With the recent spate of school shootings and the increase in school violence across America, schools are looking far new resources to defuse student violence. A review of the commonalities found in school shootings shows that in almost every instance the student who brought the gun to school told other students about it before the shooting: Schools across the country are suffering from a "silence of the lambs" syndrome because many students are not comfortable or motivated to report pending violence. Some students are afraid to report violence for fear of retaliation, and many are not educated about the responsibility each student has to keep their school safe. The purpose of this article is to identify the ways that students who bring guns to school share that information with other students and to review the methods schools can use to get students to share that information with an adult.

In recent shootings, students who brought guns to school gave a variety of warning signals that they were angry, cruel to animals, car prone to make threats of violence toward classmates. The National School Safety Center reports that seventy percent of young killers in schools had brought weapons to school on more than one occasion (Rosenberg, 1998). In most school shootings, when other students were aware that a classmate had a weapon, they did not share the information with an adult. The current statistics on gun deaths is staggering. According to the Children's Defense Fund, every two days guns kill the equivalent of a class of twenty-five young people and injure sixty more. Adolescents between the ages of ten and nineteen are Filled with a gun at a rate of one every three hours. Every year since 1950, the number of American children gunned down has doubled, and homicide is the third leading cause of death for all children between the ages of five and fourteen (Sautter, 1995). And yet, according to statistics provided by Louis Harris and Associates from a 1994 survey, only one in five students would definitely tell a teacher if he or she knew about another student who had carried a weapon to school. Nearly half of all students in the survey said they would not report a student with a weapon because they were concerned about retaliation (Harris;1994).

Ln another survey of nine hundred students taken during the 1996-97 school year by the Hopkinsville High School Youth Services Center in Kentucky, more than five hundred students said that they did not feel comfortable telling teachers or administrators about potential problems such as fights, arguments or weapons at school. Alarmingly, a slightly smaller number said they felt it was not their responsibility to report drugs or weapons at school. In a national survey of twentytwo thousand students in public and private schools, nearly thirteen percent reported that they knew another student who brought a gun to school in the 1995-96 academic year (United States Department of Education, 1995).

In a national survey of eleven thousand students in grades nine through twelve, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 7.6% of the students reported carrying a gun during the month preceding the survey. Most children will distance themselves from peers who talk about extreme acts such as blasting someone away, according to Dr. Richard Harding, clinical professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. Yet, they rarely report the danger to adults, he noted. There is peer pressure not to tell (Lamberg, 1998). The issue of getting students to report pending violence is a critical one in schools today. Although it is not the cure for violent behavior, it is a useful tool in preventing some acts of violence and getting help for the violent student before they do harm to themselves or others.

In many cases of school shootings over the fast few years students who brought guns to school told someone about their intentions directly or indirectly through writings or other actions. A review of several school shootings verifies this point. Following a weekend gang related dispute in November of 1993, a sixteen year old male student at Sullivan High School in Chicago, IL, pulled the trigger of a .380 semiautomatic handgun that had been held for him during the day at school by a female student. He killed a freshman girl. The principal, Patricia Anderson believes that students knew which gang incidents happened over the weekend that had deadly repercussions at school. After the shooting she said, "The shooting shook our school to its very foundation. I have gotten the message to them that they need to help us and inform us of danger (Sautter, 1995)".

In February of 1996, Barry Loukaitis brought a gun to school and killed two students and a teacher at Frontier Middle School in Moses Lake, OVA. Prior to the shooting, he had written a poem in English class that stated, "I look at his body on the floor killing a bastard that deserves to die. Ain't nothing like it in the world. But he sure did bleed a lot." His English teacher did not report this to a counselor ar an administrator. He had told a friend that it would be pretty cool to go on a killing spree just like the lead characters in the movie "Natural Born Killers" (Egan, 1998.

