Gov. Matt Bevin blames school shootings on phones, psychotropic drugs

Mandy McLaren | Courier Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption Matt Bevin says violence caused by smartphones, video games and 'psychotropic' medication The Kentucky governor says violence's root causes are smart phones, video games and medication.

LEXINGTON — Gov. Matt Bevin said Tuesday that efforts to prevent school shootings are laudable but do not address the root causes of the violence: children's access to smart phones, video games and psychotropic drugs.

"This is a very, very, very dangerous tool in the hands of young people, and I don't say that lightly or flippantly," Bevin said, holding a phone in his hand. Cellphones, he said, are responsible for self-doubt, depression and self-harm.

Children are then treated for disorders caused by cellphones with medication he called "psychotropic drugs" that "come with a severe list of warnings, not the least of which is ... suicidal thoughts, thoughts of self-harm and harm to others."

"As a nation, we want so quickly to find some solution ... but culturally, we are feeding this epidemic," he said.

Bevin made the comments to a roundtable of officials gathered by the Federal Commission on School Safety, a panel created by President Donald Trump to develop recommendations for how to make the country's schools safer.

Officials from Tennessee, Wisconsin, Ohio and Indiana were also present for the listening session.

The safety group was created in response to the February shooting at a Parkland, Florida, high school that left 17 students and staff dead.

More: JCPS and other students join National School Walkout. 'We Stand With Parkland'

Since the tragedy, Parkland students have called for stricter gun laws.

But Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who heads the safety group, drew criticism this month when she told lawmakers that it would not focus on the role of guns in school violence. (DeVos was not present for Tuesday's listening session.)

On Tuesday, the topic of guns was notably absent from the discussions.

Instead, much of the talk focused on the role of mental health.

Tennessee officials said they were creating a smart phone app that will allow students, among others, to notify school officials about safety threats or concerns they have about their peers.

Bevin, who has spoken previously about the role of violent video games in school shootings, said phones were also to blame. He stopped short of suggesting phones be taken away, but he said too much screen time has created a generation of kids with higher rates of depression and anxiety as well as weakened impulse control.

Bevin's concerns are backed up by recent research.

A 2017 study from San Diego State and Florida State universities found 48 percent of teens who spent five or more hours per day on phones or other electronic devices experienced thoughts of suicide or prolonged periods of hopelessness or sadness.

But depressive thoughts don't automatically result in violent tendencies, said Marie Williams, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. People dealing with mental issues are more often the victims of bullying and violence than the perpetrators, she said.

Gov. Matt Bevin speaks about school safety at FCSS listening session Matt Bevin says legislature should make school shooting safety a “top priority” and he has one idea that he plans to unveil soon to improve security.

Marshall County Sheriff Kevin Byars also took part in the discussion.

Byars is credited with apprehending the teenage shooter who killed two of his peers at Marshall County High School in January.

He was among several officials who said school districts need more funding to secure school buildings and to staff schools with resource officers.

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Wayne Lewis, Kentucky's interim education commissioner, said that school resource officers are an important part of a school community.

"It's not just dropping a law enforcement officer in the building," he said, adding that the officers must focus on building relationships with students.

Resource officers "are central not only in responding to incidents when they happen but from preventing incidents from happening," Lewis said.

The use of school resource officers in JCPS has been the subject of some controversy after a violent arrest at Jeffersontown High School that was captured on video and spread widely on social media.

Advocates have called on JCPS to remove officers from all district campuses, citing what they say is a disproportionate effect on minority students. In the months since, they have continued that call.

"What happened at J-town is part of a deep pattern of racial injustice," Sonja Devries, a member of Louisville Showing Up for Racial Justice, said in November.

In the aftermath of the controversy, JCPS said it would work with local police departments to establish more clear guidelines about the role of police in schools.

This month a bipartisan panel of Kentucky lawmakers convened to discuss school safety. Though there was widespread support for school resource officers, one strategy that didn't muster much support was arming teachers.

Read this: Ask your questions, Gov. Matt Bevin tweeted. So people did.

"We have to put an SRO in every building in the commonwealth ... not a teacher," said Rep. John "Bam" Carney, a Campbellsville Republican. "I don't want teachers packing."

The next meeting of Kentucky's School Safety Working Group will be July 9 at Trigg County High School in Cadiz.

Reporter Darcy Costello contributed to this story. Mandy McLaren: 502-582-4525; mmclaren@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @mandy_mclaren. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/mandym.