SEATTLE — When a student dies, it's impossible not to wonder if there's something that could have been done to save them. That's true for every adult who shares the responsibility of keeping students safe. And it's no different for people who have made a career out of teaching children the interpersonal skills they need to keep disagreements from becoming tragedies.

"Every time this happens, I feel like I haven't done enough or we are too slow," said Roger Kluck, the director of the Alternative to Violence Project. Kluck's program provides a workshop where students do activities and play games to help build self-confidence, bond with each other and brainstorm how to solve problems and understand the underlying causes of violence.

There's a lot that is still unknown about what led to the shooting death of a student at Garfield High School in Seattle on June 6. But indications are that Amarr Murphy-Paine was trying to prevent violence when he was killed.

At lunchtime that day, Murphy-Paine tried to break up "an altercation" between two boys. Then Murphy-Paine was shot and fell to the ground. The 17-year-old was transferred to the hospital where he was taken into surgery and later died.

In the aftermath of Murphy-Paine's death, the Garfield community is searching for steps to take to avoid future violence. This includes school safety measures and more community support. Schools, including those in Seattle, also continue to invest in violence prevention efforts.

Kluck and other experts said prevention can make a difference for students as they learn to deal with the big emotions that can lead to violence. Ideally, lessons should begin at the start of a student's education and not as a stopgap measure once students are already in high school or after a tragedy has occurred.

"They are grieving and reeling and thinking proactive is kind of off the table," Kluck said of students and teachers immediately after the loss of a student to gun violence.

The nearby Highline School District, 15 miles south of Seattle, invested $72,000 in one of Kluck's multiday anti-violence workshops this fall.

"It's an investment in helping to keep the campus safe," Catherine Carbone Rogers, a spokesperson for the district, told The Seattle Times in September. "Other school districts have tried things like metal detectors and increased security guards and external factors. The philosophy here is really addressing safety from the inside out."

Citing graduation planning and the recent events at Garfield, a spokesperson for Seattle Public Schools was not available to comment on exactly which violence programs are offered at district schools. But Seattle students do get some instruction aimed at teaching conflict resolution skills and social-emotional regulation. The district offers its own programming and several area nonprofits contract with individual schools.

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