Mass school shootings in America are undoubtedly among the most unsettling and tragic events that have occurred in modern history. Following such an event, questions often arise about characteristics of the perpetrator. Assertions and speculation regarding the mental health status or special education disability status, specifically related to emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD), flood media outlets and popular news sources. However, there are no data to suggest that children or youth with EBD pose a greater risk of committing a mass school shooting than do others. In this paper, we discuss assumptions related to mass school shootings and students with EBD and consider efforts for prevention and intervention. We discuss detrimental effects of a zero-tolerance approach, especially for students with EBD, and the use of threat assessment as a more effective, research-based model of prevention. We highlight in particular the potential benefits of a threat assessment model for students with or at risk for EBD. Finally, we discuss the need for future research to critically examine the effectiveness and potential side effects of lockdown drills and limitations on federally funded firearm research.

中文翻译：

---

极端学校暴力和有情感和行为障碍的学生：（如何）相交？

毫无疑问，美国的大规模学校枪击案是现代历史上最令人不安和悲惨的事件之一。发生此类事件后，通常会出现有关肇事者特征的问题。关于心理健康状况或特殊教育残疾状况的断言和推测，特别是与情绪和行为障碍（EBD），洪水媒体和流行新闻来源有关。但是，没有数据表明患有EBD的儿童或青少年比其他人更容易发生大规模枪击事件。在本文中，我们讨论了与大规模枪击事件和EBD学生有关的假设，并考虑了预防和干预措施。我们讨论了零容忍方法的不利影响，尤其是对于有EBD的学生，以及使用威胁评估作为更有效的，基于研究的预防模型。我们特别强调威胁评估模型对有EBD或有EBD风险的学生的潜在好处。最后，我们讨论了未来研究的必要性，以严格审查锁定演习的有效性和潜在副作用以及联邦资助枪支研究的局限性。