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What I Expected From My Government By: Hayden K

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What I Expected From My Government By: Hayden K

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1e886592-27f3-45da-9a02-7d01ce0c6fa8-Hayden Kahl - Collage and Artist Statment 

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The Crying, The Dying, and The Lost By: Kaitlyn Strien

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The Crying, The Dying, and The Lost By: Kaitlyn Strien

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Heavy footsteps fill the halls,

silence is pierced, no screaming at all

The shooter masked and running,

in hopes of killing kids, teacher and staff, destroying what was once a happy class, taking 5 6 7 year olds from their parents, and destroying what I thought was a place where we were protected.

Horror is struck all over the teachers face,

kids are hiding back tears and muffled cries,

the lights are off,

we're in hiding because we know that one movement,

one sound,

could be the last one we ever make.

Where are the people to help?

Why are we hiding?

Who can protect us when even the teachers are crying?

Where's mom and dad when I need them most,

I miss them, I miss them.

The shooter barges through the door,

and screams arise,

the teacher tells us to

"RUN...GO RUN AND HIDE"

she steps in front of the shooter gun pointed to her chest and "BOOM",

our teacher is dead.

We're crying, screaming, and running, and hiding, the shooter is coming, coming and finding.

Molly.

Then Samantha.

Then Lucy.

Then Violet.

Blake.

Then Liam.

Then Lucas.

Then Ryan.

My friends, my classmates, my neighbors I knew,

were dead on the ground unable to move.

This one man,

with a 50-inch gun, killed everyone I knew and I loved.

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Childish Gambino - This Is America (Official Video)

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Eminem - Nowhere Fast (Extended Version) [Audio] ft. Kehlani

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by Julie Collins and Emily Swoveland
Over the past few years, gun violence has risen to the forefront of public consciousness. Much of the debate has focused on gun regulation and keeping deadly weapons out of the hands of potential killers, particularly those with mental illnesses. Unfortunately, far less attention has been dedicated to the impact of gun violence on victims. While individuals killed and injured in atrocities such as the Sandy Hook and Aurora Theater shootings are publicly remembered and mourned, victims of these tragedies are not limited to those men, women, and children killed, injured, or present during these horrific events. The consequences of gun violence are more pervasive and affect entire communities, families, and children. With more than 25% of children witnessing an act of violence in their homes, schools, or community over the past year, and more than 5% witnessing a shooting, it becomes not just an issue of gun regulation, but also of addressing the impact on those who have been traumatized by such violence (Finkelhor et al., 2009).

Although mental health problems are part of the debate about gun regulation, the discussion has focused primarily upon the mental health of the perpetrators' of gun crimes. In fact, most people with mental illnesses are not violent and are actually more likely to be victimized than they are to victimize others (Teplin et al, 2005). While much more can be done to address the problems of perpetrators with a mental illness, that conversation alone will not address the problems associated with gun violence. The Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) believes it is time to broaden the focus of the gun debate to include the social, emotional, physical, and mental health impact of those traumatized by gun violence, especially children and youth. In their 2002 article "Mitigating the Effects of Gun Violence on Children and Youth," James Garbarino and his colleagues pointed out that "children exposed to gun violence may experience negative short and long-term psychological effects, including anger, withdrawal, posttraumatic stress, and desensitization to violence" (Garbarino et al., 2002). They also indicate that the research shows that "certain children may be at higher risk for negative outcomes if they are exposed to gun violence." The groups they identified "include children injured in gun violence, those who witness violent acts at close proximity, those exposed to high levels of violence in their communities or schools, and those exposed to violent media."

Addressing the social, emotional, and physical well-being and mental health needs of children and youth exposed to gun violence is a complex process that requires proper identification of those exposed. It also requires a sufficient number of providers trained in age-appropriate, evidence-based, and trauma-informed treatments to concurrently understand all of these concerns. In addition, it requires our society to find ways to reduce the actual numbers of children and youth who are initially exposed to gun violence. This is no easy task, given the many settings in our world that contain violent situations or imagery: schools, homes, communities, and the media.

At CWLA's 2013 National Conference, our staff and its Mental Health Advisory Board brought together professionals in the child welfare and mental health fields for a Listening Session on the topic of gun violence . Together, they started a dialogue about the often ignored impact of gun violence on the well-being of children, youth, families, and communities and discussed current efforts to address this issue; they also identified problems encountered in both policy and practice fields, providing suggestions and potential solutions. Influenced by CWLA's National Blueprint for Excellence in Child Welfare and its vision for all children and youth to grow up safely, with loving families and supportive communities, the conversation focused on the shared responsibility of individuals, families, organizations, and communities for ensuring the safety and well-being of children and youth. Specifically, participants focused on the culture of violence and fear in many of the communities they serve, the difficulties of combating gun use and violence, the need for community development that is focused on reducing violence, the impact on the children and youth exposed to violence, and what is needed to address the mental health needs of those exposed to gun violence.

