Introduction
In today’s world, school shootings are a horrible and all-too-common event. These incidents affect entire communities, children’s mental development, and the direct victims and their families. Although it is challenging to determine the precise effect of school shootings on children’s mental health, studies indicate that exposure to such events may harm their emotional health and cognitive growth. It is essential to investigate this matter further since exposure to such traumatic situations might have long-term repercussions on children’s mental health and cognitive growth.
It is crucial to look at how trauma affects the brain, potential issues with mental health, and the value of giving impacted kids support and resources. By tackling the psychological effects of school shootings on children, it may be possible to foster a more secure and nurturing environment for every child. School shooting has a profound effect on the psyche of children, and therefore, it is necessary to find out the most effective ways to eliminate such damage.
Psychological Consequences of School Shootings on Children
Trauma is the earliest and most noticeable effect of school shootings on children’s mental development. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sadness, anxiety, suicide, and drug misuse are among the adverse mental health effects of mass shooting exposure in children and adolescents (Awan, 2023). For instance, in PTSD, it implies that kids and teenagers may struggle with sleep issues, anxiety, hypervigilance, sadness, and rage (Awan, 2023). Parents of children who have experienced mass shootings might be afraid to take their children to school (Awan, 2023). Children who have PTSD are more likely to feel frightened, have trouble focusing in class, and have trouble solving problems.
The effects of exposure to shootings on the increasing number of pupils who experience them in American schools have been the subject of research. Even though many students are not physically harmed, studies consistently show that this has an impact on their long-term economic, educational, and mental health outcomes (Rossin-Slater, 2022). The neurological and physiological processes by which trauma from exposure to violence can influence young people are characterized by a sizable corpus of multidisciplinary research (Rossin-Slater, 2022). In other words, such trauma can impact young, growing brains and the physiologic stress system (Rossin-Slater, 2022).
Numerous studies from various nations and contexts have shown that exposure to domestic violence and local community violence hurts children’s educational and behavioral outcomes, which is consistent with these mechanisms (Rossin-Slater, 2022). However, some have asserted that kids are tough and can recover from trauma, suggesting that even though exposure to childhood violence is harmful in the short term, it may not have long-term consequences (Rossin-Slater, 2022). The students’ and teachers’ connection to the victims may result in losing faith in their schools’ capacity to keep them safe.
Children can be subjected to severe psychological pressure due to widespread coverage of events. Furthermore, many American students were likely to feel uneasy due to the extensive media coverage that follows a school shooting. It would go to the extent that exposure to any gunfire in a school environment, even an unintentional discharge, may be devastating if it causes extreme fear (Rossin-Slater, 2022). Additionally, compared to violence in other settings, school shootings are likely to disrupt student learning more severely because they may have an impact on teacher retention rates, instructional quality, classroom supplies, and the continuity of instruction.
School shootings affect young people’s mental development long after the incident has taken place. The experience of traumatic psychological events can cause the development of severe mental disorders in children (Abrams, 2022). For instance, PTSD can result in a variety of symptoms that might impair a child’s capacity for focus, interpersonal interactions, and emotion control. Similar to social isolation and academic difficulties, anxiety and depression can hurt a child’s overall development.
Suffering is sometimes very intense for those who survived and witnessed the shootings. Studies have shown that survivors of mass shootings are more likely to experience PTSD, significant depression, anxiety disorders, drug use disorders, and other problems (Abrams, 2022). The tendency for more exposure to be accompanied by more severe symptoms is a recurring trend, but much new research has not been done. According to Lowe’s evaluation, the prevalence of PTSD varied between 3% and 91% depending on the research, and there are still methodological issues to be resolved, such as the definition of a mass shooting (Abrams, 2022).
A large number of people have the opportunity to hear the news of a mass shooting or to become an eyewitness to such events. There is a significant amount of data that people who live far from major shootings can have anxiety and impairments, which are frequently tied to how much media exposure they receive (Abrams, 2022). Many people take the problem of mass shootings seriously, while some others are wary of the seemingly never-ending cycle of violence that permeates the media and public discourse.
Strategies to Support Recovery and Resilience
To prevent all types of tragedies and their consequences, it isn’t easy to find a universal solution. An incident could significantly influence one individual while having no impact on another. Intuitive sentiments of empathy for victims of violence do not scale up or respond well to numbers.
