As a heavily armed teenager opened fire on his former classmates Wednesday, killing at least 17 people, the reactions of terrified students and a shell-shocked nation unfolded in real time on Twitter and Snapchat.
鈥淢y school is being shot up and I am locked inside. I鈥檓 fucking scared right now,鈥� Aidan Minoff , while huddling against the wall of his classroom inside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.
Another student snapped a video of SWAT teams evacuating the auditorium. Yet another posted a clip of terrified children screaming as gunfire sounded off.
Almost immediately, the social media responses poured in.
Strangers, including many who said they鈥檇 survived one of the nearly 300 school shootings in the U.S. since 2013, offered prayers and advice. Public officials attempted to make sense of the chaos, providing updates on the death toll and letting frightened parents know where they could pick up those children lucky enough to have survived. And President Donald Trump posted condolences to his 48 million followers, prompting cries for help and profane demands for action on gun control.
My prayers and condolences to the families of the victims of the terrible Florida shooting. No child, teacher or anyone else should ever feel unsafe in an American school.
-- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
Now, it鈥檚 all being replayed on an endless loop, retweeted and repurposed for the country to consume again and again.
鈥淭his is the power of social media,鈥� said Amanda Lenhart, an expert on teens and technology who now works as the deputy director of the Better Life lab at New America, a Washington think tank.
鈥淚t brings us all so immediately to these experiences, but it can do so in a remarkably unfiltered way, and it can have a traumatic impact, even on people who weren鈥檛 directly involved.鈥�
Schools, Crises, and Social Media
That new reality means new responsibilities and opportunities for schools and educators, said Lenhart and other experts reached by 91制片厂视频 Week in the hours after the shooting.
It鈥檚 still too early in the technology鈥檚 history for much solid research about how school shootings and social media interact, they said.
What is clear, though, is that these platforms are interwoven with the fabric of many young people鈥檚 lives, in ways that many adults struggle to grasp.
As a result, it鈥檚 almost certain that most adolescents, and even many younger children, will turn to social media to share their anger and search for comfort and process their fear and grief.
And that means that the strategies teachers, school staff, and parents can do to help have evolved.
A first step: When possible, limit exposure to the graphic images and videos that have emerged from in and around Stoneman Douglas High, said Brian Lazzaro, a member of the school safety and crisis response committee for the National Association of School Psychologists and a psychologist at a California high school.
That鈥檚 especially important for younger children, Lazzaro said, many of whom may not understand when seeing a short video clip that the events it depicts are not happening again.
Viewing violent events on social media 鈥渉as the ability to traumatize us鈥� and 鈥渃ause further damage to people who are actually safe and not involved,鈥� Pamela Ramsden, a lecturer in psychology at the University of Bradford in the U.K. and the author of an influential on the topic, told 91制片厂视频 Week via email.
鈥淭hese events, when filmed, create anxiety and fear,鈥� Ramsden wrote, leaving some people 鈥渓ess able to manage our ability to defend against the anxiety of mortality.鈥�
Realistically, though, most adolescents now have their own smartphones and social media accounts. In those cases, Lazzaro said, parents and educators should expect their children will be engaging with online content about the shooting, and they should be alert to opportunities to help kids talk about what they鈥檝e encountered.
鈥淭hey really need adult guidance and support to process what they鈥檙e seeing,鈥� Lazzaro said.
Preventing 鈥楥ontagion鈥�
Part of that is about curtailing what experts refer to as 鈥渃ontagion.鈥�
鈥淲hen we use that word, what we鈥檙e really talking about is a traumatic event being passed from one child to another, with negative reactions each time,鈥� said Rob Coad, a high school psychologist in Illinois who serves on the same NASP committee as Lazzaro.
鈥淚t starts inside the school building, then it鈥檚 online, and then someone three counties away can see it and experience a trauma of their own,鈥� Coad said.
(After weighing the news value of the disturbing social-media content out of Parkland today against the risk of encouraging copycats or further traumatizing readers, 91制片厂视频 Week is being selective in the images we share here.)
School staff and mental-health professionals should be particularly alert to students whom they may know to already be in a vulnerable emotional or psychological state, according to the experts.
Scouring the Shooter鈥檚 Social Media
News reports emerged Wednesday evening about the primary suspect in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High shooting, a 19-year old former student named Nikolas Cruz.
Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel told several news outlets that Cruz鈥檚 own social media activity was 鈥渧ery, very concerning,鈥� and Friday that the FBI was warned months ago that Cruz had posted a threat to become a 鈥減rofessional school shooter鈥� on YouTube.
Lenhart of New America cautioned against Cruz鈥檚 peers or educators feeling they should have spotted signs of trouble. 鈥淲e all wish we had perfect insight,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut that鈥檚 holding yourself to a very high standard.鈥�
That often means face-to-face attention, Coad said. Encourage students to reach out to trusted adults in their lives for help, and model for them how to do it.
It can also mean paying attention to students鈥� own social media postings and interactions. But don鈥檛 suddenly turn into Big Brother, the experts agreed.
One less intrusive strategy: rather than directly monitoring their children鈥檚 or students鈥� feeds, parents and teachers can empower mutually trusted third parties鈥攆riends, an older cousin鈥攖o keep an eye out for warning signs, and coach them on how to ask for help if it鈥檚 needed.
鈥淎 lot of the power of these online spaces is that it feels like a safe place to share grief with peers, in ways that can feel shielded from the eyes of concerned parents and adults,鈥� Lenhart said. 鈥淏ut it can also be a place where they experience stuff that feels really hurtful and inappropriate.鈥�
Also a Force for Good
It鈥檚 also important to not forget that social media can be a tremendous force for good, even during a crisis, the experts said.
狈础厂笔鈥檚 , for example, highlights the role that social media can play in quickly sharing accurate information鈥攁 strategy on display Wednesday by Broward County Commissioner Michael Udine, formerly the mayor of Parkland, who used his Twitter account to let families know where to find their children.
Info is coming in fast Douglas students to be picked up at the Heron Bay Marriott. Westglades I鈥檓 being told is going to open soon for pick up at the school. I would come in from the west side of the school I will update when I have more info
-- Michael Udine (@Michaeludine)
Social media can also be a place for educators and school leaders to spread calm, instead of panic, said Scott Woitaszewski, a professor of school psychology at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and another member of the NASP committee on school safety and crisis response.
鈥淎 lot of times, students will ask, 鈥業s this going to happen again?鈥欌�� Woitaszewski said. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 want to answer 鈥榶es鈥� or 鈥榥o,鈥� but you can say, 鈥楬ere鈥檚 what we鈥檙e doing to keep you safe.鈥欌��
And many young people (and others) turned to social media to make calls for action, including some students who responded directly to President Trump.
please do something. my friends & i are absolutely traumatized. i lost people that i shouldnt have.
-- mads (@madigoodman_)
Experts said it鈥檚 important to remember that for all its faults, social media is a modern way of creating community. While it may have a terrifying propensity to amplify fear and facilitate obsessive and hurtful behaviors, it also has a wonderful capacity to connect people and share information and inspiration, even amid tragedy.
Love each other. You may never know when it may be the last day you meet someone.
-- Aidan Minoff (@TheCaptainAidan)
On that front, educators and school leaders around the country can all take a cue from Aidan Minoff, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas freshman who posted the message above shortly after finding safety amid Wednesday鈥檚 violence and heartbreak.
Michelle R. Davis and Michele Molnar contributed to this report.
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