Citation

Hong JS, Espelage DL. J. School Violence 2020; 19(1): 1-5.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/15388220.2019.1703721

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Students, teachers, parents, and school administrators have become increasingly concerned about the rising number of homicides in school districts. The widespread fear, outcry, and panic among students, parents, school personnel, and the public in the aftermath of the infamous Columbine school shootings in 1999 led to a myriad of responses to address gun violence and make schools safer. Indeed, research has shown that the rate of firearm-related homicide in the United States is significantly higher than that of other countries (e.g., Lankford, 2016), and children killed by firearms is higher in the United States than in other countries. When school shootings occur, accusations are brought against an individual and community's moral beliefs, choices in entertain- ment, firearms-related legislation (or lack thereof), religious observance (or lack thereof), perceived deterioration of the mental health system, and so much more (Warnick, Johnson, & Rocha, 2010).

As of December 2019, there have been 229 shootings that occurred at school districts in the United States since the Columbine shootings in 1999, although school safety has become a priority in schools after Columbine (Kann et al., 2016; Robers, Zhang, Morgan, & Musu-Gillette, 2015; Zhang, Musu-Gillette, & Oudekerk, 2016). Media attention and community outrage surrounding school shootings (e.g., Columbine, Sandy Hook, Marjory Stoneman Douglas) have escalated national concerns about school violence. These incidents of school violence have hastened efforts to create the safest schools possible. Following a series of school shootings in 2018, attention among policy- makers, educators, and the general public has once again focused on enhancing students' safety (Blad, 2018; Curran, 2018). Over the years, there have been numerous public discussions and debates concerning factors underlying school shootings and what measures are needed to protect students in schools, with little empirical support (Kalesan et al., 2017). The aim of the proposed special issue is to fill the gaps in the empirical literature on school shootings and school safety by bringing together researchers on school violence.

Indeed, many schools have put in place numerous measures to secure schools and to calm parents and teachers who are concerned about the risk of school shootings. However, it is not always clear what measures are put in place following a school shooting at the school level, rather our knowledge is often limited...

Language: en