CWLA's National Blueprint voices the need to protect the fundamental rights of children and emphasizes the obligation that all individuals have in ensuring a safe and supportive environment for children and youth. In line with the National Blueprint, participants at our 2013 conference discussed the ways that service providers and communities were working to protect the rights of children in relationship to gun legislation. They also pointed out the necessity of addressing gun regulation and violence at the national level, fighting for legislative protections for children and youth.

Many participants voiced frustration with the role guns currently have in American society and their frequent glorification in the media. They pointed out that gun ownership is seen as a key American value, and that many citizens feel entitled to gun ownership and dislike interventions that limit their access. Unfortunately, gun ownership is often associated with the devastating violence that takes place in communities around the country-especially those in which there is a high poverty rate, which can increase the difficulty of preventing gun-based crime. Participants identified that frequent media portrayal of guns glorifies their use and promotes using gun violence as an acceptable means of conflict resolution. They pointed out that the media fails to provide the counter- message that guns are dangerous, should be stored properly, and are not to be used for conflict resolution.

Given the current climate citing personal liberties vis-a-vis the United States Constitution, participants recognized that changing American values regarding gun ownership is an unrealistic goal. They agreed that the focus should be on providing gun education and gun safety training to gun owners and non-owners alike. In addition, communities should have access to accurate information regarding the realities of gun use, such as the annual number of gun homicides and the number of children killed by guns. They suggested that efforts must be made to counter the glorified image portrayed in the media by teaching proper gun use, illuminating the dangers guns pose to children and youth, and explaining alternatives to gun ownership for ensuring personal and home safety.

Conference participants also voiced concerns about the pervasive culture of fear and violence that exists in many of the commu- nities they serve. At the community level, participants observed that guns are often used in response to fear. They pointed out that children and youth living in violent neighborhoods feel at risk; without nonviolent conflict-resolution skills, they too readily depend on guns to solve problems. Garbarino and his colleagues, likewise, stated that "exposure to gun violence also can desensitize youth to the effects of violence and increase the likelihood that they will use violence as a means of resolving problems or expressing emotions." Often, it is only through carrying and using weapons that these youth feel safe, secure, and protected. But despite gun ownership, many children and youth remain unprotected from the violence within their communities.

Participants noted that fighting a community's culture is an uphill battle that is netting few positive results. All agreed that when communities, families, children, and youth are empowered to work together and challenge negative values, they can begin to change the culture of violence and reduce community-wide fear. While not a quick process, is essential to encourage communities to take ownership of the safety and well-being of all children, youth, and families. Consistent with the standards in CWLA's National Blueprint, conference participants further suggested working one-on-one with families, children, and youth to help them build their protective factors, develop resiliency, regulate their emotions, strengthen coping strategies, and transform negative life views into ones of hope for a better future. There was also widespread agreement about the importance of teaching parents how to model nonviolent behaviors for children and educating them on positive methods of discouraging violent alternatives.

In addition to shifting community acceptance of violence at a micro level by working with families, children, and youth directly, participants suggested that child welfare and mental health agencies must also encourage neighborhood residents to become connected to one another and oppose violence at the macro level-i.e., within the greater community. Agency leaders and those who provide services can encourage these changes by nurturing residents' social connections and fostering strong social networks within the community. Once united with the larger community, they will be in a position to more easily influence the needed systematic changes to norms and values.

The consequences of exposure to violence on child development are very real. CWLA's National Blueprint points out that children and youth exposed to chronic trauma can experience inhibited brain development, producing a lasting impact on life outcomes. Likely a result of such exposure, participants noted numerous skill deficits among the children and youth they serve who live in neighborhoods that have high rates of poverty and crime. As suggested by the research, many children experience problems with violence and aggression because they lack nonviolent conflict-resolution skills. Much of this violence and aggression is further exacerbated by emotional overload from exposure to violence. Children and youth exposed to violence experience significant stress, and often struggle to identify and regulate their emotions, as a result of developmental impacts from their frequent exposure to trauma. Their emotions are often internalized and can later erupt in aggression and violence.

The Listening Session attendees also acknowledged that these skill deficits can be the result of children and youth learning behavior through observing and mimicking the actions of those around them. When adults exhibit aggressive and violent behavior, such behavior is often interpreted as appropriate and acceptable. A cycle of violence starts when children and youth observe and embrace negative adult behaviors and, eventually, model such interactions with their own children. With much at stake, a laundry list of strategies and supports was offered to address the impact on child development and reduce the negative impact of exposure to violence. Participants lauded the importance of early, family-level prevention, suggesting that parents must be assisted in accessing the social services necessary to strengthen protective factors, build resiliency, help their children regulate their emotions, develop coping skills, and provide physical and psychological safety.

