Intuition-Can It Make A Difference In Preventing School Shootings?

People are looking for ways to stop school shootings.   Most people agree that something needs to be done even if people don’t agree on what needs to be done.  Opinions vary.  People get “hot under the collar” about this issue.  It is so very “charged.”  As the debate over gun control and legislation continues to heat up, people search for answers.  The  Newton, Connecticut shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School so outrageously insults our very sensibilities at almost every level, making if very difficult to grasp and to make sense of in any way.

We have been and continue to look for answers.  The shootings in schools , theaters, bars, in our homes, and other places, are a call,often not voiced, for both teachers and students to use their intuition.  At first, this may not seem like something that makes sense.  What can intuition do to prevent future attacks?  How can intuition stop a bullet?  Well, of course, it can’t.

There is no guarantee that anything or everything will guarantee that no future attacks will occur.  We can put cameras in schools.  We can have more security in the schools.   We can have people patrolling schools.  We can have volunteers as well as hired security and in many cases we have, and it hasn’t always prevented school violence.

So, what can intuition do?  Intuition is the part of us that perceives the nuances, the things that aren’t obvious.   It might be a change in behavior, a comment that was said, a look, etc.  Regarding school violence, there were often little clues, ones that by themselves may not have seem liked much but when added up, may paint a picture of someone who is disturb or has intentions to harm others.  Perhaps a teacher or a student has a “funny” “strange”, or a “nagging” thought or feeling about a student and decides to tell someone or pays more attention to the source of the discomfort or source of concern/alarm.

Encouraging teachers, parents and children to talk about their concerns is important.  Giving people, no matter how young or old they are, permission to pay attention to what has captured their attention is important, as is the freedom to share concerns and fears that aren’t readily apparent or obvious.   We all owe it to ourself to be inspectors and explore  the nuances and that which is not obvious.