The post‐Virginia Tech era shows a dramatic shift to proactive prevention as the majority of campuses move to implement or update behavioral intervention team practices. This is a gratifying trend to those of us who pushed strongly back against the text‐message system hysteria of the period after the Virginia Tech shootings, and the classroom door‐lock hysteria of the period after the Northern Illinois University shootings. While we don’t suggest that reactive measures are worthless, our job here at NCHERM is to focus the national spotlight not on short‐term reactions but on proactive prevention.
Why is behavioral intervention the right approach? We know from the research that most perpetrators of school violence don’t emerge from the ether with surprise attacks no one saw coming. Instead, it is quite the opposite. They give clues. They cause concern amongst friends, colleagues and even online acquaintances. They make people uncomfortable. These clues, signs, and concerns are the best chance to head off violence before it occurs. If we can empower cultures of reporting on our campuses, friends, colleagues, family members, professors, sorority sisters, roommates, RAs can share what they know. But, they need to know who to tell. For that, they need a BIT. They need to know what to report. For that, they need a BIT. And, the information must be centralized to break down the information silos in which members of our communities have pieces of the puzzle, but no one team or group gets to see the whole picture. For that, they need a BIT. Once the information is assimilated, a caring and effective intervention must be orchestrated. For that, they need a BIT.
