Curbing violence: No time for ‘why’
We find ourselves at a pivotal crossroads when it comes to school violence: do we allow the pattern of school shootings to entrench itself into our culture, or do we nip it in the bud?
It has been alarming to see the number of violent incidents in schools increase drastically, from shootings to bomb threats. The latest tragedy in Zamboanga reminds us that we do not have the luxury of time. If we rely on the usual pace of bureaucracy, how many more tragedies must we suffer before any change occurs?
The public rhetoric and official statements come fast; concrete solutions are still nowhere to be seen. There are Senate and congressional hearings galore, but what we need right now are the actions of the executive, who implements and enforces policies that protect our children, and the judiciary, which ensures that consequences are swift and just.
The usual suspects, like a horrific Groundhog Day where we suffer the same tragedy over and over again, come out: hysteria in the news, graphic images and videos being shared, and wild theories about potential motives. People point to bullying. People point to academic pressure. People point to violent video games and dangers lurking on the internet. People blame the teachers. People blame the parents. People want harsher punishments for children.
All this time spent on blaming and trying to ask “why” is time that is not spent on solutions.
Violence in schools is multifactorial. Therefore, multiple points for intervention must be identified, not just one. Some solutions require time and resources and cannot be implemented right away. For example, addressing bullying is good for the long term and can ultimately address not just school violence but other problems as well. However, the fruits of such preventive work won’t be felt until months or years from now, leaving children still vulnerable to violence in the short term.
Using the framework of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), solutions geared toward directly changing violent attitudes and urges require much time and effort. This isn’t work fit for brief therapy. Addressing root causes in order to gain insight also requires a lot of time. They are worthwhile endeavors, but they won’t be immediately effective. Thankfully, CBT gives us another point of intervention: behavior and environment. It is much easier and faster to change behavior than it is to change attitudes and urges. In an ideal world, we work on a system of solutions that addresses all of these such that behavior, attitudes, urges, and motivations are redirected away from violent and destructive acts. The best we can do, however, given our current reality, is to immediately place behavioral and environmental interventions to allow prevention strategies time to work.
When it comes to destructive urges and thoughts, the best way to prevent them from turning into violent acts is to put as much distance between them as possible. This applies to both violence against the self and against others. Many destructive urges and thoughts fizzle toward nonaction. The majority of our urges are fleeting and temporary, usually lasting only for a few minutes.
What turns such urges lethal is opportunity. Urge plus opportunity equals violence. We see this in cases of road rage: it makes sense that we can get upset or angry when someone cuts us off. At worst, we may swear and shout. However, place a gun in your glove compartment and we have a recipe for disaster. Another example: being rejected as a suitor hurts, but adding a knife to the picture turns it into a life-changing, life-destroying tragedy.
Regardless of motivation or risk factors, what we can do immediately is to remove the opportunities for violence. We need to remove access to weapons, especially guns. Guns multiply the risk of mass casualties and fatalities. It is much harder to run away or defend yourself from a gun. That multiple incidents now have linked children’s gun access to parents or relatives in law enforcement shows us a critical gap in the safe storage of weapons. A child can only access a gun when adults let them. Stronger punishments for adults, beyond being dismissed or suspended, should be meted out for not taking weapon storage seriously.
We need to make violence a less convenient choice. Blind spots in school security attract impulsive and destructive behavior. The presence of adults, such as teachers and staff, in hallways and classrooms deters plans from being carried out. This applies also to bullying and self-harm. An important caveat: let’s not go overboard and militarize the school environment, as research has shown that simulation shooter drills and the presence of metal detectors make children feel less safe and heighten their trauma response.
These will not solve the problem in its entirety, but they will buy us time, and that is exactly what we need. We need time to address longstanding issues that have increased children’s vulnerability to violent urges. Remove enablers of lethality. Remove opportunities for violence. I’m begging you, please, give us the gift of time.
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aatuazon@up.edu.ph
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