How charging parents in a school shooting could change the conversation

Preventing school shootings has always taken a village. But new attention is being put on the role parents in particular play in monitoring and being responsible for student actions.

In the days since four students were killed and seven other people were injured in a mass shooting at Oxford High School in Michigan, there’s been no shortage of questions about whether the attack could have been prevented and whom to hold accountable: the parents? The school? Both? 

Charging the parents of the accused student gunman – which a Michigan prosecutor did quickly – is a rarely used tactic that has generated some optimism about holding parents more accountable and spurring tougher gun storage laws. Yet it may remain atypical for mothers and fathers to be charged, some experts say, suggesting that the measure is also more reactive than preventive. Thwarting future school shootings depends on a range of efforts, researchers suggest, including providing more mental health support and limiting access to guns. 

The decision to focus on the parents in this case “brings up the question of what are the responsibilities of parents in homes where they have guns,” says Matthew Mayer, an associate professor of educational psychology at Rutgers University in New Jersey who specializes in school violence prevention. He points to studies showing that 4.6 million to 5.4 million children live in homes with access to guns.