In other words, the anguish experienced by those who witnessed the shooting deaths of 19 children and two adults at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, was not 21 times more than that experienced by those who saw the murder of a single child (Abrams, 2022). Slovic and other psychologists refer to lowering the emotional reaction as “psychic numbing” (Abrams, 2022). In addition, individuals frequently feel ineffective in the face of enormous challenges, resulting in inactivity and disengagement.
School shootings may have an adverse effect on children’s mental health as well as instill dread and worry in both schools and communities. The tragedies that happen in schools can lead to several adverse side effects that make children no longer trust schools as safe places. Children who feel insecure at school may struggle to concentrate on their work and build positive relationships with their classmates. This may affect how well they achieve academically and grow socially, with long-term effects on their mental and emotional health.
To establish programs, assist, reduce the effects of shootings, and inform cost-benefit assessments of legislation aimed at decreasing gun violence, it is essential to understand the effects of school shootings on mental health. Leading academics from various fields have recently called for further research on the effects of gunshots on survivors (Rossin-Slater et al., 2020). It is demonstrated that local exposure to tragic school shootings causes significant and long-lasting increases in antidepressant usage among American teenagers using extensive prescription data (Rossin-Slater et al. 2020). There is a lot of evidence to support the idea that children’s mental health suffers when exposed to violence, including acts of street crime, spousal abuse, and bullying at school.
Additionally, compared to other forms of violence, school shootings may affect young people’s mental health differently. Black folks’ self-reported mental health has gotten worse, according to recent research on police shootings of African Americans, as a result of societal grief and raised alertness and terror (Rossin-Slater et al., 2020). Similarly, young people exposed to school shootings may experience distinct effects due to their connection to the victims and the resulting lack of security at their schools (Rossin-Slater et al., 2020).
Notably, there are no changes in impacts across regions with different crime rates, suggesting that deadly school shootings even impair the mental health of adolescents who are already subjected to violence outside of school. Providing assistance and services to those most immediately impacted by the incident is one strategy to lessen the harmful effects of school shootings on children’s psychological development (Penn State Social Science Research Institute, 2021). To help children deal with the trauma and create appropriate coping strategies, this might involve counseling, therapy, and other mental health treatments. Teachers and parents may get information and training from schools and communities on spotting the symptoms of children’s mental health issues and offering assistance and resources.
Across the nation, people who have survived school shootings return to their campuses to take classes, go on dates, play sports, and attempt to establish a new sense of normalcy while also dealing with sorrow, survivor’s guilt, PTSD, anxiety, and depressive symptoms. School shootings cause lasting emotional wounds and can impact academic achievement by lowering test scores and school attendance. Iancu et al. (2019) identified that, due in part to the lack of a clear road map for schools to follow, there is variability in how schools handle the aftermath of a shooting.
Security at Santa Fe High School has greatly improved thanks to bulletproof glass, metal detectors, and police officers posted in the corridors (Iancu et al., 2019). Students who attended Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School received some acts of assistance, such as therapy dogs and relief from some academic work (Iancu et al., 2019). There is still a question of whether enough is being done to assist affected kids, school personnel, and communities in recovering from these traumatic experiences.
Existing, evidence-based therapies for mental illness should be found and made available to schools across the country—not just in the moments following an incident. Symptoms of PTSD can appear in people at different times after a traumatic event. Therefore, responding to their manifestations promptly is essential by providing the necessary assistance (Iancu et al., 2019). The strategy might be multifaceted, including tools that foster community resilience—the capacity to foresee and successfully navigate problems following a traumatic event—and concerted initiatives to pinpoint and close knowledge, resource, and policy shortages.
Establishing a climate of safety and support in schools and communities is another strategy for reducing the adverse effects of school shootings on children’s mental health. This might involve setting safety procedures like lockdown drills and security precautions, and giving kids chances to interact and build positive connections. Additionally, schools can offer teachers and parents resources on how to talk to kids about violence and trauma and how to support them in creating healthy coping mechanisms.
Since school shootings are regarded as a rare occurrence with limited research and support systems, there is frequently little information available to schools and communities on how to aid survivors in their healing. Most of the time, school personnel are left without resources and no idea what to do. The following activities might be taken to offer kids, school personnel, and the community accessible and efficient care in the wake of school shootings.