Participants also identified numerous skills that must be taught directly to children and youth affected by violence to reduce the impact of traumatic stress, including conflict-resolution skills that demonstrate simple problem-solving techniques that are nonviolent and/or force-aversive. In addition to developing communication skills, children and youth need to be taught to identify and regulate their emotions; once they better understand their emotions and how they affect their behavior, they can learn how to appropriately respond to their feelings in ways that are not harmful to themselves or others.

The Listening Session attendees recognized that until child and youth exposure to violence is eliminated, childhood mental health problems will likely continue to grow. The group noted that they are witnessing dramatic growth in the number of children and youth with mental health problems, and that service providers must actively work to educate the public on childhood mental illness. Mental illness continues to be stigmatized, and public hesitancy to discuss the matter is detrimental to children and youth who are impacted by mental health problems. It was further noted that many parents, teachers, and workers are often uneducated regarding mental health conditions and, as a result, fail to identify early signs of mental illness, delaying child and youth access to treatment. It was pointed out that even once treatment is received and a diagnosis is given, many adults lack knowledge about specific mental illnesses and are unsure of how to interact with children and youth with a mental health problem. Without proper education, parents, teachers, and other well- meaning figures may unknowingly exacerbate a child or youth's mental health problems.

In addition to reducing risk factors and developing protective factors and resiliency among youth currently suffering from mental health problems, professionals agreed that communities must also help children and youth at-risk of mental health problems develop protective factors to shield them from the negative mental health outcomes that frequently result from exposure to traumatic life events.

Preventing childhood exposure to violence and mitigating the impact of previous exposure is too large a job for any one group or organization. Child welfare, prevention, and mental health agencies cannot tackle this problem alone. Agencies must embrace the message of CWLA's National Blueprint and encourage communities to take responsibility for the well-being of children and youth. Combating the negative impact of violence on children and youth requires the collaboration of teachers, principals, social workers, police officers, doctors, parents, friends, and more. Each person has a role to play, be it screening for exposure to violence, mitigating the impact of violence through emotional support, or preventing violence through community activism and policy initiatives. Only when all facets of society recognize the true negative impact that exposure to violence has on the well-being of children, youth, families, and communities, and actively work to address this problem, will substantive change take place.

While it will take collaboration between various agencies and specific communities for a significant drop in child and youth exposure to violence to occur, many professionals are actively fighting this battle. Doctors around the country are talking to parents of young children about gun safety and protecting their children from harm. Teachers, principals, and school administrators are actively working with students, reinforcing pro-social behaviors and teaching conflict-resolution skills. Religious figures of all faiths are teaching children and youth about loving themselves, others, and their communities, and about how to be morally centered people. Social workers are educating parents on positive childrearing to reduce exposure to domestic violence and other home-based traumas. Lobbyists and politicians are fighting for legislation that increases access to mental health services and limits public access to guns.

All of these professionals, and many more, are actively working to reduce violence and improve the well-being of children and youth across the country. Individually, they make small but meaningful contributions to the effort, but together, as a united front, these individuals and agencies can make a significant impact in the lives of children and youth exposed to violence in their homes, at their schools, and in their communities. Recent incidents like the Fort Hood shooting once again raise the issue of gun violence. Although this happened on a military base, children, youth, families, and the surrounding communities have all been impacted. While the issue of gun violence seems stalled in this current Congress, it continues to be a central concern for all of us.

CWLA's Listening Session helped begin the dialogue on current efforts to prevent child and youth exposure to violence and mitigate the impact of previous exposure. Now is the time for all to come together and finish this discussion. n

Julie Collins is CWLA's Director of Standards for Practice Excellence. Emily Swoveland served as an intern at CWLA in 2013. The authors offer special thanks to Linda Spears and Andrea Bartolo.
References
Garbarino, J., Bradshaw, C.P., & Vorrasi, J.A. (2002). Mitigating the Effects of Gun Violence on Children and Youth. The Future of Children, 12(2), 73-87. Retrieved from https://www.princeton.edu/futureofchildren/publications/docs/12_02_05.pdf.

Finkelhor, D., et al. (2009). Children's Exposure to Violence: A Comprehensive National Survey. Juvenile Justice Bulletin, October 2009. Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/227744.pdf.

Teplin, L., et al. (2005). Crime Victimization in Adults With Severe Mental Illness: Comparison With the National Crime Victimization Survey. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62, 911-921.

To comment on this article, e-mail voice@cwla.org.

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The Impact of Gun Violence on Children, Families, & Communities

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by Julie Collins and Emily Swoveland Over the past few years, gun violence has risen to the forefront of public consciousness. Much of the debate has focused on gun regulation and keeping deadly weapons out of the hands of potential killers, particularly those with mental illnesses.

