Astor on Wave of False Threats of Violence in Schools

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School safety expert Ron Avi Astor, a professor of social welfare at UCLA Luskin, spoke to Axios about the recent wave of false threats of violence directed at schools across the United States, which have caused numerous police responses, evacuations and temporary closures. “The goal for some of these [perpetrators] is to create anxiety and a sense of terror,” said Astor, noting that false threats can lead to copycat threats. In addition to disrupting learning, false threats through social media can lead to heightened community fears as well as time-consuming and costly government and police responses. The article cites data that education facilities are the most targeted locations for threats and that false reports were responsible for nearly 30% of school violence incidents nationally in 2023-24. False reports have included threats of shootings, bombs and a variety of other dangers. Arrests have been made in some jurisdictions while others are increasing consequences.

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A Decline in Student Victimization, Even in Areas of Conflict

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A new study measuring changes in campus climate at Israeli elementary schools over a 12-year period found a steady decline in students’ feelings of victimization — including marked improvements for Arab students and those from a lower socioeconomic status, a welcome surprise to researchers. The study set out to assess the prevalence of physical, emotional, social and cyber-based violence among students from different backgrounds, said UCLA Luskin Social Welfare Professor Ron Avi Astor, a co-author of the paper just published in the Journal of School Violence. Fifth- and sixth-graders at both Jewish and Arab school campuses across the country were surveyed between 2008 and 2019, a time when the Israeli education system was making significant investments in violence prevention, including retraining school staff to prioritize the creation of a caring environment. While the study did not establish a direct causal relationship between the investments and the findings, international researchers have linked improvements in school climate to policies and interventions centered on students’ social and emotional well-being. A 2023 study co-authored by Astor found this to be true at California middle and high schools, which saw a steep decline in day-to-day violence from 2001 to 2019. The study in Israel was based on data collected before the outbreak of war in Gaza in 2023, but during a time of ongoing geopolitical conflict and cultural strife. “This study shows what a positive climate in schools, cultural recognition, resources and intentional violence prevention can do to improve the lives of millions of students on a day-to-day level, even in a war-torn place like the Middle East,” Astor said.

 

Astor on Common Traits of School Shooters

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A Newsweek story on the recent mass shooting at a Georgia high school called on UCLA Luskin’s Ron Avi Astor to share his expertise on campus violence. The suspected gunman, a 14-year-old boy, and his father have been charged in the shooting, which killed two teachers and two students and injured nine others. While the motive behind the George incident remains unclear, Astor described some common traits shared among school shooters. Many are suicidal, “but suicidal thoughts are fleeting,” said Astor, a professor of social welfare and education. He added that many shooters seek to sow terror on a national level. “It’s not necessarily always to target one person, or just somebody with mental health issues,” he said. “The goal is to commit terror for every child and parent in the United States, and they use the media to do that.”

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A Tipster’s Alert May Have Averted School Attack

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CBS Austin spoke to UCLA Luskin’s Ron Avi Astor about a tip that may have prevented a school shooting in Texas. Authorities were alerted to posts from a 17-year-old girl who threatened to purchase weapons and attack her former elementary school. The girl was arrested and charged with the third-degree felony of making a terroristic threat. “I think thinking about these kinds of shootings as terrorism is actually really helpful,” said Astor, a professor of social welfare and authority on school violence. News coverage of the incident may encourage more people to report concerning social media posts in the future, he added. Decisive action taken by friends, acquaintances or family members who view a troubling post, text or email is “the No. 1 reason why these shootings are averted,” Astor said.

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‘Look What These Students Have Gone Through’

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Social Welfare Professor Ron Avi Astor spoke to The 74 about new federal data showing that troubling student behavior — from a lack of attentiveness to threats made to classmates in person or online — has continued years after the COVID-19 pandemic triggered disruptions to learning. The Department of Education research indicated that students’ well-being has been impacted by high rates of trauma, a fraught political climate, and the feeling that they are unsafe or unseen in school. “Look what these students have gone through … not only the pandemic, through wars. Through a tumultuous, divisive political environment in the last six or seven years that’s only intensifying between right and left, between Black and white, between immigrant and non-immigrant,” said Astor, an expert on school violence and campus culture. Students are also witnessing state legislatures and local school boards limit what classrooms can and cannot teach, leading them to question whether they belong in their school, he said.

