personnel . Consequently , when the shooter entered the school and firing began , safety measures were immediately called into action by the principal . The commitment to a safe environment , we believe , led to saving lives on that fateful day . Based on this knowledge , we highly encourage schools to focus on safety drills .
Schools must be islands of love and empathy in an often-challenging environment .
Each student must feel safe at school and know that the adults in the school deeply care about him / her and seek to understand how each is feeling . School plans should include specific strategies regarding how staff will consistently develop and implement behaviors that demonstrate caring and empathy . They must deal compassionately with issues facing students such as bullying , alienation , identity development , learning challenges , failure and a plethora of other issues . One in five children , according to some sources , have mental health problems . This is a concerning number that calls for better methods of screening children for mental health issues , effective interventions and , most of all , the de-stigmatization of asking for help . Coordinated services
School districts need to build a ring of cooperating social services around each school .
Our experience opened our eyes to the significance of this reality . In the year prior to the shooting , many county agencies realized that a more efficient delivery system was needed for the Lindhurst attendance area . Using planning funds from a Walter S . Johnson Foundation grant , the nascent Yuba County Coordinated Taskforce was formed , and the group began assessing client needs . Each agency ’ s objective was to alter its delivery system to avoid duplication of services and streamline improved service . By January 1992 , the assessment and planning spawned a program team composed of five agencies : Four Yuba County departments ( social services , mental health , probation , health ), the Marysville Joint Unified School district and an elected Yuba County supervisor . In retrospect , the group should have included the sheriff ’ s department . A coordinated services director was designated . The role of the director was to be the glue to hold the group
Each student must feel safe at school and know that the adults in the school deeply care about him / her and seek to understand how each is feeling . together on the joint venture .
Guns
It would be nice to avoid this hot-button issue . But , let ’ s face it , guns are an issue in school violence . School leaders need to stand for common sense gun legislation . We need , like the Florida students , to vigorously join the national dialogue about guns . Our focus might include the tightening up of gun purchasing ( background checks , registration ), keeping guns from the mentally ill , raising the age for gun ownership to 21 , and federally funded research on gun violence . We can curb gun violence without taking guns away from responsible citizens . Listen to the voices of the students and let them show us the way to a common sense approach on guns .
LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE AFTERMATH
The aftermath of a tragedy is something we hope you will never have to experience ; however , it is important that we share what we learned .
Coordinated services
The coordinated services that were already in place were crucial in the healing process . After the shooter had surrendered and had been removed from the school sometime after midnight , a bleary-eyed and shocked coordinated services committee convened a meeting on the school site to plan a coordinated response to the tragedy that had unfolded . The committee created a plan for action that included :
• Emergency counseling centers for students and their families .
• In-service training to assist school staff members with handling grief and trauma in the classroom .
• Provisions for continuous on-site counseling at Lindhurst and other campuses for traumatized students and staff members . An example of how quickly the services were organized : by 10 a . m . the same day , three emergency counseling centers opened their doors to crowds of waiting clients .
Sensitivity
Not every community reacts to a trauma in the same way . Community rage , needing someone to blame , was something we faced immediately . Shortly after the shootings a community meeting was held at the school ’ s gym . People came out in droves . From the outset of the meeting we could see that there were a lot of angry voices : Many blamed the school for what had occurred . Under the advice of Tom DeLapp from ACSA , we quickly pulled the principal from the stage . He had been through enough and was becoming a scapegoat and the superintendent took over . Eventually the crowd mellowed . Again , the advice of an expert proved to be helpful and needed . Recognition of cultural
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