The warning signs are all there.

Students who were making plans to attack schools showed the same types of troubled histories as those who carried them out. They were badly bullied, often suffered from depression with stress at home and exhibited behavior that worried others, according to a U.S. Secret Service study released Tuesday

Guard Jason Preston (front) celebrates on March 20 with forward Ben Vander Plas following Ohio University’s first round upset win over defending national champion Virginia in NCAA Basketball Tournament in Bloomington, Indiana.

Students in high schools across the country have come to terms with altered routines and limited social contact during much of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the COVID-19 situation improves across the United States, schools and students are slowly returning to in-person learning, sports, and a sense of normalcy.

Students, teachers, and community members are in the process of coping with the Thursday, January 7 death by suicide of Dylan Buckner, football team captain and quarterback at Glenbrook North High School.  The high school is located in Northbrook, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago.  As is often the case in the aftermath of tragedy, people ask how such a loss could have been avoided.  These somber situations provide an opportune time to evaluate which interventions might help students seek out necessary mental health care before the unthinkable occurs.

Feeling down or having a bad day at school, at home, or at work can make anyone’s day a little less pleasant. Whether it results from performing poorly on a test, missing the game-winning shot, arguing with a sibling, quarreling with a friend, or getting a customer’s order wrong at work, moments of defeat and short-term failure can leave a lasting impact. For most people, the bad day is simply a bump in the road, quickly forgotten as new, positive experiences replace the negative ones.