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Violence, Aggression Against Educators Grew Post-Pandemic, Study Finds

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While threats and violence against pre-K to 12th-grade teachers and other school personnel in the United States declined during the COVID-19 pandemic, after the restrictions were lifted, incidents rebounded to levels equal to or exceeding those prior to the pandemic. As a result, the percentage of teachers expressing the intention to resign or transfer rose from 49% during the pandemic to 57% afterward. These are the findings of new research led by the American Psychological Association’s Task Force on Violence Against Educators and School Personnel, whose members include UCLA Luskin Social Welfare Professor Ron Avi Astor. “Aggression and violence against educators and school personnel are major concerns that affect the well-being of school personnel and the students and families they serve,” the researchers concluded. They recommended an overhaul of existing policies, with the goal of bringing school personnel, students, parents and communities together to work toward improving campus climate, work environment, and student learning and well-being. The study compared the results of two surveys of educators and school personnel from all 50 states and Puerto Rico. The first was conducted during the height of the pandemic in 2020-2021 and the second in 2022, after many campuses had lifted COVID-19 restrictions. Respondents were asked about their encounters with various forms of violence, including verbal, cyber and physical, from students, parents and guardians, colleagues and administrators. They were also asked if they intended to quit, retire early or transfer to another position within the school system. The study was published May 30 in the journal American Psychologist.

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Accusations of Negligence in Shooting by 6-Year-Old

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Social Welfare Professor Ron Avi Astor spoke to the Washington Post about legal repercussions from the 2023 shooting of a Virginia teacher by her 6-year-old student. A grand jury indicted a former assistant principal with eight counts of felony child abuse, and the injured teacher has filed a $40 million suit against the school district, alleging negligence on the part of administrators. The former assistant principal is accused of disregarding at least three teachers’ warnings that the first-grader might be carrying a gun. “Maybe 10 or 15 years ago people could say, ‘I wasn’t educated. I didn’t know this could happen. I thought the kid was too young to have a gun,’” Astor said. “But in this day and age with all the data, reporting and training, it’s really problematic for a vice principal not to follow up on these warnings.” In another Washington Post story, Astor said that Americans are frustrated by the political impasse over proposals to restrict access to guns and are “just exhausted” by the bloodshed.

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Astor on Suicidal Thoughts, Gun Violence

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A Houston Chronicle story on a woman who used an assault rifle to open fire at a Texas megachurch cited Ron Avi Astor, professor of social welfare at UCLA Luskin. The woman, who had a history of mental health struggles, was killed in an exchange of fire with security officers. There were no other fatalities. Suicidal thoughts are not uncommon among those who perpetrate mass shootings, Astor said. “These are really suicides, too. These are not just homicides.” In addition, a High School Insider article shared research by Astor that offered an encouraging counterpoint. In California, day-to-day danger on school campuses declined significantly between 2001 and 2019, according to the study published in the World Journal of Pediatrics.

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Shock Waves of Trauma Following UNLV Shooting

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UCLA Luskin Social Welfare scholars Mark S. Kaplan and Ron Avi Astor spoke to the Las Vegas Review Journal about the lasting trauma experienced by school communities in the aftermath of campus shootings. On Dec. 6, a gunman killed three members of the faculty at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and gravely injured a fourth. “This is going to send shock waves through the campus,” said Kaplan, who teaches a class on firearm violence prevention policy at UCLA. Access to counseling is critical for students, faculty and the entire UNLV community, he stressed. Astor said memorials and vigils can help the community come together to process grief and trauma. He added that school safety literature shows that many people rate their own schools — both K-12 and college — as very safe even as they express anxiety about campus shootings.

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Astor Receives 2023 School Mental Health Research Award

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The National Center for School Mental Health has selected UCLA Luskin Social Welfare Professor Ron Avi Astor as the recipient of the 2023 School Mental Health Research Award. Launched in 2018, the award recognizes scholars who have made a significant contribution to advancing research and practice in school mental health. Astor received the award on Dec. 5 at the 2023 Annual Conference on Advancing School Mental Health, held in New Orleans. At a summit on the eve of the conference, Astor shared his scholarship on campus climate, social-emotional learning and social justice with leading school mental health researchers from across the country. In his decades of research, Astor has studied tens of thousands of schools and millions of students, teachers, parents and administrators, and his work has been published in more than 200 scholarly manuscripts. His latest research examines antisemitism in K-12 settings, and he is spearheading research exchanges focusing on schools that empower students in Arab, Jewish and other diverse communities in the Middle East and Los Angeles. Astor’s far-reaching impact on the field of school mental health was cited in three separate nominations he received for this year’s School Mental Health Research Award. “This interdisciplinary career award coming from such an important organization that does critical work for our schools means the world to me,” said Astor, who has a joint appointment at the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies. “I appreciate the recognition and hope to use it as a platform to spread peace and mental health support to our world’s children.”