School administrators should consider how their school-based mental health personnel are engaged and then consider advocating for more https://everytownresearch.org/report/school-gun-violence-prevention-response-guide-part-one-gun-violence-prevention/ staff members if necessary. Provide adequate access to mental health services and supports. General interventions include school-wide violence prevention programs. Promote antiviolence initiatives that include prevention programs for all students. Central to this effort is helping students and their families feel valued and personally invested in keeping their schools safe. Reasonable physical security—such as locked doors; lighted and monitored hallways; and visitor check-in, check-out systems—must be combined with violence prevention and positive behavior supports.
Addressing Risk of Violence with Programs and Policy
- Everytown for Gun SafetyEverytown for Gun Safety is the largest gun violence prevention organization in America.
- Extreme Risk/Red Flag LawsExtreme Risk laws, sometimes referred to as “Red Flag” laws, allow loved ones or law enforcement to intervene by petitioning a court for an order to temporarily prevent someone in crisis from accessing guns.
- Comprehensive gun safety includes mental health support services, anonymous reporting systems, and threat assessment protocols that address underlying risk factors.
NEA provides guidance on how to secure language regarding aspects of working conditions surrounding gun violence in administrative policies, employee handbooks, and collective bargaining agreements. Arming teachers and other educators does not make schools safer; to the contrary, it escalates the risk of shootings and introduces new liability risks (Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, 2024-d). These organizations can collaborate with schools to support student well-being by contributing clinical expertise to supplement existing services at the school (National Council for Mental Wellbeing, 2023, p. 6). NEA’s website also includes guidance on bargaining and advocacy tactics to support educators’ mental health. School-based health services, including behavioral health, provide crucial support to students.
Promoting the adoption of gun violence-related collective bargaining language and administrative policy, including the creation or enhancement of health and safety committees, is another effective way to combat gun violence. Considering that 4.6 million children under the age of 18 live in homes with guns, secure storage interventions play a critical role in overall school safety.2Miller, M., & Azrael, D. Research in 2024 by 97Percent, a bipartisan gun safety organization, revealed that 85% of gun owners support universal background checks and policies disqualifying violent offenders from owning guns. But sadly, children and young people are surrounded by gun violence. The NRA-ILA actively lobbied against universal checks and registration, “large” magazine and “assault weapons” bans, requiring smart gun features, ballistic fingerprinting, firearm traces, and prohibiting people on the terrorist watchlist from owning guns; and in favor of self-defense (stand your ground) laws. It pours more federal money into mental health resources in communities and schools across the country, and it sets aside millions for school safety.
Gun Law Strength
Mental Health First AidMental Health First Aid is an evidence-based, early intervention course that teaches participants about mental health and substance use challenges. In this context, the acronym stands for Secure guns in homes and vehicles, Model responsible behavior, Ask about unsecured guns in homes, Recognize the role of guns in suicide, and Tell your peers to be SMART. How To Be an Advocate for Bullied StudentsThese recommendations support educators in helping bullied students.
The legislation also toughens laws against the trafficking of guns and straw purchasing, the practice of buying a gun on behalf of someone barred from purchasing one. As explained by Emily Cochrane and Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times, “The gun legislation will expand the background check system for prospective gun buyers under the age of 21, giving authorities up to 10 business days to examine juvenile and mental health records. The most common state gun control laws include background checks, waiting periods, and registration requirements to purchase or sell guns. The Child Safety Lock Act requires that all handguns be sold with a “secure gun storage or safety device.”
