Experts: How should N.J. community react to back-to-back school gun scares?

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Experts talk about the back-to-back school gun scares in one N.J. district, and what the community should do about it. (Jessica Mazzola | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

MAPLEWOOD -- No shots were fired and no one was hurt. But, two gun scares in two days in one New Jersey school district has parents asking questions about safety, violence, and the availability of guns.

Two students were arrested last week after what police say were two unrelated incidents - one on Wednesday when a seventh grade student allegedly brought a loaded handgun to Maplewood Middle School, and one on Thursday when a ninth grader allegedly brought an Airsoft gun and knife to Columbia High School.

The questions left lingering in the South Orange-Maplewood school district are ones that communities across the country have been grappling with. According to a 2013 CDC survey, 5.2 percent of students nationwide reported carrying some sort of weapon on school property.

As school and town officials in New Jersey prepare for a community meeting Monday night that they say should answer some parents' lingering questions about these two incidents, NJ Advance Media spoke to three youth violence experts about the implications of these in-school weapons scares:

  • James Garbarino
  • Paul Hirschfield
  • Paul Boxer

Is it out of the ordinary for these two incidents to happen in one school district?

PH:

"I have never heard of two noteworthy cases back-to-back in a small town...(but), I don't believe the appropriate reaction (for parents) is to panic. Actual shootings and gun violence in schools is extremely rare."

JG:

"Unless there was some kind of dynamic connection between (the two boys accused of bringing weapons to school), it's probably a statistical quirk. You have to look at the individual story of each kid to see if it reveals something more systemic."

Police have said that neither boy made specific threats. Is it typical for students who bring guns to school not to have intended targets, or plans to use them?

PH:

"Most of the time kids bring guns to school, there is not a specific target. There are a few reasons kids bring weapons to school...it could be defensive. If there was some sort of instance of violence, it could be a protective behavior...Kids also bring guns to show off. In our society, guns still symbolize manliness and self-reliance. It wouldn't surprise me if a kid felt a status enhancement (from this)."

PB:

"It could be a response to a problem that was festering within a peer group. Or, turn on any TV show, or Netflix, or a video game, and you can see how attractive guns are in our society right now...weapons have a cache in popular media, and kids seek that feeling...but, you need to understand why (the particular) kids want to have an association with a weapon."

What are the biggest concerns parents should have?

JG:

"What's really striking to me, if you ask urban or suburban kids, 'if you needed a gun, would you know where to get one?' Overwhelmingly, they say 'yes.' That's the issue. That's the important question the community should be addressing."

PB:

"Weapons in the hands of children should be considered completely unacceptable in any community, and parents need to be brought into the discussion. This is not a school problem, it is a community problem...Especially in the case with the actual handgun, where did the 13-year-old get it? That's the real question to be concerned about...(The community) also needs to ask what other risk factors or influences went into these boys' decisions. It is Adam Lanza-rare to have a case without any other sources of violent influences in his life...It is much more common for kids (who bring weapons to school) to have a multi-factored matrix of risk."

PH:

"The first thing to emphasize is that gun violence in schools is extremely rare. There were 28 incidents in the entire nation in 2013...so, don't panic. It is more effective to look at how to reduce violence than how to reduce guns in schools."

The school district has said it will review its weapons policies and procedures in response to these incidents. Are there policies that have been proven to work more effectively than others?

PH:

"I am personally not a fan of metal detectors. They are a huge expense, and they are not worth it...Prevention should be aimed at reducing the motive to engage in violence rather than turning schools into fortresses."

JG:

"Their reaction should be to explore the motivations of these two kids...Zero tolerance policies don't seem to work. Avoid jumping on these kids before you know what's going on. The crisis mentality can be disproportionate to what's actually going on...there may not be anything to do except for work with these two boys."

Jessica Mazzola may be reached at jmazzola@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessMazzola. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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