intent to harm was pointed outwards and does not strike me as someone who wanted to die. If he did, he would have taken himself out before the police could get a hold of him. This was not a “surprise” to anyone, and many people actually expected him to do something like this. It was so apparent that the FBI was notified about him. Not having a stable family his whole life is likely a main contributing factor, not feeling like he belonged to any one group. Someone linked screenshots of his several social media accounts and he seemed to be all over the place with extremist groups, not really adhering to just one.
This further points out his lack of belonging. Research has shown that being a social outcast can lead to violent and delinquent behavior in adolescents and young adults. When you have someone like Nicholas Cruz, who did not have any one single set of parents, had few friends and was a social outcast, was repeatedly removed from school, who likely felt unwanted and unloved, it is no surprise that he became angry. Grasping at any group that would have him and accept him, he spiraled into the murderer he became on February 14th. He seemed far more angry than suicidal.
I do not disagree that most school shooters have some sort of suicidal ideation, which is why so many are dead before handcuffs can be put on. Cruz is a unique case in the fact that the warning signs could be seen by anyone who knew him. He is unique because he did not kill himself at the end of his rampage. The secret to his motive lies in who he was before this. What was his home and family life like? How was he treated by peers in school? Did he have an easy time with the course material, or did he was a hard time with it. The secret is in the small details most might overlook and find unimportant.
This absolutely is a community issue. If we slow down long enough to see that everyone else round us is struggling too, and take the time to empathize and understand, but also use a little tough love, we might prevent more of these tragedies. Such as the grandmother in Washington. It likely hurt her to turn her own flesh and blood in, but in 10 years time her grandson will likely forgive her and love her all the more for making that tough call. She prevented her grandson from becoming a murderer. If only more had tried to do the same for Nicholas Cruz, would we still be here?