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Gun laws work

When we compare the states head-to-head on the top 50 gun safety policies, a clear pattern emerges. States with strong laws see less gun violence.Indeed, the 14 states that have failed to put basic protections into place-"national failures" on our scale-have nearly triple the rate of gun deaths as the eight national gun safety leaders.

The top 50 laws we focus on represent a wide range of interventions. Some block gun access by people who pose a threat with a firearm while others focus on limiting gun violence in public. Some seek to increase police accountability and protect civil rights, while another set targets bad actors in the gun industry.

All states should start with a core group of five foundational laws-passing background checks and/or purchase permitting, along with Extreme Risk laws and secure gun storage requirements; and rejecting Shoot First (also known as Stand Your Ground) and permitless carry laws. While each of the top 14 states in the gun law rankings has all five of these policies in place, only one of the bottom 14 states has even one of these critical protections.

The national gun safety landscape has seen states move in opposite directions in recent years. While all nine states in our "making progress" tier have made significant additions to their firearm laws in recent years-with each adding several points to its gun law score-a whopping 24 states at the other end of the scale have made the dangerous decision to repeal their concealed carry permit requirements.

Our gun law rankings are a roadmap for how to build the ideal state system. They will walk you through the most important policies and help you compare these protections across the country.

Even the strongest system can't protect a state from its neighbors' weak laws

The rankings clearly show that gun laws save lives. But no state is an island (except Hawaii), and any state may be vulnerable if its neighbors fail to protect public safety. That's how northeastern states with strong laws ended up victims of the infamous "iron pipeline," the route traffickers use to bring guns up from southeastern states with weak laws. The evidence tells a simple story about porous borders: Out of all guns showing up at crime scenes after crossing state lines, four out of five come from states that lack good background check laws.

Notable strong law states like Illinois and Maryland remain plagued with high gun violence in their biggest cities-in large part because they're targeted by traffickers. Indeed an outsized share of likely trafficked crime guns recovered in Illinois begin their journey in states with weak laws. And Virginia, which had weak gun purchase laws until 2020, has long been the top supplier of crime guns into Maryland. At the other end of the scale, states like New Hampshire, Vermont, and Rhode Island have unusually low gun death rates compared with their somewhat weaker policies, in part because they are buffered by robust laws among other states in the region.

High gun ownership rates also play a role in strong states where deaths are higher

Access to a firearm drastically increases the likelihood of suicide and a gun in the home is associated with more gun homicide. Again, a state like Rhode Island has low gun violence relative to the strength of its laws-likely due in part to its very low gun ownership rate (it's fourth-lowest in the nation). On the other hand, states like Nevada and New Mexico have higher rates of gun violence than their laws might suggest-perhaps in part as a result of above-average gun ownership.

It takes time for new laws to have an impact

Several states have had recent success passing strong policy-for example, Nevada added half of its gun law score and New Mexico added over 40% of its score in the past several years. Both states enacted Extreme Risk, background check, and domestic violence laws, with New Mexico also limiting qualified immunity and Nevada tackling secure storage and ghost guns. Those states can hope to see newfound protection in the coming years-and more lives saved.

At the other end of the scale, Iowa repealed both its background check and carry permit laws in 2021, losing over 40% of its gun law score in one year. This new, radical change in its score provides a partial and likely temporary explanation for its relatively low gun death rate. Iowans should be concerned about a future spike in violence.

Federal laws help prevent gun violence nationwide

All 50 states can rely on a backbone of federal laws to help keep guns out of the wrong hands. Yet the federal system is far too weak overall-for example, failing to require background checks on all gun sales and giving special legal immunity to the gun industry. State policymakers should protect their residents by filling the many gaps in federal law, and must also take action where state power is at its strongest, such as requiring a process for domestic abusers to turn in guns when they become prohibited from having them.

There's work to do beyond strong state laws

By comparing state gun laws with gun violence outcomes, we see how critical it is to enact strong policy. But a caveat is required: There is necessary non-legislative gun safety work this site doesn't show-including community-based violence intervention programs; regulatory efforts, funding campaigns, and on-the-ground implementation; local executive action and city and town ordinances; and responsible cultural norms around gun safety.

Where do we go from here?

A safer future is possible. Our gun law rankings show which states are ahead and which are behind, and provide a checklist for how to get there.

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Compares gun policy across 50 states. In states where elected officials have taken action to pass gun laws, fewer people die by gun violence.

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Mural tributes the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

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Mural Depicts a shooting victim outside of a Philadelphia High School with the purpose of bringing attention to gun laws in schools and getting students involved. 

