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Explore insights from James Alan Fox on campus shootings, safety measures, mental health services, and more to enhance student well-being and campus security. Learn about active shooter drills, the 'Few Bad Apples' theory, and impactful strategies for a safer campus environment.
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Making Sense of Campus Shootings:Policies, Practices and Prevention James Alan FoxThe Lipman Family Professor of Criminal Justice, andProfessor of Law, Policy and Society June 25, 2008
Far from the Greatest Peril • On average, 10 college students are murdered annually on campus • 1,000 college students commit suicide annually • Thousands more deaths annually due to substance abuse
Safety First? • “Is your campus safe?” Newsweek, August 20-27 2007 • Parents ask about “lockdown” • A new college selection criterion
“Campus Lockdown”: The latest catch-phrase • From correctional nomenclature • Very few episodes include multiple locations • Timeliness
Active Shooter & Lockdown Drills • ECSU’s blunder in its “active shooter” exercise • Training is fine, but do not involve the students
Lesson from the Airlines We can learn from airline passenger preparedness
Profiling is Problematic • No clear-cut profile • Predicting rare events is virtually impossible • False positives • Only hindsight is 20/20 • Cast a wide net • Many are obvious—and then may be too late • May intensify feelings of persecution • Problem may be structural or situational
Mental Health Services • Increase in counseling staff and budgets over past year • Student-to-counselor ratio still falls short
Student Centeredness • Student centeredness is more than just words • The caring need not wait until a tragedy occurs • Training faculty and staff to handle difficult people and situations
The Broad View • Increased emphasis on student centeredness and on upgrading counseling and support services may not eliminate the already low likelihood of a campus shooting. Regardless, it will go a long way to enhance the well-being of thousands of students. • Many of these strategies are the right thing to do, even though sometime done for wrong reason. • The only option for students seeking a 100% guarantee for eliminating any risk of being victimized by a campus shooting….