A Threat Assessment Perspective . That report explains how schools can assess a threat based on a student's personality and behavior traits. Waiting until the next teachers' meeting to pass on information about a troubled student may be too late, he said. Although school staffs are more sensitive about behavior and communication that may be warning signals since the Columbine tragedy, Garbarino advises schools to assign one individual to whom both students and teachers report their concerns about a student's troubled behavior or communication. Both the FBI and Secret Service point out that in nearly every case, the attacker had told at least one other student in advance about the plans for an attack.
Peers play a role in promoting school violence.
The Secret Service found that although most school shooters acted alone, peers had encouraged others to commit the violence. The study reports that in more than 75 percent of all cases, although no adults had been told before the attacks, at least one adult had had concern about the shooter because of the way he behaved or communicated. In more than half the shooting incidents, more than one adult had expressed concern about the shooter before the attack. Click here to see suggestions from the Secret Service about evaluating potential school shooters. Adults need to get those troubled kids help, the Secret Service report advises.