In Bethel, AL, in February of 1997, Evan Ramsey a sixteen year old who thought it would be cool to shoot up the school, killed one student and then killed the principal. He warned several students the night before the killings to go up on a second floor balcony and watch the shooting. Renee Erb, the prosecutor in the case said, '"These kids didn't tell anyone. Instead, they got right up there the next day to get their view of the killings (Egan, 1998)."

In October of 1997 at Pearl High School in Mississippi, Luke Woodham told his friend Lucas Thompson over the phone that he was going to kill his mother. The next morning on the phone Woodham verified to Thompson that he had killed his mother and was going to school to kill his ex-girlfriend and others. At school that morning, he killed two girls and wounded seven other students. His friend Thompson did not tell anyone: Prior to the shooting, Woodham had also written a manifesto that he handed out to students that said, "Murder is gutsy and daring.

Murder is not weak." None of the students reported this to anyone (Adams, 1998).

Michael Corneal brought guns to Heath High School in Paducah, KY twice prior to his rampage that killed three and wounded five others on December 1, 1997. In October he took his father's .38-caliber pistoI to school and showed the gun to approximately fifteen students. In November, he stole a .22-caliber semiautomatic pistol from a neighbor's garage. He brought the pistol to school and showed it to some students who had threatened to beat him up. That was the same pistol he used to shoot eight students the next school day. In addition to the pistol, he brought five rifles and a thousand rounds of ammunition to school. After the shooting, some of these students admitted that they had seen the pistol but had said nothing. A week prior to the shooting, he had also warned friends "something big is going to happen", and that they should get out of the way. In his writings he seemed obsessed with harm coming to the popular group he called "preps." In one of Carneal's essays, he wrote about tossing an explosive firecracker at a judge. Other additional actions that could have been construed as indirect intentions of violence included a poster collage with suicide themes, a pile of dead pigs and a headless man in a wheelchair. A lawsuit was also filed by the parents of the victims claiming that teachers at the school were aware of violent and gruesome themes in Carneal's writings, but never reported them. Prior to the shootings, Corneal had been disciplined at the school for using a school computer to log onto an Internet sex website, and for stabbing and nicking a student with a pen during a fight. It was common knowledge that he had a fascination with guns. Carneal felt that guns empowered him. He took target practice at a friend's house the weekend before the shooting. All of these warning signs went unreported (Adams, 1998).

The eleven and thirteen year old boys who killed four students and a teacher and wounded ten others at Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, AR in March of 1998 also sent out warning signals that were ignored. The day before the shooting Mitchell Johnson told friends he "had a lot of killing to do" and that they would learn the next day "whether you live or die." Following the shootings, other students said that he once brought a knife to school, and that he bragged to them about being in a gang. Eleven year old Andrew Golden, according to a police report, declared his intention in December to "bring a gun to school and shoot same people." Most of the students ignored him, but one student at the school and his father both claim to have reported this information to the school counselor whom they say took no action on the matter (Adams, 1998).

At James W. Parker Middle School in Edinboro, PA, a student walked into a school dance carrying a gun; that he intended to use to kill his ex-girlfriend. Instead he shot a coach at the school. A month before shooting students at the school dance and killing a coach, Andrew Wurst reportedly led friends to a dresser drawer, pulled out a gun, and told them he intended to kill nine people (Simpson, 1998).

Kip Kinkel of Springfield, OR, allegedly brought two guns and a knife into Thurston High School on May 21, 1998. For several weeks prior to the shooting, he had been quoted as saying, "Somebody needs to pull a Jonesboro here." He spoke of bombing his school and shooting students. He had told friends that he put a bomb in the stomach of a dead cow blowing it up and killed a cat by putting firecrackers in its mouth. The yearbook from his middle school had labeled him as "Most Likely to Start World War IIL" His friends reported that he told them he had a hit list and was going to get back at others. He once stated in front of a class that he wanted to be a killer, and he talked frequently about his obsession with bombs and killing. When asked why he liked guns so much, Kip answered, "Because when I snap, I want to have all the firepower I can." The day before the shooting, he told another student he was going to do something stupid and get back at other students. While many of his threats were considered by others to be "big talk"', he gave several signs that trouble was brewing. The day before the shooting, a .32-caliber pistol was found in his locker. He was suspended and turned over to juvenile authorities. The next day he returned to school with a .22-caliber Ruger semiautomatic rifle with a fifty round clip, walked into the cafeteria and fired fifty shots into the crowd, killing two and wounding twenty-four others (Sullivan, 1998).

