Education

Impacts of school shooter drills on the psychological well-being of American K-12 school communities: a social media study

M. Elsherief, K. Saha, et al.

This groundbreaking study reveals that school shooter drills increase anxiety, stress, and depression among K-12 communities by 39-42%, while surprisingly boosting civic engagement by 10-106%. Conducted by a team of researchers including Mai ElSherief and Munmun De Choudhury, the findings challenge the efficacy of these drills and advocate for more proactive safety strategies.

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Abstract

This study investigates the impact of school shooter drills on the psychological well-being of American K-12 school communities using machine learning and interrupted time series analysis of 54 million social media posts from 114 schools across 33 states. Results show a 39-42% increase in anxiety, stress, and depression following drills, but also a 10-106% increase in civic engagement. These findings, coupled with a lack of strong evidence supporting the life-saving effectiveness of drills, suggest that proactive school safety strategies may be more effective and less detrimental to mental health.

Publisher

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications

Published On

Dec 08, 2021

Authors

Mai ElSherief, Koustuv Saha, Pranshu Gupta, Shrija Mishra, Jordyn Seybolt, Jiajia Xie, Megan O'Toole, Sarah Burd-Sharps, Munmun De Choudhury

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