n the wake of the shootings at Columbine High and Heritage High, people want answers to two questions: "Why is this happening? and "What can we do to prevent future tragedies?" Although it is impossible to predict when or where the next school shooting will occur, we do know enough about these incidents to identify common themes.

dolescence is a time of turmoil and self-discovery. Anyone who has ever shared a house with a teenager knows that he or she can be temperamental, dramatic, self-absorbed, and occasionally withdrawn. Teens desire autonomy from their parents and acceptance by their peers. Girls form cliques with like-minded friends and exclude those who don't fit in. Boys take risks, show off, and never back down from a fight. Adults should not be surprised by this behavior. We acted the same way when we were teens. Teens haven't changed much, but the world around them has changed a great deal. Modern culture is saturated with violence. Television, movies, and pop music feed teens a steady diet of mayhem, killings, and degradation. With the emergence of video arcades and computer games, kids can take an active role in the killing. More disturbing, kids are repeatedly exposed to real images of violence as well. The evening news is filled with car crashes, suicides, and mass killings. Teens watch kids shoot classmates, and land on the cover of Time magazine. At an age when every slight holds great significance and every loss seems overwhelming, the line between violent fantasy and brutal reality can become blurred. Teens today also have unprecedented access to high-powered weapons. Between 1980 and 1994, the rate of suicides involving adolescents 15 to 19 years of age increased by nearly one-third. Virtually all of this increase was due to a marked increase in firearm suicides. In Fulton County, homicides of males 15 to 19 years of age increased more than 500% between 1984 and 1993. Today, a teenager in the United States is more likely to die of a gunshot wound than of all diseases combined. For the past four years, the Emory Center for Injury Control (CIC) has studied the problem of juvenile gun violence and how it can be prevented. We have analyzed county-level statistics on juvenile crime and mapped every shooting that was severe enough to require emergency medical attention. We have also interviewed incarcerated juvenile offenders and knowledgeable law enforcement officials. To learn the views of young people, we've conducted several focus groups with Atlanta-area teens. Virtually all of the teens we've interviewed have told us that guns are easy to obtain. Sources include friends or relatives, drug dealers, adult "straw purchasers," burglary, and theft. Teens can also look closer to home. One participant from an Atlanta suburb told us, "I can sneak a gun from my dad's collection and put it back before he knows it's gone." Although juvenile crime is on the decline, few teens believe these statistics. African-American youth from inner-city neighborhoods are particularly likely to have witnessed or experienced acts of violence. Many told us that they prefer to go out in a group, "so my friends can watch my back." They resent the fact that any group of young black males is portrayed as a gang.

lthough the teens we've interviewed are pessimistic that anything can be done, there is cause for hope. Successful initiatives in Boston, New York City, and elsewhere suggest that youth violence can be reduced. Proactive strategies are much more effective than waiting for the next 911 call. In Atlanta, a consortium of law enforcement agencies and prosecutors is putting this theory to the test by attempting to break the chain of events that leads up to shootings. To reduce the unintentional supply of guns to kids, adults are being encouraged to store their weapons in a safe and secure manner. To reduce the intentional supply of guns to kids, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is targeting adults who sell guns to juveniles. To deter illegal carrying of firearms, the Atlanta Police Department is conducting high-visibility enforcement in parts of the city that are "hot spots" of gun violence. To send the message that gun violence won't be tolerated, the Fulton County district attorney is working with the local US attorney to refer selected gun offenders for federal prosecution. The Emory Center for Injury Control is evaluating this effort for the National Institute of Justice. It is equally important to evaluate programs to enhance school security. In 1996, Georgia spent $20 million in lottery money to enhance school security. Most of the funds were used to purchase metal detectors, surveillance cameras, and walkie-talkies. The following year, the Emory CIC studied the impact of this program for the Council on School Performance. Sixteen schools across the state agreed to participate in the evaluation. Each visit included a tour of the school and interviews with the school's principal and director of security. We also conducted two focus groups at each site - one with teachers and the other with students. These visits revealed that spending money on technology does little to enhance school safety. For example, although every school that purchased a video surveillance system had a central monitoring station, none of them could afford to hire someone to watch the monitors! Students quickly caught on, and jokes about the cameras were commonplace. When schools received grants to purchase security technology, no money was set aside to cover the downstream costs of maintaining and repairing the equipment. Over time, this will place a great strain on cash-strapped school districts. Many of the students and teachers we interviewed complained that the equipment reinforced a negative image of public schools. If this is true, spending money on metal detectors and other types of safety technology may do more harm than good. The safest schools we visited were not distinguished by costly technology - they have a strong principal and teachers who set clear and consistent expectations for behavior. Perhaps most important, students at these schools take an active role in keeping their school safe. Statewide, few weapons are found by metal detectors. Most are identified by tips from responsible students.

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wo things must come together for juvenile gun violence to occur - a violent juvenile and a gun. A violent juvenile without a gun equals a fist-fight in the hallway. A nonviolent juvenile with a gun equals an afternoon of hunting with Dad. A violent juvenile with a gun equals a potential disaster. Everyone must do his or her part to reduce youth violence. Parents must talk (and listen) to their adolescent children. Teens need space, not distance. Students must be willing to report worrisome statements, behavior, or threats to a teacher or a responsible adult. All of us must do our part to keep guns out of the hands of kids. Efforts like these will not only make our schools safer, they will make our homes and communities safer as well. Arthur Kellermann is professor and chair of Emory School of Medicine's department of emergency medicine and director of the Emory Center for Injury Control of the Rollins School of Public Health.