The Devastating Impact of School Shootings on Surviving Children
They were, by some measures, the lucky ones. The children who were rushed to the hospital, bloody and scared. The ones who clutched their parents in emotional reunions that circulated on the news. They were the latest survivors of the latest school shooting, which killed two children, ages 8 and 10, in Minneapolis on Wednesday.
The children of Annunciation Catholic School join a group that numbers nearly 400,000: America’s children who have been exposed to gun violence at school. According to data collected by The Washington Post, more than 397,000 children have experienced gun violence at school since the shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, in 1999. This number now includes the students who hid under pews Wednesday when a shooter fired through the windows of Annunciation Catholic Church during an all-school Mass.
Complex Feelings and Long-Lasting Effects
Experts say that children who survive school shootings deal with a host of complex feelings, ranging from anxiety and grief to guilt and shame. A common question they ask is “Why them and not me? Why me and not them?” said Robin Gurwitch, a clinical psychologist who specializes in the impact of trauma and violence on children. Violence that happens in a place that is supposed to be safe, such as a school or a church, is especially hard to process.
Research from Stanford University and other institutions has similarly found long-lasting effects, including increased absences from school, lower student achievement, and even lower earnings in adulthood. Students in neighborhoods where school shootings occur show increased antidepressant usage for “two to three, even up to five years later,” said Maya Rossin-Slater, an associate professor of health policy at Stanford who has studied the effects of school shootings.
Support and Recovery
Still, experts said, children can overcome traumatic experiences with the right support. Initial struggles are to be expected. If a child is still experiencing anxiety, trouble focusing, irritability, and other problems a month after a traumatic event, those may be signs that the child needs more support, Gurwitch said. She said all parents — not just those living in the Twin Cities — should talk to their children about school shootings, particularly after an event makes the news.
Even children in preschool and kindergarten are more aware than many parents think. “To assume that children won’t know is a hope and a prayer that is not realistic,” Gurwitch said. She said parents could start by asking what children already knew, validating how their children feel, and focusing on what steps were being taken to keep them safe. “We can never say, ‘I promise it’s not going to happen at your school,’ ” she said. “We can say, ‘We are doing everything we know how to do to keep you safe.’ ”
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