Build community resilience first via training for professionals and educators. Communities may increase their resilience before crises happen by providing education and professional development for kids, teachers, mental health professionals working in schools, and community members (Iancu et al., 2019). Local multisector ties must be built and strengthened to avoid and prepare for all measures for a possible re-opposition to the tragedy that may happen in the future. By strengthening community relationships and training residents to have the skills and support required after a traumatic experience, it should be possible to expand access to appropriate trauma-focused mental health resources, especially following an event (Iancu et al., 2019). Communities can also encourage leaders with resiliency who have the skills to collaborate across industries and form alliances.
Second, to improve student access, use the school’s current resources for mental health assistance. In the long run, survivors, their families, and the community must have access to this assistance (Iancu et al., 2019). Long-term accessibility can be supported by enhancing and integrating with currently available educational resources.
Third, funding should be sought to implement and evaluate high-quality interventions. This will broaden the study data about students affected by school shootings (Iancu et al., 2019). In addition, access is not the same for all populations, despite an increasing number of practitioners being educated in evidence-based therapy (Iancu et al., 2019). Access to places with fewer resources can be improved with outside support.
Fourth, local health agencies could require tools to gauge significant results related to school mass casualty situations. For instance, assessing measures to hold necessary parties accountable for unfavorable consequences during such tragedies and analyzing access to mental health care (Iancu et al., 2019). Given that almost one in three suicide victims already get medical or mental health care, delivering high-quality care might be crucial (Iancu et al., 2019).
The high student-to-staff ratio for related services is a significant obstacle to receiving school mental health assistance. These subpar student-to-related service ratios obstruct access to mental health resources for students with troublesome behaviors and hinder them from receiving care in schools. Overworked service providers are less likely to be able to deliver services, which hinders attempts to avoid school violence (Teasley, 2018). In a school system with limited resources, cooperation to prevent school violence, identify children who require mental health assistance, and implement strategies to defuse anger are of the utmost significance.
The nation’s stigma against seeking assistance from mental health professionals is another obstacle to school-based mental health programs. According to young people, the most significant hurdles to getting treatment are stigma and shame, difficulties detecting symptoms, such as low mental health literacy, and a propensity for self-reliance (Teasley, 2018). Such consequences of a school shooting should be prevented so that children can feel comfortable after a traumatic memory.
Furthermore, parents frequently struggle to identify when their children have mental health issues and are hesitant to enforce compliance with medication. In such cases, the disorder can progress further and become a significant problem for the child as they grow up. In addition, stigma after a tragedy can have a substantial impact on a person’s emotional state in the future and provoke suppression of feelings.
Conclusion
In conclusion, school shootings are harmful to children’s mental growth. A child’s capacity to learn, socialize, and establish healthy relationships may be hampered by various mental health issues, such as anxiety, sadness, and PTSD, resulting from exposure to violence and trauma. Support and resources must be given to those most immediately impacted by the incident to lessen the effect of school shootings on children’s mental development.
Children can feel safe and learn practical coping skills by developing a culture of safety and support in their communities and schools. By responding to the impact of school shootings on children’s psychological growth, we can help foster a more secure and supportive environment for every child. School shootings have an enormously adverse effect on kids’ mental growth. It is possible to lessen the effect of these incidents on children’s mental development by offering assistance and resources to individuals directly impacted by school shootings and fostering a culture of safety and support in schools and communities. To make a safer and more encouraging place for all children, addressing the effects of school shootings on kids’ mental health is crucial.
References
Abrams, Z. (2022). The stress of mass shootings causing cascade of collective traumas. Monitor on Psychology, 53(6), 20. Web.
Penn State Social Science Research Institute. (2021). After school shootings, well-off families flee and enrollment drops. Low-income kids are left to confront the aftermath. Population Research Institute. Web.
Awan, O. (2023). Gun violence and its effect on the mental health of children in America. Forbes. Web.
Iancu, A., Jaycox, L. H., Acosta, J., D., Straub, F., G., Iovan, S., Nelson, C., Abir, M. (2019). After school shootings, children and communities struggle to heal. Rand Corporation.
Rossin-Slater, M., Schnell, M., Schwandt, H., Trejo, S., & Uniat, L. (2020). Local exposure to school shootings and youth antidepressant use. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(38), 23484-23489. Web.
Rossin-Slater, M. (2022). Surviving a school shooting: Impacts on the mental health, education, and earnings of American youth. Stanford University. Web.
Teasley, M. L. (2018). School shootings and the need for more school-based mental health services. Children & Schools, 40(3), 131-134. Web.