Threats of violence can be highly disruptive for schools, even if they aren’t linked to credible plans for an attack.
Administrators must know how to investigate reports of threats, quickly determine whether they are imminent, make plans to support students involved, and reassure parents that schools are safe.
Here are some resources that can help school and district leaders prepare for threats, respond to them, and restore calm in the aftermath.
1. Help educators understand the concept of ‘leakage’
Federal analyses of targeted school attacks find that shooters often “leak” their intentions by sharing their plans with friends or family beforehand. Helping students and educators feel comfortable reporting this warning sign is a key to early intervention, prevention experts said.
Educators can learn more about leakage by reading this Education Week story.
2. Help students recognize the warning signs of violence
Sandy Hook Promise, a national organization formed in the aftermath of a 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Conn., stresses that students should “know the signs” that their peers may be isolated or at risk of harming themselves or others. Those signs include sudden withdrawal from friends or family, persistent thoughts of harming themselves, or boasting about access to firearms.
Learn more about the organization’s Say Something training, which teaches students to report warning signs, at this website. Sandy Hook Promise also offers workshops for teachers and staff about how to become a trusted adult students feel comfortable turning to for support.
3. Make it easier for students and staff to report possible threats
About half of schools use systems that allow students to report potential threats through text, phone, or web messages. Such systems are mandated in 21 states, and preliminary research published in January suggests they are helpful at thwarting potential violence.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security offered strategies to improve bystander reporting systems in this May 2023 report. Among them: Students are more likely to trust reporting systems if adults are transparent about how they review and respond to tips.
4. Improve your school’s threat assessment practices
Threat assessment is a multidisciplinary, team-based approach for assessing the severity of threats and determining if students need supportive measures, like counseling, so they don’t harm themselves or others. Threats are generally deemed more imminent if they include specific details, like names, times, and locations.
Eighty-five percent of public schools said they had a behavioral threat assessment team “or other formal group of persons to identify students who might be a potential risk for violent or harmful behavior toward themselves or others” in the 2023-24 school year, federal data show. Seventy-one percent of the schools with the threat assessment teams reported that they have had students who were found to be a potential risk to themselves, and 49 percent reported that they have had students found to be a potential risk toward others.
But experts on violence prevention say schools’ threat assessment practices vary widely, and not all are effective.
The National Center for School Safety at the University of Michigan offers this threat assessment toolkit that includes research-based practices and tips.
5. Communicate safety plans clearly with parents and the public
Whether or not a threat provokes a school lockdown or closure, it’s important for administrators to communicate clearly and consistently with parents and the public about how they make such decisions, safety consultant Kenneth Trump told Education Week.
The National Center for School Safety offers a communications planning guide with strategies for crafting and sharing messages. And the Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools technical assistance center at the U.S. Department of Education offers a variety of resources on emergency communications.
6. Prepare a response for potential bomb threats
While most of the threats schools have processed during a recent, widespread surge have related to shootings, some have been anonymous bomb threats, including from international phone numbers.
The Department of Homeland Security offers a guide on responding to bomb threats. Some schools also keep a bomb threat checklist developed by the agency near a front office phone, Trump said, allowing staff to record details about threat calls that may help law enforcement gauge their credibility.
7. Help students recover from swatting attempts
In a hoax “swatting” report, a caller makes a false claim to police that there is a shooting in progress at a school. Callers may even give specific details, like room numbers, to provoke chaos and a large-scaleresponse from law enforcement.
Following a 2022 wave of swatting calls, administrators from affected schools offered tips for response and recovery that may be helpful for schools that have experienced threats.
Among their advice: Debrief with students about what they saw, heard, and felt during a lockdown or school closure, make counselors available for students who may be frightened in the aftermath, and debrief with teachers about school safety plans.
