Learning institutions face no shortage of safety threats these days, placing increased pressure on educators and administrators to keep students shielded from harm. As of this writing, there have been 29 school shootings resulting in injuries or deaths across the United States in 2023 alone. Back in August, an armed man attempted to enter a school in Memphis — but proper safety measures prevented him from entering the school or causing harm to anyone inside.
Furthermore, with suicide rates among young people on the rise, learning institutions urgently need solutions to ensure student safety in all regards. But preventing violence requires much more than increased security and police presence — the prevalence of these tragedies, in combination with the documented increase in youth mental health concerns, should push educational institutions to move forward with multi-pronged prevention strategies.