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Run Hide Fight - Kids in America share their experience of growing up surrounded by guns

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Run Hide Fight - Kids in America share their experience of growing up surrounded by guns

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Run, Hide, Fight: Growing Up Under the Gun | WATCH THE FULL DOCUMENTARY

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Gun Violence Takes a Brutal Psychological Toll on Kids

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Gun Violence Takes a Brutal Psychological Toll on Kids

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Original Art Glass On Acrylic Collage Poster Gun Violence Awareness Prevention

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Original Art Glass On Acrylic Collage Poster Gun Violence Awareness Prevention

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Children and adolescents are dying from gun violence at alarmingly high rates in the United States, with firearms now the leading cause of death among youth ages 1 to 19 (figure 1). The threat of gun violence, the trauma it causes, and the horrific loss of these young lives to firearms all have profound consequences that extend across entire communities and our education system as a whole. In this blog, the CEA reviews these cumulative costs, focusing on the lasting damage to the academic, labor market, and mental health outcomes of youth exposed to gun violence in our classrooms and neighborhoods. Gun violence also destabilizes schools and causes them to spend billions of scarce dollars on security measures. These are resources that could be much more productively applied to academic investments. The Biden-Harris Administration has taken actions to reduce gun violence inside and outside of schools, including providing additional resources and information on evidence-based practices. It is essential that forthcoming administrations build on this progress.

Columbine, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Uvalde. Mass shootings in K-12 schools and on college campuses have become part of the American lexicon. Most recently, on December 16th, a 15-year-old student at Abundant Life Christian School in Wisconsin used a handgun to kill a student and a teacher and wound six others before taking her own life. According to the Washington Post, this was the 426 th K-12 school shooting in the United States since the Columbine High School Massacre in 1999. These horrifying attacks represent only a small fraction of the gun-violence youth are exposed to in the United States. Since 1999, over 80,000 U.S. children and adolescents have died from gun-violence (figure 1).

High rates of school shootings and firearm deaths among youth are a uniquely American phenomenon. Between 2009 and 2018, there were a combined total of five recorded school shootings in G-7 member countries Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom. The United States averaged six school shootings every two and half months during the same ten-year period, a rate that has only increased since.[1] Furthermore, firearm mortality rates among children and adolescents are at least 10 times higher in the United States compared to other high-income nations (figure 2). This epidemic of gun violence affecting youth contributed to the U.S. Surgeon General's decision to declare firearm violence in America a public health crisis on June 25 th of last year.

Gun Violence In Schools
A broad body of research documents how school shootings have long-term, cascading negative consequences for the academic, labor market, and mental health outcomes of the more than 390,000 student survivors. For example, Cabral and colleagues ( 2024) use detailed longitudinal data from Texas to show that being exposed to a school shooting reduces the likelihood students graduate from high school and obtain a bachelor's degree by 3.4 percent and 14.6 percent, respectively. They find that survivors of school shootings are less likely to ever be employed, and if employed, earn $2,600 less annually, on average, amounting to a present-discounted value of over $100,000 in lost lifetime earnings. Exposure to school shootings also leads to persistent increases in youth antidepressant use. High-fatality shootings substantially elevate the rates of suicide and overdose deaths among survivors.
Gun Violence Out of School
In 2022 alone, 4,603children and adolescents lost their lives to gun violence and another 27,902 were shot by a firearm. Youth exposed to these senseless acts of violence in their communities suffer serious negative mental health consequences, attend school less regularly, and perform worse on standardized tests. Acutely violent shooting events can also have broader negative economic impacts, particular when these events receive more national media coverge. One study estimates that mass shootings cause a 2.4% decline in earnings per capita in affected counties, due in part to decreased employment driven by the deterioration of residents' mental health and negative perceptions about business conditions.
The Steep Costs of School Safety Expenditures
The ever-present threat of gun violence has contributed to states and districts spending billions of dollars annually on school safety, some of which might otherwise be used for more academically focused investments. Data from the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights show that, nationally, public schools employ more security guards and school resource officers (SRO) than counselors, nurses, psychologists, and social workers combined. In fact, estimates from 2017 put spending on security guards and SROs at $17.8 billion in 2023 dollars, on par with the entire budget of major federal education programs such as the National School Meal Program or Title I, Part A that provides funds to underserved schools. Other substantial costs to education budgets include access control infrastructure, surveillance systems, and electronic notification systems which exceeded $3.1 billion in 2021 for elementary, secondary, and post-secondary schools.
The Challenge of Staffing Schools Exposed to Gun Violence
Gun violence also undercuts schools' ability to attract and retain educators, leading to inequitable educational opportunities for communities that experience high rates of firearm related crimes. Research shows that teachers and substitutes are less likely to apply to jobs in schools where more crimes occur and in schools located in neighborhoods with higher violent crime rates. School shootings also result in a rise in turnover among teachers and instructional support staff. Concerns about school shootings may also keep some prospective teachers from joining the profession given that a majority of teachers (59%) now report that they are at least somewhat worried about the possibility of a shooting happening at their school. Given the primary importance of fully staffing schools with highly qualified educators, the harmful labor market effects of gun violence can have persistent negative organizational consequences for schools.
Combating The Effect of Gun Violence on Students and Schools
It doesn't have to be this way. That is why the Biden-Harris Administration has taken a broad range of actions to reduce gun violence and increase the safety and mental health of students in school settings. These efforts include signing the landmark Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which expanded background checks for firearm purchases including for individuals under age 21, funded state red flag laws, and provided over $1 billion in funding to support safer schools and expanded school mental health services. The Administration also has issued executive actions to stop the proliferation of "ghost guns" without serial numbers, to promote safe gun storage, and expand the use of evidence-based practice to make active-shooter drills more effective exercises. Additionally, the Administration opened the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention and initiated a coordinated gun violence emergency response system.

