School Shootings: What Drives Mass Shooters?

Please note that we are NOT the original writers of this blog post. All credit goes to the original writers. Find the original post as published at this link: https://www.usconcealedcarry.com/blog/school-shootings-what-drives-mass-shooters/

Reversing the Trend

Some could be categorized as psychotic, like the Virginia Tech shooter. Others are motivated or motivated by ISIS or other terrorist organizations. Most are looking for fame.

Warning Signs of School Shootings

• If your child is falling behind , set aside time for homework every day and assess their work. Success gives rise to success. Validation through academic hard work may be the success and fame that the child needs.
• If your child is lacking success socially or on the playing field, encourage them to sign up for Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts or a similar organization such as your local Fire or Police Explorer post. Eagle Scouts aren’t out shooting up schools, malls or churches.
• Monitor your child’s social media accounts. Act like the grown-up in your relationship and set simple rules. If you’re not permitted to monitor a social networking account, then the privilege goes away.
• Monitor your child’s computer usage. While it’s possible to hide or delete web searches or create hidden files or folders, investigations post-shooting have almost always found an obvious digital route. You probably won’t find a document labeled,”My Volume Shooting To-Do List,” but being aware of your child’s computer usage will alert you if he or she is spending time on undesirable forums.
• It’s your property. No place ought to be off-limits to a search. Whether it’s looking for a bedroom, a bank statement, the kid’s phone or a computer, check every nook and cranny where something could be hidden.
• Be a model for your child on your behaviour and actions. See the very best in people, not the worst. If your dinner conversation includes complaining about what is wrong with the world and who’s to blame, you’ll pass that losing attitude on to your child. Although you might not turn him or her into a mass shooter, you will produce an adult with built-in excuses on why her or his life is failing rather than giving him or her the tools and attitude to achieve real success.

Sandy Hook Promise: ‘Say Something’ Campaign

While the great majority of those who come from broken homes or who have disengaged parents won’t ever become mass shooters, when multiple risk factors exist, a person should appropriately be considered at risk for suicide or violence.
While society as a whole is changing to elevate fame over sacrifice, service and hard work, parents have an opportunity to counteract that pull with the following advice:

• When the individual is underage and actively searching a friend or family member for an illegal firearm purchase (not only is this a direct indication, it’s also illegal and must be reported)
• An unexplained and uncharacteristic stockpiling of firearms, ammunition or components that may be used to make an explosive
• Written documentation, such as specific plans for an attack or violent”fictional” stories written with real world settings or celebrities
• Immediate warnings for friends or family members to Avoid an area on a specific date
• Direct threats, specifically stating grievances and/or plans (these could be verbal or in writing, such as in a journal or as part of a writing assignment)

Immediate Indicators on Social Networking

While outsiders may believe that he or she’s doing OK, the potential shooter may believe he or she is failing at all or, worse, that everyone is failing them. So what are the warning signs that an individual may be at risk or may have already reached the planning stage? Warning signs can be designated in three ways: risk factors, direct indicators and indirect signs.

The article School Shootings: What Drives Mass Shooters? Appeared first on USCCA.
Risk factors only indicate that an individual may be at risk, but direct indicators reveal that real planning may have begun. In case after case, mass shooters have left direct indicators of the plans — either in physical or digital form or in what they said or did beforehand. But in far too many cases, friends or family members didn’t take the indicators seriously. Direct indicators can include physical signs, such as:

As part of the effort, Sandy Hook Promise has provided handouts for parents, students and educators. It also offers a PowerPoint presentation and a range of student activities in an instructor manual.
An adult also needs to take responsibility for tracking that pupil’s social media usage. Other students or friends of the potential mass shooter might miss the signs (or not take them seriously). Having at least one responsible adult who chooses an actual interest can’t only help to identify possible violence before it begins but also reduce or eliminate the chance that violence (or suicide) is considered in the first place.

• Being socially dysfunctional
• Having difficulty relating emotionally with other people
• Showing bullying tendencies (contrary to popular belief, most mass shooters haven’t been bullied and instead tend to be bullies. Other indirect indicators can appear on social networking or in the student’s writing.
  To monitor students with risk factors, direct indicators or indirect signs, Dr. Langman indicates that every student in every school have at least one direct link with a teacher or trainer. That doesn’t mean that the adult simply ask the student,”How are you doing?” Through the occasional hallway conversation. It means that the adult should take an actual interest in helping the student remain engaged.
  1. Look for warning signs, signs and threats.
  2. Say something to a trusted adult.

  Dr. Peter Langman would agree. In his essay, School Shooters: The Warning Signs, he notes,”The warning signs of school shootings do not relate to pupils’ clothes, the video games they play, their musical preferences or other aspects of their lifestyles.” Oftentimes, however, Langman says these shooters are”very disempowered, not succeeding in life in multiple domains, and we see that with college and adult shooters. They’re typically failing in academics, failing in the area of work, failing in the world of friendship, in romance or sexuality. Nothing really is going right in any major domain for them.”
  To help prevent future mass shootings and even suicide, Sandy Hook Promise — a movement designed to educate and empower communities through gun-violence-prevention programs — has launched a”Say Something” campaign. It teaches students, teachers and family members not only how to identify warning signs but also what to do about them (by bringing your concerns to a trusted adult).
  While the direct indicators listed might appear laughably obvious, in each of the 48 mass shootings since Columbine, those direct indicators existed and were either missed or ignored by family members and friends.
  The”Say Something” campaign teaches:

  • Posts expressing admiration for past mass shooters or for ISIS, Al-Qaeda or other terrorist organizations; positive references to Hitler or Nazi Germany; or comments which could be taken as thoughts of suicide
  • Photographs showing the individual pointing a firearm directly at the camera or at their own head (if such a guide existed, both of these photos are straight out of the Volume Shooter’s Instruction Manual)

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  Besides the”Say Something” campaign, Sandy Hook Promise has also recently launched an outstanding new video, which shows how easy it is to overlook the signs unless you are watching closely and actively. The 2 1/2-minute video titled Evan follows the budding love interest of a high school student who deals notes with an anonymous woman by scratching them onto a desk at the library. The movie does an outstanding job of showing how the noise and activities of everyday life can cause us to overlook the signs until it’s too late.

  While most mass shooters wouldn’t be categorized as”loners,” many will be disengaged from normal social and familial relationships or express anti-social behavior. Other indirect indicators include:

  Picking the possible mass shooter out of a crowded area of pupils, employees or parishioners won’t be as straightforward as looking at what the individual is wearing or what music he or she’s listening to or other overt signs.
  Direct indicators may also include information left on social media:

  While the viewer is centered on Evan (and trusting that he meets the girl), it’s easy to overlook the signs of an angry, disengaged student in the background. This pupil ultimately walks through the gym door with a bag of guns. I’ll add that you can disagree with the video’s supposition that one of the indirect signs that we should watch for is a student who reads gun watches or magazines shooting videos on YouTube. But taken in its entirety, the movie does a fantastic job of painting a picture of a troubled teenager who is in need of help before it’s too late.

  While no frequent profile exists, common indicators do exist if you know the signs. Additionally, many shooters have left a trail of electronic or physical evidence that was missed by friends or family. In 80 percent of the mass shootings since Columbine, the shooters told someone beforehand about their plans, yet he or she wasn’t taken seriously.