The crisis of disturbed and violent students

Pure terror unfolded in Perry, Iowa, recently, when a student did the unthinkable. Lives were lost, people were injured, and everyone is devastated. A school shooting is the nightmare that haunts every educator, law enforcement officer, and parent. Thankfully, disturbed or violent students are incredibly rare. Whether or not they ever pick up a gun, however, this tiny percentage of students are a daily crisis in America’s schools.

Before I go any further, however, I will define what I mean by “disturbed” or “violent” students. Violent students have established either a pattern of physician harm to others, or they have committed a particularly brutal act. They are known and feared by students, staff, and relatives. On the other hand, disturbed students have exhibited an obsession or potential for violence, often including detailed plans or threats. Likewise, these children are known and feared by students, staff, and relatives. In my experience, most such students can be helped with the right interventions. They are usually suffering, too.

Regardless of the situation, however, ALL disturbed or violent students need intense mental health care. Counseling works for most. Some need in-patient treatment. A few require intense psychiatric care and, unfortunately, some even warrant incarceration. Their families see the signs. Classmates and staff know they need care. Usually, the students themselves have also cried for help. Unfortunately, there is usually no one to serve them, and no place to send them, so they are sent back home.

I have heard a grandmother beg with tears, “Please, do not send him home with me; I am afraid of him!” Likewise, law enforcement plead for disturbed or violent students to be detained or placed in psychiatric care. Superintendents, principals, and counselors beg for direct intervention. The juvenile officers and mental health professionals almost always agree, yet they are beyond capacity, so only the most egregious offenders can be served. There is no one to serve them. No place to send them. So, we send them home.

Students who have been arrested for terrible crimes have been sent home, pending trial. Students convicted of rape or violent assault are also released. Your local public school must serve them, and parents must take them, even when they are dangerous and even when they share a facility with their victims. Such students are an infinitesimally small fraction of the population, but they can have a disproportionate impact on a school. Everyone recognizes that these students need help. Every educator, every police officer, and every parent. The students themselves often want help, too. Nevertheless . . . no one to help, no place to send them, so go home.

School shootings make the headlines, but the crisis of disturbed and violent children is more of a daily challenge in schools everywhere, from urban to rural. This tiny percentage of students now consume a growing portion of school resources and staff. A single troubled student can disrupt an entire school, even if they never become violent. These kids need help, but despite the growing crisis, states like Oklahoma continue to reduce or eliminate the services needed for them. Twenty-five years after Columbine, we have fewer options than ever.

Fortunately, Oklahomans are common-sense, resourceful, and compassionate, so I believe we can find a solution to help these kids, before it’s too late. Before more parents, staff, and students are traumatized. And God forbid, before another tragedy. Everyone wants a solution. However, no one can fix this problem alone because no one created this problem alone.

In my next article, I will propose a feasible solution that will harness statewide cooperation among all schools, towns, cities, counties, and state agencies. It will not be a perfect solution, but we must start somewhere, because this problem is not getting better on its own. This is not a student problem or a parent problem or a school problem. It is a national problem, and we can only find a solution together.

Tom Deighan is an educator and author of Restoring Sanity in Public Schools: Common Ground for Local Parents and Educators. Email: [email protected]