It will take continued bold leadership to reduce gun violence, including passing common sense gun violence prevention and safety laws. Such efforts will benefit students, schools, communities, and the economy as a whole.

[1] These estimates include K-12 schools, colleges, universities, and vocational schools.

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The Cumulative Costs of Gun Violence on Students and Schools | CEA | The White House

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Children and adolescents are dying from gun violence at alarmingly high rates in the United States, with firearms now the leading cause of death among youth ages 1 to 19 (figure 1). The threat of gun violence, the trauma it causes, and the horrific loss of these young lives to firearms all have profound consequences...

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Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR)

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Key Takeaways

More than 100,000 American children attended a school at which a shooting took place in 2018 and 2019.

Research indicates a higher rate of antidepressant use among those exposed to a school shooting in the years following the gun violence.

School shootings lead to drops in student enrollment and a decline in average test scores.

School shootings also lead to an increase in student absenteeism and the likelihood of needing to repeat a grade in the two following years.

Students exposed to shootings at their schools are less likely to graduate high school, go to college, and graduate college, and they are less likely to be employed and have lower earnings in their mid-20s.

As America reels from yet another school shooting - this one at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas - much of the public discussion has centered on the lives lost: 19 children and 2 teachers. The Uvalde massacre is the second deadliest on record, following the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

These shootings are only two on an already long list of horrific tragedies that have cut short the lives of too many children and their educators over the past decades. According to the Washington Post school shootings database, at least 185 children, educators, and others have been killed by gun violence at American schools since the Columbine massacre in 1999, leaving behind hundreds of grief-stricken family members, friends, and communities.

The costs of school shootings for the direct victims and their loved ones are unimaginable. And an increasing body of research shows that the death toll captures only one part of the broader lasting impact that gun violence at schools permeates throughout our society.

Hundreds of thousands of students exposed

Over the last two decades, the number of shootings at U.S. schools has doubled, and in my research with Marika Cabral, Bokyung Kim, Molly Schnell, and Hannes Schwandt, we estimate that more than 100,000 American children attended a school at which a shooting took place in 2018 and 2019 alone (Cabral et al., 2021). Although mass school shootings such as the one in Uvalde tend to receive significant media attention, the majority of shootings are thankfully much less deadly and also less widely publicized. In fact, about three-quarters of shootings in 2018 and 2019 led to no fatalities at all, and the vast majority had fewer than two deaths.

Researchers have been analyzing the impacts of exposure to shootings on the growing number of students experiencing them in American schools. While many students are physically unharmed, studies have consistently found consequences to their mental health, educational, and economic trajectories that last for years, and potentially decades, to come.

A large interdisciplinary body of research characterizes the neurological and physiological mechanisms through which trauma from exposure to violence can impact young people. In brief, such trauma can affect both the biological stress system as well as young developing brains (see, e.g.: Osofsky, 1999; De Bellis, 2001; Carrion et al., 2002, 2007, 2008, 2012; De Bellis and Zisk, 2014; Heissel et al., 2018; Miller et al., 2018).

Consistent with these mechanisms, large numbers of studies from different countries and contexts have documented negative effects of exposure to local community and domestic violence on children's educational and behavioral outcomes (see, e.g.: Cook and Ludwig, 2002; Aizer, 2007; Caudillo and Torche, 2014; Sharkey, 2010, 2018; Sharkey et al., 2012, 2014; Duque, 2017; Monteiro and Rocha, 2017; Gershenson and Tekin, 2018; Koppensteiner and Menezes, 2021).

At the same time, some have argued that children are very resilient and can "bounce back" from trauma, implying that childhood violence exposure - while being damaging in the short run - may not have lasting effects (Agaibi and Wilson, 2005; Goldstein and Brooks, 2005; Garrett et al., 2019).

A matter of location: Why school shootings differ from gun violence elsewhere

There are several reasons why shootings at schools may impact children differently than when they occur elsewhere. Recent studies show that local exposure to police killings of unarmed Black and Hispanic individuals adversely affects the mental health of Black adults (Bor et al., 2018) and educational outcomes of Black and Hispanic students (Ang, 2021).

