School psychologist Mary Sherlach and principal Dawn Hochsprung rushed out to see what was taking place, as did teacher Natalie Hammond (Apuzzo & Eaton-Robb, 2012). Sherlach and Hochsprung were both shot and killed (Barron, 2012)
Gun Free Schools Act The schools now follow the Gun-Free Schools Act (GFSA), according to which a student who brings a gun or any other weapon to school should be expelled from the school for a period of one year. This Act was added to the 'Improving America's School Act in 1994', at the time when the violence in schools was at its peak and around 322,400 incidents of serious crimes took place in America (Dinkes, Cataldi, & Lin-Kelly, 2007)
Social Control Theory According to Social Control Theory, sociological variables like family structures, schoolings and peer groups are the main causes behind the delinquency and criminal behavior. Travis Hirschi explains this concept by explaining that unusual and abnormal behavior can be prevented by many mutual restraints (Hirschi, 1969)
Safe Schools According to the No Child Left behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), the state should develop policies and allow student to choose a safe school of the district if he or she becomes the victim of the criminal behavior in the dangerous school. However, this Act does not provide the criteria or time frame for transferring students to the safer school (Mayer & Leone, 2007)
The criteria used for identifying the cases, methods and findings in these reports are different and vary according to the type of study conducted. However, most of the studies consist of qualitative or descriptive analysis using small samples of cases (McGee & DeBernardo, 1999; Meloy, Hempel, Mohandie, Shive, & Gray, 2001)
A committee of National Research Council performed a case study in 2001 in which six school shooting incidents were considered. It was accomplished in the study that it is impossible to "reach firm scientific conclusions" (Moore, Petrie, Braga, & McLaughlin, 2003, p
Department of Education (Vossekuil et al., 2002) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (O'Toole, 2000)
Security Measures Schools in United States are taking security measures to prevent violence since last several years. They have installed metal detectors and cameras for monitoring the behavior of students and also hired police and security services for school premises Today many schools have basic security measures, these include; school staff monitoring, searching student lockers, strict check on entry and exit of school, checking visitor's passes and other necessary measures (Redding & Shalf, 2001)
Social Control 3. Anomie Differential Association Theory This theory given by Edwin Sutherland gives the idea that the criminal behavior does not develop its self but individuals learn it from the social environments (Sutherland, 1939)
Secret Service & U.S. Department of Education (Vossekuil et al
Six Strategies to Control Risk Factors Along with the above measures, it is also important to address the malleable risk factors. Following are the six strategies that have come from literature, which can play a significant role in controlling risk factors and reducing school shootings (Wike and Fraser, 2009)
A single incident claimed more lives than all others put together did in a year throughout the U.S. (Davis, 2013)
This blatant abuse of firearms was reported by the New York Times in their very first story reporting the tragic incident. All concerned personnel agreed to a better gun control policy as a solution towards controlling such incidents (Kleck, 2009)
School Shootings In recent times a strange and sad concern that is causing concern is the rising incidences of violence in schools (Leary, Kowalski, Smith, and Phillips, 2003)
Parents and Educators can discourage and condition a negative response for firearms in students (Davis, 2013) Conclusion The rise in mass killings and school shootings has become an ever-rising threat to modern society. Even a single shooting can mean unimaginable loss of life and trauma for the victims' families and friends (Muschert, 2007)