Elevating and Expanding School Counselors’ Roles and Voices in the Prevention of School Violence

Safe Schools Initiative to Address School Shootings

School shootings are, unfortunately, a familiar occurrence in schools in the United States. Two decades ago, after an incident of targeted school violence at Columbine High School in 1999, the U.S. Department of Education and the Secret Service joined forces to create the Safe Schools Initiative (SSI). The SSI was an attempt to utilize the resources of both agencies to answer two main questions: (a) “Could we have known these attacks were being planned?” and (b) “What could we have done to prevent these attacks from occurring?” (Vossekuil et al., 2004, ii). The final report of their findings (Vossekuil et al., 2004) and a guide for effective threat assessment (Fein et al., 2002) were both published about 20 years ago. As targeted school violence has continued, other publications have emerged, such as Enhancing School Safety Using a Threat Assessment Model: An Operational Guide for Preventing Targeted School Violence (National Threat Assessment Center [NTAC], 2018), with the intention of providing additional tools for school personnel to “create a comprehensive targeted violence prevention plan” (p. 1). Each of these publications highlighted recommendations for schools to prevent acts of targeted violence. However, although school counselors are essential leaders during and after school shootings, sometimes outranking administrators (Fein et al., 2008), they are rarely mentioned in the literature about targeted violence prevention in schools.

The recommended actions of the final SSI report included roles and activities that are traditionally performed by school counselors; yet, the report mentioned school counselors only once. Similarly, in Fein and colleague’s Threat Assessment in Schools (2002), school counselors were included as “other professionals,” with “coaches, teachers, and others” (Fein et al., 2002), which underestimates the training and expertise that school counselors have as experts in social/emotional development, mental health, crisis response, and human development (Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Education Programs [CACREP], 2016). This failure to acknowledge school counselors’ expertise not only obstructs their recognition as key members of violence prevention efforts, but may also create confusion among school leaders and administrators about whether school counselors should play a role at all in the planning and implementation of such efforts.

Addressing Mental Health Considerations

Addressing students’ mental health needs is a focal area for school counselor intervention that emerged from the SSI report (Vossekuil et al., 2004). The report highlights characteristics related to mental health considerations of the students’ (i.e., “attackers”) prior to the school violence incident. One of the most pronounced patterns was that almost all the attackers had “experienced or perceived some major loss prior to the attack (98%, n = 40)” (Vossekuil et al., 2004, p. 23). In most cases, the student’s recent behaviors indicated they were not coping well with the loss (83%, n = 34). Moreover, although only a small percentage of attackers had a mental health diagnosis (17%, n = 7), 78% had attempted suicide or considered suicide prior to the attack, and 61% had a documented history of feeling depressed or desperate. Although the SSI report did not include more recent targeted school shootings (e.g., Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School [Johnson, 2018]; Oxford High School [Vales et al., 2021]), reviewing a timeline of the Stoneman Douglas High School attacker’s life events makes clear that he also experienced numerous significant losses, including the death of both of his adoptive parents and a recent school expulsion, and had a history of suicidal ideation. These losses follow a similar pattern to those of the perpetrators of school violence profiled in the SSI report.

School counselors—particularly at the middle and high school levels—are typically assigned to one school. Therefore, school counselors have a unique opportunity to establish rapport with students across multiple academic years, are able to foster familiarity with families, and can build trusting relationships with faculty and staff. School counselors may be the only mental health professionals located within a community, particularly in rural areas, and most provide mental health services in schools on a regular basis. Acknowledging this work as a part of the formal role and responsibilities of school counselors is crucial for helping students and families understand the services school counselors can provide and clearly positioning them as key personnel in the work to prevent school violence.

Create a Safe and Connected School Climate

School climate is the physical, academic, social, and disciplinary school environment (Osher & Berg, 2017, 2). Both CACREP and ASCA directly address the need for school counselors to be able to understand the specific roles they play in creating safe and connected school environments through school leadership, crisis response, use of data to inform decisions, and promoting personal/social development of students (ASCA, 2019b; CACREP, 2016). School counselors also use their knowledge and training to assess a school’s emotional climate, improve the school climate, and help students feel they are in a safe and healthy environment for building a strong community and academic success (U.S. Department of Education, 2013). The SSI report (Vossekuil et al., 2004) indicated that school climates of bullying, aggression, and/or discrimination were present prior to the majority of targeted school violence incidents. By emphasizing open communication and a culture of listening, school counselors may combat acts of bullying and relational aggression while also helping to break the code of silence (Sullivan, 2012). Research on the topic suggests that school violence may be prevented by establishing and sustaining a “positive school climate built on a culture of safety, respect, trust, and social emotional support” (NTAC, 2018).

