“O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave …” is a favorite line in our country’s National Anthem because it seems to simultaneously confirm our current liberties and challenge us to answer how relevant this symbol still is. In light of the events of the past year — horrific shootings,
Tag: school shooting
Samantha Haviland was a junior and a peer counselor at Columbine High School in April 1999 when two of her fellow students brought weapons to school, killing 12 students and one teacher before dying by suicide. The massacre at the Littleton, Colorado, high school is often cited as the event
On June 12, America woke up to the terrible news that dozens of people had been killed and injured in a spree of violence perpetrated by a single shooter at a popular nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Within 24 hours, local counselors began circulating a spreadsheet, asking practitioners to sign up
The strongest protection against disillusionment is resilience. If you are in the position to help a survivor or someone affected, challenge yourself to be a point of resilience for that person for as long as you can.
What drives people to violence? Is it nature or nurture? Jeremy Richman suggests the answer to this age-old question should be “yes, of course it is.” Richman, a scientist and the father of a child who died in the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut,
Aurora, Colorado. Fort Hood, Texas. Virginia Tech. The Washington Navy Yard. And, most recently, Charleston, South Carolina. Each of these places transitioned from being a name on a map to an instant reminder of the devastating aftermath of mass violence. Another is Sandy Hook, the Newtown, Connecticut, elementary school where shooter
The most effective solution to rampage violence, such as school or workplace shootings, is early, easy and frequent access to care for potential perpetrators, says Brian Van Brunt, author of Harm to Others: The Assessment and Treatment of Dangerousness. Counselors play an integral part in this care, through identifying individuals
Today is the day to learn the true lesson from Newtown. Today occurs a couple of months after the inaugural year of mourning, after the memorial services and after the “dust has settled” for those who are not personally connected to Newtown and its resilient community. Today epitomizes the “Now
It has been a little more than one year since the tragic mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. The need for counseling and mental health services for those affected will only grow in year two, says Deb Del Vecchio-Scully, a trauma counseling specialist and executive director
Following the tragic mass school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, policymakers at the national and state levels are considering policies both to restrict access to guns and to increase access to mental health and student support services. Most notably, President Obama released a broad set of proposals in mid-January that included