The mechanisms driving these impacts may include the possibility that Blacks and Hispanics feel a stronger connection to same-race victims of police brutality and that they view these events as breaking their trust in institutions such as law enforcement. Similarly, children exposed to shootings at schools may suffer more acutely than when they are exposed to violence in other settings because of their connection to student and teacher victims and the loss of trust in their schools' ability to keep them safe.

Further, the intensive media coverage that comes with a school shooting is likely to have put many American students on edge. So much so that exposure to any gunshots in a school setting - even an accidental discharge - may be particularly traumatic if it invokes an intense amount of fear (Lowe and Galea, 2017). Also, compared with violence in other contexts, school shootings are likely to cause a greater amount of disruption to student learning, as they might affect teacher turnover rates, teaching quality, classroom resources, and the continuity of instruction.

Lastly, given that "peer effects" in schools are important - i.e., students' learning and well-being are highly influenced by what their peers do in the classroom setting - the adverse impacts of a student's own trauma from experiencing a school shooting may be amplified due to disruptions from other shooting-exposed peers (Carrell et al., 2018).

Early impacts on survivors: Mental health and education

Several studies demonstrate that school shootings have detrimental effects on the mental health and educational outcomes of surviving youth. In my work with Molly Schnell, Hannes Schwandt, Sam Trejo, and Lindsey Uniat (Rossin-Slater et al., 2020), we analyzed the impacts of 44 U.S. school shootings that took place between 2008 and 2013 on youth antidepressant use.

We compared the number of antidepressant prescriptions written by providers practicing within five miles of a school that experienced a shooting with those written by providers 10 to 15 miles away, both before and after the shooting. Our results indicated that the average monthly number of antidepressant prescriptions written to youth under age 20 by providers located near schools that experienced a fatal shooting was 21.3 percent higher relative to providers located farther away in the two to three years following a shooting than in the two years before.

Consistent with this evidence suggesting a deterioration in shooting-exposed children's mental health, Levine and McKnight (2020) document an increase in deaths (including suicides and accidents) among residents of Jefferson County, Colorado, who were between 14 and 18 at the time of the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School (which is located in that county).

When it comes to educational outcomes, studies have found that school shootings lead to drops in student enrollment and a decline in average test scores (Abouk and Adams, 2013; Poutvaara and Ropponen, 2018; Beland and Kim, 2016; Levine and McKnight, 2020).

In my research with Marika Cabral, Bokyung Kim, Molly Schnell, and Hannes Schwandt, we examined the effects of the 33 shootings that took place during school hours at public schools in Texas between 1995 and 2016 (Cabral et al., 2021). We used detailed administrative student-level data on all children in Texas public schools and analyzed changes in educational outcomes within the same students in the years before and after a shooting.

In order to control for general time trends, we compared these within-student changes to changes in students from control schools that were chosen to be similar based on their institutional and student demographic characteristics. We found that, in the two years following a shooting, exposed students experienced a 12.1 percent increase in the share of school days that they were absent, a 27.8 percent increase in the likelihood of being chronically absent, and a more than doubling of the likelihood of needing to repeat a grade.

The long haul: Educational and economic outcomes for shooting survivors

Our team also studied longer-term consequences of exposure to gun violence at schools. In this analysis, we studied the impacts of the eight shootings that took place at Texas public high schools between 1998 and 2006 on individual outcomes through age 26.

We compared cohorts of shooting-exposed students with cohorts that attended the same schools in the years before the shooting occurred. As in the short-run analysis, we compared these differences in cohort outcomes with the analogous cohort differences in matched control schools.

We found that students who were exposed to a shooting at their school in grades 10 and 11 were 3.7 percent at the mean less likely to graduate from high school; 9.5 percent less likely to enroll in any college; 17.2 percent less likely to enroll in a four-year college; and 15.3 percent less likely to obtain a bachelor's degree by age 26.

We also found that students exposed to shootings in grades 9 through 11 were 6.3 percent less likely to be employed and had $2,779.84 (13.5 percent) lower average annual earnings between the ages of 24 and 26. Our estimates imply a reduction of $115,550 (in 2018 dollars) in the present discounted value of lifetime earnings per shooting-exposed student. Given that approximately 50,000 children per year have been experiencing shootings at their schools in recent times, this amounts to an aggregate cost of $5.8 billion per year in terms of lost lifetime earnings among survivors.

Importantly - and thankfully - the shootings that we studied in Texas were not as deadly as the one in Uvalde. In fact, 18 of the 33 shootings had no fatalities, and no shootings had more than one death. And yet, our research indicates that these less deadly and mostly unpublicized acts of gun violence at schools have major and long-lasting consequences for many children who were on school grounds when they occurred.

