DUDLEY, Mass.–Feb. 16, 2018–Nichols College Counterterrorism Studies Professor Allison McDowell-Smith, Ph.D., shares the following perspective on school shootings:
While it’s important that law enforcement authorities and school administrators understand the how-and-why of this incident, do we want our entire society knowing all of these details? Are these details what’s stimulating the increase in school violence threats in the days immediately following this tragedy? How do we prevent copycats who want to obtain their chance to be in the “spotlight” on social media?
Professor McDowell-Smith’s full statement:
Now that we have begun to learn more about the perpetrator of the Stoneman High School shootings in Parkland, Fla., Nickolas Cruz, media have reported that law enforcement and school administrations are investigating multiple threats of violent within schools across the United States. In New Jersey, an Instagram post was investigated as their schools were put into lock down mode. In Maryland, a student brought a loaded gun into a high school, while another social media post was examined in another area of the state. South Carolina, Ohio, Arkansas, New York, Georgia, Florida, California, Colorado, and Texas also had to conduct various social media threat analyses related to violence in their school systems. Approximately one-fifth of the states within our country have had to deal with the aftermath of the terrorizing event, via school violence threats.
It is essential to look at this sudden rise of school violence threats. We see that social media is reporting on all information they have found regarding the incident in Florida. On Thursday, the police report of the incident was released stating that Cruz “began shooting students that he saw in the hallways and on school grounds.” We have a significant amount of details now about how this situation unfolded as well as the thought process behind this attack. While it’s important that law enforcement authorities and school administrators understand the how-and-why of this incident, do we want our entire society knowing all of these details? Are these details what’s stimulating the increase in school violence threats in the days immediately following this tragedy? How do we prevent copycats who want to obtain their chance to be in the “spotlight” on social media?
While there is concern over the increase school violence threats, it is encouraging to see that these threats were handled in an immediate and effective manner. Individuals had reported seeing something alarming online or via email. Had it not been prompt communication among individuals and agencies to respond to and investigate these threats, we may have potentially experienced another tragic incident.
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