School shootings and anxiety

Alana M. Carroll

Staff Writer

Rhode Island College students and faculty received a startling series of alerts sent to both their email inboxes and smartphones Tuesday Oct. 5 with the words “EMERGENCY: ACTIVE THREAT.” The first warning arrived at 11:18 a.m. to much confusion and alarm. 

Although the warning was specifically for the Rhode Island Nursing and Education Center on Eddy Street, the initial message only included an abbreviation of “RI NEC” as well as instructions to avoid that specific area of campus. Some mistakenly believed that the warning referred to a building on the main campus. Though an “ALL CLEAR” message was received approximately half an hour later with an explanation email from the campus police shortly after, some were still left shaken.

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The report given by the school and campus police stated that there was no active perpetrator, but rather a threat submitted to the school via an online forum, which was described as “unsubstantiated”. Though the RI NEC was evacuated, students were allowed to reenter the building and continue classes as scheduled once the active threat warning was dismissed.

According to the Providence Police Department, an active threat is defined as “any deliberate actions that pose an immediate or imminent danger to others.” It’s no surprise that the immediate idea that came to mind across campus was a terrifying one. After all, with the most recent school shooting having occurred only a month prior in Winder, Georgia, students are wary. Given the increasing frequency of gun violence around the United States, as well as the growing death tolls caused by mass shootings, they have every right to be.

This scare comes just over a week after campus police were called to Penfield Hall for a similar incident: a report of gunshots. Another email was sent to students addressed to those who live on campus with a brief explanation of the situation. According to this email, the “gunshots” reported by a student in an adjacent room were actually balloons popping. It also contained phone numbers for the RIC counseling department and the RIC HOPE line, respectively. 

In a 2019 study by the American Psychological Association, it was found that nearly three-quarters of adults in the United States experience an elevated amount of stress at the idea of being in a shooting. Similarly, one-third of participants have avoided an event or gathering as a result of this emotional strain. Of the locations that adults felt most apprehensive towards, schools and universities fell near the top of the list with approximately 42% of adults reporting fearing a shooting in these environments.

Anxiety in general is detrimental to school performance for students of all ages. The mind of a student occupied by the latest gun violence story on the news or the likelihood of such an event happening at their school can distract from lessons, lectures and assignments. Anxiety can also cause physical side effects, such as headaches, nausea, trembling, hot flashes or increased breath or heart rate. Physical ailments such as those caused by anxiety can contribute to even more time spent out of the classroom. The condition is detrimental to memory, so even if a student is actively engaging with the class and turning in assignments, there’s a sizable chance that the material being studied is not being fully encoded. Difficulties with sleep are particularly detrimental to academic performance and memory. Anxiety contributes to sleep disturbances, which in turn impact memory and can trigger stronger feelings of anxiety, trapping students in a vicious cycle.

What can be done to manage these worries that have become so commonplace among students? 

Validating these worries is important, yet equally important is emphasizing how unlikely these situations are to be in. Although these odds have increased since 1970, the odds of dying in a school shooting are less than one-in-a-million. In response to the increased rate of these events, stronger safety measures have been adopted, including at RIC; the rapid response of campus police to both of the scares this semester is evidence of that. Talking to a counselor is recommended for anxiety that substantially impacts day-to-day life. Counseling services are available to students for free at Suite 100 in Browne Hall. 

Anxiety can feel debilitating and cause strain in almost all areas of a person’s life, especially when these anxieties are affirmed by the news on a weekly basis. Including the assistance of treatment and adopting coping mechanisms, however, it can be managed, dealt with and even eliminated.