Why students attack schools and how to protect yourself when shooting

We will talk about the main reasons for such attacks and give basic advice on how to act in such a case, if it does happen to you.

In terms of the number of massacres by schoolchildren of their classmates and teachers, we, thank God, lag behind the United States, but you should not think that this is a purely American attack that came to us from the West. As early as May 5, 1874, high school student Alexei Skachkov shot the director of the gymnasium, Yakov Predtechensky, who was about to expel him, from a revolver. The shooting took place in gymnasium No. 9 in the city of Yekaterinburg, the killer was sent into exile.

Given the frequency of school attacks around the world these days, many scientific studies are focused on identifying the main risk factors for a student to become a so-called “school shooter”. Most researchers believe that extreme social rejection and bullying are key risk factors here. Moreover, social rejection committed by peers often includes romantic rejection – that is, the rejected student was simply incomprehensible, or even surpassed peers in some ways.

Bullying usually takes many forms, both verbal and physical, and is largely characterized by actions and words intended to humiliate the victim.

Notably, one of the recently identified factors is social rejection that challenges boys’ masculinity, particularly in the form of bullying.

Ridicule of schoolchildren who later became “shooters” includes bullying of their physical form and labeling such as skinny, fat, short, tall, etc. It has been established that “shooters” are often the most intimidated guys in school, and the most popular teenagers bully them. Thus, when victims of bullying become aggressors, they sometimes attack their bullies first. However, shooters are much more likely to shoot other people, killing everyone indiscriminately. Sometimes such people take revenge even after they left the educational institution a long time ago.

Notably, it is not unusual for school shooters to uphold racist or Nazi dogmas. Some of the shooters suffer from mental disorders, but not all.

Sixteen Reasons for Attacks

In general, the researchers were able to identify 16 main reasons for students to attack schools. We list these factors in order of their importance: they want to take revenge on those who hurt them (87%); other children find fault with them, make fun of them or bully them (86%); they do not value life (62%); they were victims of physical violence in the family (61%); they have mental problems (56%); it was easy for them to get weapons (55%); they do not get along with their parents (55%); they witnessed sexual violence in the family (54%); they use alcohol or drugs (52%); they have no friends (49%); they see violence on TV, movies, computer and video games (37%); they live in a disadvantaged area (34%); other children pushed them to it (28%); they were humiliated by teachers (26%); they fear for their safety (20%); they did it out of boredom (18%).

This list is interesting in that the most frequently cited factor by domestic psychologists, which includes the consumption of violent media – hard video games, aggressive music, “borderline” television shows and films with scenes of violence in this list, was only in 11th place with a figure of 37%. The main motives are the thirst for revenge and resentment for ridicule and bullying.

How to Survive a School or Workplace Shooting

While it seems unlikely, shootings can happen at any school or office, so it pays to know in advance what gives you the best chance of survival. Escape should be your top priority, but be prepared to hide or fight for your life if there is no safe escape route.

Run away at every opportunity

Your best chance of surviving the shooting is to get out of this place as quickly as possible. This should be excluded only if the escape routes are in the field of view of the shooter. Remember that 98% of shooters are solo. Therefore, if you are outside the area where gunshots are heard, you are usually safe.

React immediately

Don’t get hung up and waste time discussing options. Find an escape route and run. If you hear gunshots in the distance, you will most likely have time to leave this place before the shooter arrives. If you have shoes that are preventing you from running, take them off.

Forget about your things

If you decide to run, then forget your wallet, tablet, purse or mobile phone. While your first impulse may be to take all your possessions with you, remember that none of it is as important as your life.

Run straight to the exit

Don’t slow yourself down with evasive maneuvers such as zigzags or short runs from corner to door, etc. Run as fast as you can, straight to safety. But this tactic only works if the shooter is using a weapon with a low rate of fire. Leaving quickly is usually the best option here. The only exception is if you are forced to run within line of sight of the shooter or with a lot of cover between you and the exit. In this case, running from obstacle to obstacle may be the best option.

Take other people with you

Encourage others to run too. If someone looks disoriented or too scared to move, grab that person and drag them along. Tell people that running is critical to their survival. If you run in a large group, it will be more difficult for the criminal to target a specific person, and the evaders will have an advantage.

Grab everything that can become a weapon

If you happen to see a sharp or blunt and heavy object that you can carry while running, grab it. But don’t waste your time searching instead of running faster. This is only for the last case where you can’t escape.

What to do if you can’t escape

If it is not possible to leave the building, try to hide and barricade yourself. It usually takes only a few seconds to figure out if you can run away. So, if an intruder is rapidly approaching your room or blocking your only escape route, immediately start hiding or barricading yourself inside. This is not the best option, because staying in one place can lead to a trap. However, remember that most mass shootings are over within ten to fifteen minutes. If you can hide during this time, you have a good chance of survival.

Lock and barricade the door

Lock the door immediately and do your best to make it harder for the shooter to get in. Remember that most of them have only a few minutes before the police show up, and they are not interested in taking the path of most resistance.

Close the door and move furniture such as tables, wardrobe, chairs, etc. to it. If the perpetrator is approaching, move away from the door as soon as possible and stay away from all doors and windows. If the door opens outwards, the barricade can only momentarily hold him back. Perhaps in this case it is not worth wasting time and blocking a potential escape route. If you are in a room that does not lock, put a belt or piece of clothing on the doorknob and hold it with your hands, or fasten it to something if possible.

turn off the light

If the attack occurs at dusk, immediately turn off the lights in the room where you are. This will make it less likely that a criminal will walk in and slightly increase your chances of survival if he does.

Shut off anything that makes noise

Turn off your mobile phone and any other electronics so that the sound does not prompt the shooter to get closer to where you are.

Keep calm

Although it may seem almost impossible, it is imperative that you remain absolutely calm and silent. Also tell the people around you, if any, that whimpering or crying will only make it more likely that the killer will find you. But be mentally prepared for the fact that he will enter the room.

Avoid Collision

Remember that coming face-to-face with a criminal is the latest scenario. Even if he enters, you cannot jump out of your hiding place and attack him. You can only fight him if the situation unfolds in such a way that you will definitely be shot if you do nothing to him.

Opinion – Vera Gerasimova, school psychologist:

– Imitation and the desire for fame – this is another potential cause of shootings in schools and offices. The perpetrator knows that the attack will draw a lot of attention to him. Not for nothing that often in relatively short periods of time there are several such episodes in different parts of the world. This supports the hypothesis that many of the perpetrators imitate the actions of previous killers.

The modern world is very different from what it used to be. Previously, terrorist attacks were rare, but now the emotional atmosphere in the world is extremely unsafe. Any of us can be the target of a completely unpredictable attack. Many people would like to think that “school shooters” are just mentally ill and not at all like other children. Alas, it is not. And the culprit that unites them all is actually invisible – it is the general indifference and emotional neglect that both classmates and teachers show. Although not every such person is physically isolated from society, but I am absolutely sure that all of them are emotionally isolated.