The main factor in school shootings is not guns or mental health. The main factor in school shootings is schools. We don’t have mass library shootings, museum shootings or park shootings. What is the difference? Libraries, museums, and parks are not compulsory or authoritarian. You go there when you want, do what you want, learn what you want, and leave when you want. They don’t judge you, test you, grade you, suspend you or kick you out. Schools need to change. Democratic and learner-centered schools don’t have mass shootings. Statistics verify that.
In 1999 I interviewed Arnie Langburg, founder of Jefferson County Open School in the Columbine district. He said he believed that one of the biggest problems was the anonymity of students at big schools: “This couldn’t happen at an alternative school because their small size encourages closeness
between adults and children, and because the schools have conflict resolution strategies.”
By the way, the second most important factor in school shootings is guns. Other countries have similar school problems but disgruntled students can’t easily get guns or assault rifles, so such shootings are rare.