Addressing Students’ Mental Health Needs

Through their ongoing contact with students and families, school counselors can identify students who need additional support and work to attend to those students’ mental health needs. Based on the findings of the SSI report (Vossekuil et al., 2004), focusing individual, small-group, and classroom instruction on students (particularly adolescent males) who have experienced a real or perceived loss with which they are not coping well would align school counselors’ work with larger school violence prevention efforts. Because school counselors are positioned within school buildings, they have opportunities for observing students within the school environment, offering research-based early intervention, connecting students and families with ongoing community support, and collaborating with teachers and staff to create support plans. These supports could be provided both inside and outside the school building. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends pediatricians serve as a first response for child and adolescent mental health issues. Making mental health referrals to a child’s primary care physician (e.g., pediatrician, family physician), rather than direct referrals to a community mental health resource, is a good first response to mental health concerns for multiple reasons: (a) primary care physicians have likely had a long-term relationship with the individual and their family, (b) they have knowledge of other diagnoses and medications that may be impacting the student’s mental health, (c) they have relationships with mental health providers as a network for referrals, and (d) they have specialized training in children and adolescents. Some pediatric offices even offer integrated care, in which a mental health professional is co-located in a pediatric practice. In an ideal world, the medical system, the mental health system, the school system, and the family would all work seamlessly together to address children’s and adolescent’s mental health needs; however, if needed, other avenues may be helpful to complete mental health referrals. Many federally qualified community health centers also offer behavioral health services for students who are covered by Medicaid insurance or who have no insurance coverage.

Creating Safe and Connected Schools

The following recommendations are included in the guide Threat Assessment in Schools (Fein et al., 2004) and provide a starting point for school counselors who are attempting to shift their school culture. To elevate their roles in the prevention of school violence, school counselors should ensure they are taking these steps systematically and regularly.

First, assess the school’s emotional climate by surveying and interviewing all key players within a school environment, including students, families, staff, and key stakeholders. Do not make assumptions about the emotional climate, but collect data as evidence. Performing needs assessments is integral to school counselors’ establishing and maintaining a comprehensive school counseling program. Building in both an initial assessment of the school’s emotional climate and periodic assessments to check progress in subsequent years is important for monitoring both successes and challenges and identifying additional areas to target for growth.

Second, emphasize the importance of listening in schools, meaning reciprocal listening between students and adults in the building, and within these groups. This includes paying attention to behaviors that might indicate that students do not know how to articulate feelings well and helping empower their voices so those emotions can be expressed in healthy ways to avoid violence. The ASCA Student Standards: Mindsets and Behaviors for Student Success (ASCA, 2021b) include social/emotional development and are designed “to help students manage emotions and learn and apply interpersonal skills” (p. 3). School counselors’ rapport, knowledge (e.g., mental health, school climate), and skills (e.g., empathy, active listening) encourage students to share vital information about their thoughts and feelings (e.g., suicidality, access to weapons, planning of attacks).

Third, take a strong but caring stance against the code of silence. Among adolescents, a code of silence can be harmful to individuals by hiding hurt and breeding anger. Breaking this code of silence and allowing space for examining and addressing honest, genuine feelings can prevent violence. Daniels and colleagues (2007) found that school climate does, in fact, affect the willingness of students to report students and situations of concern. These scholars recommended that schools prioritize relationships between students and staff to “break the code of silence” that exists between students and school staff to uncover leakage for attacks (p. 91). School counselors who aim to create a positive school climate should consider research conducted by Pollack et al. (2008), who suggested: “Simple and genuine measures, such as regularly greeting students, talking to students, and addressing students by name, help to make students feel connected and part of the school” (p. 8). School counselors should also model positive behavior and address situations where students feel marginalized in order to establish an environment with consistent and dependable procedures. Research on perpetrators of targeted school violence suggests that 66% of attackers perceived a sense of failure or loss of social status (Vossekuil et al., 2004). Hence, situations that give preference for certain students or groups of students must be addressed immediately.

Fourth, work actively to change the perception that talking to an adult is snitching. A school culture in which students feel connected to adults and are able to trust that adults have their best interests in driving decisions helps prevent violence. School counselors may support school staff to establish safe reporting mechanisms and teach students the importance of reporting concerns about student behavior. By emphasizing open communication and a culture of listening, school counselors may combat acts of bullying and relational aggression as well as minimize leakage of student threats (Sullivan, 2012).

