Focus on gaining a fuller understanding of the factors that contribute to violence and portray events in context. Avoid engaging in repetitive, ongoing, or excessive reporting of school violence in the news. Alternative approaches for coverage of acts of school violence should be considered. In addition to possibly promoting copycat behavior, it distorts the reality of the situation and doesn't recognize how the situation has adjusted itself over time. Focus on solutions and strive for context.
Schools are one of the safest places for children-safer than the home, the mall, or the streets.
Recognize that victims of tragedy can heal and grow stronger. Avoid providing sensational coverage of school violence. Sensationalism can be minimized by eliminating morbid details of the act, decreasing the prominence of the news report, and avoiding the use of dramatic photographs related to the event. Focus on reality of time passage. Pictures of a community in strife and people in agony are dramatic and compelling, but a week later, consider focusing on growth or leaving them alone.