Lessons learned and policy considerations

It is impossible to overstate the devastation caused by the lives lost to school shootings. But research indicates that even those who escape these events without any visible physical harm carry scars that could impair their lives for many years to come.

While it is undeniably clear that the United States urgently needs to take action to prevent school shootings from occurring in the first place, it is also important to remember the hundreds of thousands of children who have already experienced them.

Indeed, our team's estimates of the impacts of exposure to school shootings in Texas on children's long-run outcomes are comparable in magnitudes to those found by researchers who studied the survivors of the 2011 massacre in Utøya, Norway (Bharadwaj et al., 2021). The Utøya shooting was the deadliest event in recent Norwegian history, killing 69 people. It is therefore in some ways remarkable that we find similarly large negative impacts of exposure to shootings in Texas public schools in which at most one person was killed.

While Norway and Texas differ in a variety of ways, it is important to note that the Norwegian government provided substantial resources and support to the survivors of the Utøya attack, which likely buffered against some of the detrimental long-term effects. In comparison, we are not aware of governmental responses to the school shootings that we studied, and we did not find any changes in observable mental health resources to support students (e.g., as measured by the number of social support staff) at the school level.

Thus, as we mourn the 21 lives tragically cut short on May 24, 2022, in Uvalde, we must not forget about the hundreds of students who were also at school on that day. This loss of life underscores the devastating cost of America's continued inaction on gun control. And as policymakers debate what can be done to prevent school shootings, they must also act to help the hundreds of thousands of children who have already survived them.

Taking steps similar to those in Norway, Congress and statehouses throughout the U.S. can ensure that schools, families, and communities have access to mental health resources and financial support. This is of paramount importance if our society wants to give these children a chance at prevailing as happy, successful, and productive adults.
Maya Rossin-Slater is a SIEPR Senior Fellow and an Associate Professor of Health Policy in the Department of Health Policy at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Her research includes work in health, public, and labor economics. She focuses on issues in maternal and child well-being, family structure and behavior, and policies targeting disadvantaged populations in the United States and other developed countries.
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# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Surviving a school shooting: Impacts on the mental health, education, and earnings of American youth

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
More than 100,000 American children attended a school at which a shooting took place in 2018 and 2019. Research indicates a higher rate of antidepressant use among those exposed to a school shooting in the years following the gun violence. School shootings lead to drops in student enrollment and a decline in average test scores.

# data[].attributes.body
Sun awakes me,

with shining bright rays,

the blue sky is clear,

Oh wow, it's a beautiful day!

I dress in my nicest, pink-sparkly dress,

and run down stairs,

filled with enjoyment and rest.

My parents are smiling while serving me waffles,

I squirt on syrup drooping a sticky substance upon my plate,

Today is a beautiful day!

I wave goodbye to my mom and dad, I'm awaited at school by my teacher and friends.

The bell rings loudly,

louder than usual,

but I don't mind because

It's a beautiful day!

"Welcome Class!"

my teacher is smiling,

we're opening up our books,

writing, and writing.

I start to feel an uneasy feeling,

But I convince myself

I'm wrong because

It's a beautiful day!

I'm reading my book, tracing words with my finger,

when an announcement blares,

louder than ever

"THIS IS NOT A DRILL"

The principal announces,

"EVERYBODY LOCK DOWN, LOCK DOWN THERE'S AN INTRUDER IN THE BUILDING"

My gaze shifts from the speaker to the room,

the teachers face white with terror,

and a panicking classroom.

Our teacher ushers us over to the side of the room,

tells us to hide, underneath the table,

to not utter a word unless wanting to wish upon death.

Silently tears fall from my face,

what happened to such a beautiful day?

I look at my friends,

Lucy,

And Violet,

Blake,

And Liam

And Lucas,

And Ryan,

Distant away from a group of my classmates,

is a silent in terror, crying Alice.

My friend, my classmate, my neighbor, I've known,

Is crying softly and I'm unable to move.

I feel sticky like syrup, stuck on my plate,

But I want to go and help her, comfort her, show empathy,

Instead I stay put, staring gently.

Silently squeezing hands we wait and we wait, hoping the sunny skies, can bring back a beautiful day.

But that wish isn't granted,

and we hear a BANG on the door,

a shooter breaks in,

the class screams a roar.

Our teacher jumps up standing in front of the shooter,

and whispers "don't hurt them, don't hurt them, take me instead!"

The shooter doesn't hesitate, and shoots her in the chest

He looks toward us,

Points his gun at our heads

Shooting many times,

leaving us

dead

unable to move

I look at Lucy, with the last seconds I have

Wishing I joined her, helped her.

I glance lastly at the window outside, the sparkling sun touches my eyes,

A beautiful day I thought as a delight,

was the

biggest,

grandest,

most arrogant lie.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
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