LaFEE One of the biggest problems facing school administrators is determining whether a threat is credible.
Most experts say it's impossible to do so with absolute conviction and certainty.
Numerous lists of warning signs have been compiled and distributed in recent years to school leaders to help them make educated guesses about who might pose a danger to themselves or others. Even federal law enforcement is trying to be of service. While psychologists and others generally agree that school officials should leave behavioral assessments to experts, Michael Greene, executive director of The Violence Institute, part of the University of Medicine and Dentistry in New Jersey, says educators are not without early options. I think first and foremost school officials, whether administrators or teachers or whoever, have to listen to students in a nonjudgmental manner. Often, that's all a child needs someone to talk to.