At Central High School in Carrollton, GA, Jeff Miller and his girlfriend Andrea Garrett made a suicide pact. Miller and Garrett carried out the suicide pact at school in January of 1999. After the murder/suicide a classmate said, "They said their parents didn't want them to be together, and they might try to do something like this. We thought it was just al talk (Associated Press, January 1999)."

On the anniversary of Adolph Hitler's birthday, April 20, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold brought a semi-automatic pistol, two shotguns, a 9-millimeter semiautomatic assault rifle, and at least thirty bombs into Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. Then they proceeded to kill fourteen students and one teacher. It was reported that they dressed in black, wore long black trench coats, berets with Nazi crosses and called themselves the "Trench Coat Mafia." These students had an ongoing feud with athletes and were said to dislike both blacks and Hispanics. Harris and Klebold spoke openly of admiring Hitler and talked constantly of war and guns. Eric Harris made a video at school in which he bragged about his new guns. Although fellow students now say they were concerned, they said little to adults about the danger they felt (Associated Press, April 1999).

How can students tell when a threat of violence is serious as opposed to just adolescent bragging? According to the chief psychiatrist for the Commonweal Children's Program in San Francisco, David Arrendondo, the signals for serious violent intent are clear-cut. He warns that a student should notify an adult immediately in any of the following particular instances: if another student emphasizes "killing" as opposed to a vague threat about getting back at someone, if the person points out that they have access to a gun, or if they seem to have a specific plan for how to kill someone.

Dr. Arrendondo believes that every time a child mentions violence it is a subconscions cry for help (Witkin, 1998).

There are many situations where students have told an adult or parents have reported to the police what they heard about upcoming violent behavior by a student and the violence was averted. When a student at Lafayette High School in Lafayette, Louisiana put his cigarettes inside the ceiling tiles of the school bathroom, he discovered a gun hidden in the ceiling. He shared this information with a friend who reported it to the principal. The gun was retrieved without being used (Schmersahl, 1999).

Five boys in Burlington, WI plotted to kill staff members and students in a classroom-to-classroom bloodbath at Burlington High School. They planned to hold administrators at gunpoint, order them to lock down the school, and then shoot everyone on their hit list. An informant tipped the police to the alleged plot and all five students were arrested (Associated Press, November1998).

Another example of a violent situation thwarted by an intervention occurred when a parent in Hilliard, FL overheard his daughter talking about a student's plan to bring a gun to school and shoot an assistant principal. The parent called Hilliard High School the next morning and warned administrators. The student was apprehended in the school parking lot with two guns and several rounds of ammunition in his car (Associated Press, August 1998).

A student enrolled in the Jefferson Davis Parish Alternative School brought a gun to school and showed it to two male students before he checked out of school that morning. The two students reported the incident to their bus driver that afternoon and gave a description of the gun. The police arrested the student that afternoon and verified that he had brought the gun to school. The school principal, David Clayton, believes that the teachers and administrators at the school have created an atmosphere where students want their school to be safe and that is why the students reported the gun (Clayton, 1999).

