Avoid school shootings: prevention and social responsibility!

Avoid school shootings: prevention and social responsibility!

Graz, Österreich - Recent analyzes on school shootings and the psychological challenges of students show an alarming reality. Haller deals with the psychology behind these extreme violent clocks and often describes perpetrators as "difficult to hit individuals". These people have often suffered insults that appear insignificant for outsiders, but are of great importance for those affected. He emphasizes that the attacks are not directed against individuals, but against school as an institution and society, which they perceive as cold and exclusive. This is underpinned by the results of his investigations of around 300 school shootings, preferably in the USA, that show that these are targeted attacks and not gauens from confusion. Haller warns against expressing guilt allocations to the perpetrator's environment, since they are often mentally inconspicuous and come from stable family conditions.

In order to take preventive measures, Haller demands that it is crucial to recognize insults at an early stage and to talk to those affected about their feelings and intentions. He calls three central aspects of the prevention of such acts. First, criminological advances have already prevented some school campaigns. Second, talks should be created in hard assessments or layoffs to understand the emotions of those affected. Thirdly, it is important to raise awareness of people who feel isolated and have difficulty communicating through their problems.

The role of mental health in schools

The importance of mental health is particularly important in the current time. Covid-19 pandemic has severely affected the learning and living conditions of children and adolescents, which resulted in an increase in psychological abnormalities. An investigation shows that significant climbs in mental disorders were found in students of all school types. The proportion of elementary school students with psychological problems rose from 16.9% to 40%, while behavioral problems and hyperactivity were increasingly determined in the age group of secondary/secondary students.

In order to meet these challenges, school -based prevention programs such as Proact + E are being developed. This program, which was launched by the Christoph Dornier Foundation as well as the universities of Tübingen and Stuttgart, aims to reduce bullying among students. During the program implementation, the causes of conflict, rules on conflict resolution and confident behavior were discussed. In another initiative, Lisa-T, in addition to coping with conflict, cognitive behavioral therapy methods are used to reduce depressive symptoms and increase life satisfaction.

a new call for prevention

The knowledge and programs illustrate the increasing need for measures to promote mental health in schools. The results of the Copsy study show that there is a high need for support from the families, whereby schools and specialists in particular have to focus on. All the more important is a binding legal regulation that ensures the creation of framework conditions for school health promotion in all federal states. A holistic approach would have to be pursued that also includes extra -curricular actors. The preventive work should begin in primary school age in order to achieve long -term positive effects.

Finally, Haller expresses pity with the relatives of the victims and describes the suffering of the bereaved as the worst that can happen to a parent. A healthy and supportive environment for children and adolescents is essential to prevent future tragedies.