Growing fears school shootings could happen closer to home: Poll
· Toronto Sun
A significant number of Canadians fear that a school shooting could happen closer to home in the future, a new poll has revealed.
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Following the Tumbler Ridge mass shooting that left nine people dead including the shooter last month, the survey by pollster YouGov also found most believe mental health challenges are the main contributing factor.
The online poll of 967 Canadians from Feb. 19 to 26 found 43% of respondents say a mass shooting in their own community is very or somewhat likely to occur in the future. About the same number (42%) said it was not very likely or not at all likely.
Mental health challenges
In addition, 69% believe mental health challenges is the top contributing factor behind incidents like the shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School in northeast British Columbia.
That number was well ahead of access to firearms (51%), social media (28%), or parenting (23%) for what respondents believed were the root causes.
Jesse Van Rootselaar killed her mother and half-brother at their home on Feb. 10 before she went to the school and killed a 39-year-old education assistant and five students. When police arrived minutes later, Van Rootselaar turned the gun on herself.
It was the worst mass shooting in Canada since April 2020 when 22 people were killed in Nova Scotia. It was also the deadliest school shooting since the Ecole Polytechnique attack in Montreal that left 14 women dead in 1989.
‘Communities may feel less safe’
“Following this tragedy, our communities may feel less safe and we may worry about family and loved ones,” McMaster University professor Margaret McKinnon said in an analysis of the Tumbler Ridge shooting .
“The mental health and well-being of many Canadians will be impacted by this mass victimization event, including students and teachers present during the attack and their families, friends and peers.”
McKinnon, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, said many survivors of mass shootings will experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress, anxiety and depression in the days following the event.
Symptoms can persist for a year or longer for some survivors, McKinnon adds.
“Communities are also impacted by mass shootings, including via mental distress associated with fear and anxiety and through school and business closures,” she said.
“These impacts can persist past the immediate aftermath of the incident, pointing to the need for not only individual mental-health supports for survivors and supporters, but also public health interventions that can support the needs of the community.”
The B.C. government said in the aftermath of the shooting that every possible support is available for the community as well as for people throughout the province who are impacted by the event.
Mental health counsellors
The poll found more than four-in-five respondents (82%) support placing mental health counsellors in schools. Less than half say police officers should be stationed in schools (46%) or armed security guards should be present (41%), while just one in five would support arming teachers.
There were some notable differences in how safe Canadians feel within their communities.
According to the survey, men and younger adults are far more likely to say public safety has improved over the past year (41%) than those who are 50 years old or older (12%).
In addition, only 16% of women said they felt safety has improved over the past year while 32% of men felt the same way.
The survey also revealed a majority of Canadians strongly support tougher sentences for violent crime (60%), more investment in mental health services (57%), and stricter gun control laws (53%).