By May Sonnenberg, The Fayetteville Observer, September 3, 2019
The LA Times recently published an op-ed called, “We have studied every mass shooting since 1966. Here’s what we’ve learned about the shooters.” This piece, written by Jillian Peterson and James Densley, clearly outlines their goal of using data as a pathway to prevent mass shootings. The data revealed four commonalities among the perpetrators of nearly all the mass shootings they studied. The very first commonality caught my attention but did not surprise me. The piece states, “First, the vast majority of mass shooters in our study experienced early childhood trauma and exposure to violence at a young age.”
Their data shows that early childhood trauma influences long-term outcomes for individuals and communities. But what is early childhood trauma, and how do we prevent it? One thing is for sure; we can’t do it alone. The only way to make a positive impact is to do it together.
In 2013, a group of like-minded people, representing over 25 community agencies, came together around the question, “What if we could build a suite of prevention and intervention services, parent education and family support services to help create a safe and stable community, where children are nurtured, and families thrive?” The results of this group launched the SOAR (Strengths in Overcoming Adversity thru Resiliency) committee and a movement to work collectively to reduce early childhood trauma and adverse childhood experience.
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