Fifth, find ways to stop bullying. This includes adults bullying each other, adults bullying students, and students bullying other students. To break the cycle of violence, school counselors may collaborate with education administrators to develop an array of options that address bullying behavior, while at the same time addressing the underlying conflict and keeping students engaged in school. A number of alternative responses may be considered, such as interagency approaches, restitution, mental health counseling, or opportunities for skill development. With that, direct and timely communication of student behaviors and response strategies to school counselors may also prove beneficial for monitoring purposes and to ensure students are positively reconnected with peers.

Sixth, empower students by involving them in planning, creating, and sustaining a school culture of safety and respect. This includes encouraging communication between students and school personnel, intervening in conflicts and bullying, and empowering students to share their concerns. To establish an environment with consistent and dependable procedures, school counselors should also model positive behavior with colleagues and address situations where students feel marginalized. School counselors who aim to create a positive school climate should consider the guide from Holcomb-McCoy (2022) that urges school counselors to lean into discomfort to become an active part of the solution by creating equitable conditions for success for all students.

Seventh, ensure every student feels they have a trusting relationship with at least one adult at school. Research suggests that feeling heard and connected to at least one adult in the school building is vital not only to prevent acts of school violence, but also to increase resiliency and persistence to graduation (Collazzo Navarro, 2020). Students feeling connected, relationally and communicatively, to school counselors may help to foster student engagement and create opportunities to identify student needs that may not have been known otherwise. School counselors should be visible (e.g., hallways, cafeteria, classrooms, school-based social media accounts) and available to develop and maintain trusting relationships with all students.

Conducting Thorough and Effective Threat Assessments

The empirical findings of the SSI study indicate that acts of targeted violence in schools were planned attacks and that other individuals—usually peers—typically knew about the perpetrators’ plans for attack prior to the event (Fein et al., 2002). These results suggest that schools could prevent acts of targeted violence by examining students’ behavior and/or communications for indications of thinking, planning, or progressive lethal capacity to engage in an act of targeted school violence (Deisinger et al., 2008). Using these findings, the U.S. Secret Service adapted its threat assessment model to develop the federal model of school threat assessment (USSS model) for use in schools (NTAC, 2018). The USSS model is built on 11 key questions that guide the threat assessment process (see Appendix).

Co-Assessing Suicide and Threat Assessment Risk

Although school counselors are often included in suicide prevention and suicide assessments, school administration often leads efforts related to violence prevention and threat assessment. However, according to the SSI report (Vossekuil et al., 2004), the two areas are intertwined and show significant overlap. With any threat assessment, a suicide assessment screening for social/emotional distress should be conducted and the process should include a school counselor. Identifying students who have experienced a significant or perceived loss, and those who are experiencing thoughts of suicide, may create an opportunity to make appropriate mental health referrals and prevent future school violence. Additional training on loss and social ostracism for school counselors and the multidisciplinary threat assessment team may increase the likelihood of early identification and intervention for students in social/emotional distress.

Responding to Threat Assessment Outcomes

For students who score high on a threat assessment, reactive steps are appropriate, including a threat assessment investigation by school and law enforcement officials that goes beyond a school counselor’s scope of practice. However, for a student who scores lower on a threat assessment, school counselors still need to attend to the student’s mental health. The population most in need related to targeted school violence is adolescent males who have experienced a real or perceived loss with which they are not coping well. However, other populations are likely struggling with similar issues although they may express these emotions differently. The key factors of loss and difficulty coping signal a red flag for a thoughtful approach to these students’ mental health needs, including responsive, wraparound services with continuous follow-up at regular intervals.

Intentional and Ongoing Check-Ins

Sometimes there is a tendency to utilize threat assessments as an all-or-nothing approach to violence prevention. The notion that a student is worthy of a threat assessment inquiry is enough to warrant periodic check-ins from school counselors about how things are going and whether anything has changed significantly in the student’s life circumstances or state of being. A threat assessment provides a snapshot in time and must be considered in context. As seen in the Stoneman Douglas shooting (Johnson, 2018), someone who may be a mild to moderate risk can escalate to a high risk depending on changes in their life circumstances. Intentionally timed, periodic check-ins are critical to reassess risk levels at regular intervals, before major transitions, and before and after school breaks. Check-ins are often part of a multitiered system of supports that many school counselors provide as a Tier 2 intervention (ASCA, 2021a).

In short, a safe school environment requires relationships between and among students and adults that are built on respect and connection. A sense of community that fosters a sense of belonging can often combat isolation, ostracism, shame, stigma, and, ultimately, violence toward others.