There are several different strategies that can be employed by schools to get students to report pending violence. In order for any of these strategies to work, students must feel confidant that they can remain anonymous and that all information will remain strictly confidential to avoid any retaliation. Schools could implement a system of counting the number of days that the school has been violence free. After attaining the first goal of twenty-five days, the students get a reward. The reward could be a local disc jockey playing music before school. If the students reach the next level of sixty days, every class receives a pizza. The pizza party could be donated or sponsored by a local restaurant. The next goal would be one hundred days and a reward such as a "spring fling" would be held at the school for an afternoon. At the beginning of the school year, students can be given a '"safe school contract". The contract states that the students agree to report any information they receive regarding a student who intends to do harm to him/herself or others. Each student signs and dates the contract, and the school agrees to keep all information confidential. Rewards such as passes to the movies or coupons for free meals can be given to students who provide valid information.

Some school districts such as Lafayette Parish in Lafayette, LA and Paducah, KY have been successful using an anonymous hot tip line, which can be sponsored by local corporations. A student calls the hot tip line and reports any farm of pending violence such as weapons, suicides, gangrelated activity or drugs on campus. The case they are reporting is assigned a number. When they call the tip line back in three days, they are told to go to the bank and pick up a cash reward if the tip was valid.

Many schools have adopted a zero tolerance policy toward threats of any kind, verbal or in written farm. In zero tolerance schools, no exceptions are made regarding the enforcement of discipline for any student no matter what the circumstances surrounding the threat may be or the discipline history of the student. Teachers are instructed to report immediately to an administrator any written form of violence in book reports, journals or artwork as well as any speeches with violent themes.

Older student mentors are having a positive effect for kindergarten through eighth grade students. Middle school and high school students are talking to younger students about the positive side of reporting what they hear about pending violence. These older students are teaching elementary and middle school students that heroes save lives and protect themselves from harm by telling an adult about possible danger (Gergen, 1998).

An innovative principal, Robert Kladifko, of Reseda High School in the San Fernando Valley in California has developed a group called the "Principal's Inner Ear Council." This group includes a cross section of students that include gang members, student council members, and respected athletes. This group is given the authority to vote on a predetermined set of school discipline rules. In exchange for this sense of power and ownership in their school, they each agree to listen and report any signs of upcoming trouble to the principal. The program has been successful in thwarting violence (Gergen, 1998).

In the same way that schools teach "suicide awareness", it is possible to teach "violence awareness." Child psychologist, Pamela Harrison from Houston feels that, "schools have to start emphasizing to students that when they hear a classmate say he is going to kill himself, or kill someone else, they must take it very seriously and act immediately (Bowler, 1998)". Students are taught about the dangers of smoking and drugs at an early age in school. Violence prevention and awareness must be added to the curriculum.

Following the violent death of Alex Orange, a student at West Charlotte High School in North Carolina, the organization called Students Against Violence Everywhere (S.A.V.E.), was developed. The purpose of this organization is to provide education about the effects of violence and help provide safe activities for students. Within the school chapters, students learn what to do if they encounter a gun (Riley, 1998).

A program called "Natural Helpers" was developed in Seattle, WA, by the Comprehensive Health Education Foundation. It is a peer-helping program that encourages students to confide in trusted fellow students when trouble arises either on a personal level or at school. The individual students trained to be helpers share the message that it is okay to ask for help and that caring adults are available to help troubled students. When a peer helper learns that a student may harm themselves or others, they report the information immediately to an adult (Tanaka, 1997).

It is impossible for schools to provide patrolled security everywhere on campus. Nearly a million students, some as young as ten, brought guns to school during the 1997 school yo or (Koch, 1998). This staggering statistic combined with widespread depression among teenagers, easy access to unlocked guns, desensitization to violence through movies, television and video games, and a lack of understanding of the finality of death, has made the job of identifying a troubled student at school an almost insurmountable task. For this rear son, schools must join hands with students and seek their cooperation in solving the problem of school violence. When students feel a sense of ownership within their school, they are more likely to take an active role in keeping it safe. The combination of rewards for sharing accurate information and teaching children at an early age to recognize unsafe situations will be of great support to schools in dealing with violent individuals. If schools will heed the words of Albert Einstein. "The world is not an evil place because of the evil that men do but because of those who allow them to do it," they can create a safe haven for both students and teachers.