CNN Interview, Don Lemon, Tom Verni, and Dr. Jonathan Doll on the STEM School Highlands Ranch Shooting, 5/10/2019

A Highlands Ranch, Colorado family is mourning a unimaginable loss of their child, Kendrick Castillo, a courageous young man who put safety before all else. It's unconscionable that school shootings in America continue and a nationwide plan for prevention that supports hurting students is not yet fostered.

During the time that I wrote the 2015 book, Ending School Shootings: School and District Tools for Prevention and Action, I was responding to a 2013 school shooting that occurred just 4 miles from STEM School Highlands Ranch. The 2013 school shooting was on December 13, 2013 at Arapahoe High School in Centennial, Colorado, and took the precious life of Claire Esther Davis. My heart breaks for families that lose their loved ones - and with that passion in mind, I spent 32 days researching and writing about proactive, strengths-based solutions for working with young people who struggle emotionally.

This past Friday, the research and advocacy came to bear fruit. I was invited to an interview with Don Lemon on CNN. Also in the interview was a retired New York City Detective, Tom Verni, who spent a large part of his career working with individuals who were gay or transgender.

VIDEO LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nJqYXkpJ3A

Before talking about advocacy, let me just open by saying that painful experiences are compounded by insensitivity from observers even when intentions are good. As such, we must remember that a school community is grieving right now, a family is inconsolable except through faith in God, and the roots of resiliency are being grown only day-by-day. These families and this community needs our prayers, positive thoughts, and sensitivity.

In order to find a place of successful advocacy, we have disrupt a cycle that keeps occurring in the news-media of America. It is a cycle of:

1. tragedy →
2. memorials and moving forward →
3. discussion on alarm/warning signs →
4. discussion on gun violence bills→
5. disagreements between sides →
6. silence →
7. and then another tragedy occurs... (→ return to step 1)

This cycle is very troubling. As important as it is to speak nationally about warning signs, we need as a country to make the move toward a nationwide plan for prevention that is not just for the day of a tragedy, but includes supports provided to youth years in advance of a potential tragedy so it might be averted. Understanding and supports in this fashion can lead to prevention.

With that in mind, Don Lemon had Tom Verni and myself on this May 10, 2019 show to discuss warning signs of shootings and what schools should do in response. Don opened the interview by playing a recording of an anonymous STEM School Highlands Ranch parent who allegedly shared serious concerns with the district about student safety in December of 2018 saying that it was a "pressure cooker" environment and could become another Columbine, as was previously reported.

As the recording was fresh in our thoughts, Tom emphasized how important it it to pay attention to the kids (who are under pressure) - and that a lot of "these things" often go unchecked (i.e., the schools need to monitor the warning signs better).

Don Lemon then turned to me and said, "There were multiple allegations concerning other issues in the school. Were these warnings being taken seriously enough? I mean, you wrote the book on this. What do you think?"

I started by agreeing with Tom about listening to student concerns and added that we need to start a conversation around support. Then, I responded to Don's question that it's the responsibility of parents to work with law enforcement in any and all threats in the case they do not feel that a school/district responds sufficiently. I also explained the categorization of the warning signs into three groups of factors, according to my analysis of the FBI's List of 15 warning signs of mass violence in schools.

The 15 Warning Signs from the FBI are easily accessible as Appendix B or from their report, Making Prevention a Reality (2017). For simplicity, I arranged them in three categories: Actions (one-off), Behaviors (progressively changing over time), and Circumstances (that are often difficult for or unbearable for youths who struggle emotionally). Here are these categories in more detail:

ACTIONS – (one-time, leakage) tattoos, weapons/explosives, talk of violence, planning, cessation of medications, intense interest in shootings/death, reckless behaviors, saying farewell, cruelty to animals, experimental contact with targets/surveillance, methods of threat (indirect, direct) through a variety of means (email, notes, texts, comments, graffiti, etc), i.e. leakage

BEHAVIORS – (process, change-related) social media change, drastic new appearance/ and/or hygiene change, suicidal ideation, withdrawal from life

CIRCUMSTANCES – humiliation, vengeance

What is needed are more open, honest dialogues like the one facilitated by the school board of Douglas County where STEM School is located. As I listened to their most recent meeting on May 14, 2019 (just a week after the tragedy), community members were able to share their concerns and thoughts. The board then gave responses as well as a summation that they would have more to say in future meetings, but wanted to start the process as collaboratively as possible.

One parent said that the students' voices were needed and shared that students wanted, "supervised clubs where we can discuss our concerns."

Another parent reminded, aptly, that "It does take a village to raise up a child."

Suggestions to help improve safety ran along the following lines and were all heard and discussed in this open forum context. Some of the ideas shared were along the lines of modifying what is already being done so it is done better:

1. Limit schools in the district so they have one point of entry
2. Continue the anti-bullying campaigns

A number of suggestions also asked for more of something that was considered a crucial ingredient to bring a better climate more conducive to safety and also learning:

1. Provide more mental health supports for students (and even staff where needed)
2. Provide better pay for teachers
3. Provide more safety and wellness supports for students
4. Provide more staff, specifically School Resource Officers (SROs)

Added to these concerns is something that was not voiced as prominently but is essential. Districts need to develop and enhance their threat assessment protocols through relationships with students so they can better detect when warning signs like those listed above are developing in students. The US Department of Homeland Security also offers a tool for districts/schools to use along these lines, which can be both helpful and enlightening. The tool is excel-based, and is called a K-12 School Security Survey (2018).

Overall, Dr. Thomas Tucker, the superintendent did an awesome job hearing what the community shared and poising the district for fruitful action going forward. This leads to the board's opportunity to collect and analyze these comments and what was shared via other venues in order to determine best actions, responses, and improvements.

A school shooting is an awful experience which brings catastrophe to learning environments and families, and can take years and years to bring recovery - though for some that recovery is with loss(es) that cannot be changed. Americans enduring these traumatic incidents are owed a debt of best practices by the research community and elected leaders at large to both prevent future tragedies and also bring holistic improvements to systems that help all students who struggle emotionally.

There is a future day where America has created solutions to this crisis and where we are practicing and improving them. Key attributes of solution-finding are: Hope, persistence, and the lack of pointing fingers of blame, but rather owning situations in order to bring about change and renewal. Now is the time to cherish memories of those lost and injured and make sincere, profound efforts on their behalf.

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Dr. Jonathan Doll is the author of the book, Ending School Shootings: School and District Tools for Prevention and Action. He was the co-creator of the BADGE Preventing School Violence, 5-year conference series. He also gave a 2-day training/keynote at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama during their BADGE 2019 Conference, Year 1.

Learn more at www.endingschoolshootings.org.